“Second floor. Follow me.”
Katie’s room wasn’t very large. There was a shared desk in the center of the room with a bookcase to the ceiling that separated the two sides. The twin beds were against opposite walls, and the closets were built in on either side of the door. Sierra was surprised at how barracklike it seemed. The suite-style rooms at Valencia Hills were much nicer.
It was easy to guess which side of the room was Katie’s. Her decorations were minimal, and her bulletin board was covered with photos, many of them of people Sierra had met. She stepped closer to the wall to examine the collage and was surprised to see one of herself there. It was in front of the big wooden front doors at Carnforth Hall, where they had met in England. Next to Sierra’s face was one of the large lion’s head door knockers.
“I remember when you took that,” Sierra said. “I still have that jacket.”
“And do you still have those cowboy boots?” Katie asked, pointing to another group picture in which Sierra’s legs were dangling over the edge of a stone wall, and her cowboy boots were very noticeable.
“Yep. I still have them, and I still wear them.” Sierra pointed to another picture. “When was this one taken? That’s you and Christy, isn’t it? You look so young.”
Katie leaned closer to examine the picture of the two of them wearing big T-shirts. Both of them had their hair up on top of their heads, and they were holding a large bag of M&M’s. She laughed. “That was at a sleepover when we were fifteen.” She looked closer. “That wasn’t the party where we first became friends, I don’t think. It was probably the next one we went to together.”
“It’s so neat that you and Christy go way back.”
“What about you and Vicki and Amy?”
“We get along great now, but we didn’t used to be friends at all. At least not all three of us at the same time. We’ve only been doing things together for a few months. That’s why I think it’s great you and Christy have been friends for so long.”
“And it’s only going to get better in the fall when she comes to school here. We’ve already signed up to be roommates. We’ll have such a great time with you and all your friends,” Katie said.
Sierra plopped down on Katie’s bed. “You make it sound so easy.”
“Why not?” Katie said. “I mean, why wouldn’t you want to come to school here?”
“I don’t know. It’s so expensive.”
“So? You pray about it; apply for every grant, scholarship, and loan they’ll let you apply for; and then get into a work-study program, like me, and earn your spending money while you’re at school.”
“What’s your work-study program?” Sierra asked.
“I’m an agronomy major, if you can believe it. I know it’s weird. Ever since I first studied plants in high school science, I’ve been strangely attracted to finding out how things work within nature. They have me in a work-study course where I work in the organic garden ten hours a week. I didn’t show it to you. It’s terraced down the side of the hill by the pool. We sell a lot of our organic vegetables at the Saturday farmer’s market in town.”
“That sounds like a lot of fun.”
“I like it. For my next project I want to develop my own brand of herbal tea. I should have shown you the garden. I already have all my herbs planted, and some of them are coming up nicely.” Katie dropped into her beanbag chair and said, “What’s your major going to be?”
“Communications, I think. I had to put something on the forms, and that’s what I’m most interested in right now.”
“Perfect!” Katie said. “Rancho has the best communications department around. Radio, video, journalism, anything you’re interested in. And last year their debate team placed second in the national tournament. I can see you as Rancho’s star debater, bringing home all the trophies.”
Sierra gave her exuberant friend a skeptical smile.
Katie cocked her head and eyed Sierra suspiciously. “It’s not about money or majors, is it?”
Sierra shrugged.
“Okay. I get it. What’s his name, and where’s he going to school?”
Sierra was surprised at Katie’s perceptiveness. Letting down her guard, Sierra smiled softly. “Paul’s at the University of Edinburgh now. I don’t know where he’ll be in the fall.”
Katie looked confused for only a moment. Then, with the dawn of recognition across her face, she said, “Paul, huh? Isn’t he the one who saw you walking in the rain that one time with your arms full of flowers?”
Sierra nodded. “Daffodils. He still calls me the Daffodil Queen sometimes.”
“Still, huh. Are you two together?”
Sierra shook her head. “We write each other once or twice a month. That’s all. You know he’s Jeremy’s brother, don’t you?”
“Tawni’s boyfriend?” Katie asked, leaning forward. “Ah, the plot thickens. This could be interesting.”
“Except there’s nothing to tell. I’m not even sure why I mentioned him. He said he was coming back to the States at the end of June. I was just, I don’t know …”
“Dreaming a little dream?” Katie concluded for her. “Wishing a little wish? Praying a little prayer that you would end up at the same college?”
“Something like that,” Sierra said, trying hard to catch her imagination before it took off like a kite.
“It could happen,” Katie said with a grin. “I mean, look at Todd and Christy. God can move mountains when He wants to.”
“I know,” Sierra agreed. Katie’s mentioning mountains got Sierra thinking about when they had driven past Mount Shasta and how it was cloaked in thick fog. “And then again, God can also hide mountains when He wants to.”
seventeen
“YOU’LL HAVE TO DIRECT ME, Katie, once we get down the hill,” Wes called out in the noisy van of people.
“Turn right at the first light you come to, go about a mile, and it’s on the right side. Sam’s Barbecue Pit.”
Katie was in the middle seat with Amy and Antonio. Vicki was in the front; and Randy, Sierra, and Tawni were in the snore zone. Tawni had driven up to spend the evening with them and had appeared especially glad to see Sierra.
“What do you think of Rancho?” Tawni asked. She had moved to Southern California to begin a modeling career last summer. It hadn’t turned out to be as glamorous or wonderful as Tawni had imagined, but she was doing well and seemed to still be glad to be out on her own.
“It’s great,” Sierra said. “What do you think? Should I come here?”
“That’s up to you,” Tawni said.
“You gave up on going to school in Reno, didn’t you?” Sierra asked.
Tawni nodded. Her hair was pulled up in a French twist, and when she nodded, some of the strands on the sides fell down. Her hair color had been different every time Sierra had seen her lately. This time it was a caramel blond, similar to Sierra’s hair. The sisterly resemblance stopped there, though, since Tawni was adopted.
“I can’t believe I hatched that scheme to go to school in Reno just so I could meet Lina,” Tawni said. Tawni had found her birth mother and discovered she was a professor at the University of Nevada, Reno. Tawni had written her a letter, but when Tawni didn’t hear back right away, she made plans to enroll at UNR. However, Lina Rasmussen did write back, though not right away. She initiated a meeting for the two of them last fall, and since then she and Tawni had seen each other twice and called each other every week or so.
“Did Jeremy tell you that Paul is planning to come back to the States at the end of June?” Sierra said.
“No. When did Paul tell you?”
“I got a letter last week.”
“I still don’t understand why you and Paul write letters instead of send e-mails to each other. Paul sends e-mails to Jeremy all the time.”
Sierra smiled quietly to herself. Written letters were so much more romantic and thoughtful. It took time to take pen in hand and compose a newsy yet tender letter. And right now, that g
ift of time and effort was all Sierra had to give Paul. She knew that was exactly the same kind of sacrifice he was making when he wrote to her.
“What is Paul going to do when he comes back?” Tawni asked.
“He didn’t say. I don’t think he knows yet.”
“Hmm.”
“What?” Sierra asked.
“Nothing. I’m curious about what Paul’s going to do. Jeremy says most of his friends are transferring here next fall.”
“Tell me about it,” Sierra quipped.
“Where are we going for dinner?” Tawni asked.
Before Sierra could answer, Wes pulled the van into the crowded parking lot toward which Katie directed him. The sign over the restaurant said, “Sam’s BBQ Pit—Best Ribs This Side of Texas.”
“This is it?” Tawni said. “Seriously?”
“Must be the place,” Sierra said as the rest of the gang began to roll out of the van.
“When Wes called and said we were going out to dinner, this isn’t exactly what I had in mind.” Tawni extracted her long legs from the back of the van, and Sierra followed her.
“This place is hoppin’!” Katie exclaimed when the group entered the small restaurant.
She had to yell over the country music blaring from the speakers in the ceiling. Long picnic tables lined the right side of the restaurant, and the counter where customers stood to place their orders took up the left side.
“Surely there’s another place to eat in this town,” Tawni said.
“I’ve heard good things about this place,” Katie hollered back. Undaunted, she led the way to the counter and began to order.
“I guess we’re stuck,” Tawni said. “Do you see any salads on the menu?”
The menu consisted of one thing: ribs. The only selection customers had was exactly how many ribs they wanted. There was the Cowpoke Plate for kids that came with six ribs, the Rustler Plate that came with twelve ribs, the Hired Hand Plate with eighteen ribs, and the Rancher Special that came with twenty-four ribs and free seconds.
Tawni and Amy skeptically ordered the Cowpoke Plate, but the server objected, saying they weren’t under twelve years old. Katie stepped in and, with her quick tongue and friendly smile, convinced the employee to let them go for the kid’s plate. According to Katie, it would be the kid’s plate or nothing for these two, and if Sam wanted their business, he had better let up on the age rule.
Sierra ordered the Rustler. She paid for it and then moved through the cafeteria-style line to pick up her tray behind Vicki, who had ordered the same thing. Both of them were shocked when they saw the amount of food on the trays. The ribs alone took up the whole plate. On a side plate came the “fixin’s,” which included baked beans, coleslaw, corn on the cob, and a thick hunk of white bread.
“I feel like Fred Flintstone!” Sierra exclaimed as she followed Vicki to the picnic table where the others were already seated. “If we were at a drive-in restaurant with one of those window trays, the car would tip over.”
“I think I’m going to tip over,” Vicki said. “There’s no way I can eat all this.”
“Aren’t we glad we brought Randy, the human disposal,” Sierra said.
“Great choice of restaurant,” Wes said to Katie when they were all seated. He and Randy had ordered the Rancher Special, and each of them had to carry two trays to hold it all. Wes offered to pray for the food. Their table was the farthest from the speakers, which was good because the music wasn’t quite so loud at their end of the restaurant. They could actually hear each other speak.
“Don’t you think it would be more appropriate if we prayed for forgiveness for being a bunch of gluttons?” Katie asked.
Wes laughed and suggested they hold hands while they prayed. Sierra noticed that Wes was sitting next to Katie.
With a round of “Amens,” the group took to the ribs like ravenous beasts. All but Tawni and Amy. They both tried to use plastic knives and forks to cut the heavily sauced meat from the bone.
“Oh, come on,” Katie teased. “You’re not supposed to whittle those bones into figurines. Get aggressive! Stuff them in your face.” To demonstrate she picked up a rib with both hands and took a big chomp out if it. The barbecue sauce dripped down her chin and onto her tray.
“You have a little something right there,” Wes said, pointing to Katie’s chin after her demonstration.
With her hands covered with barbecue sauce, Katie said, “Oh, really?” She reached over and made a red smear across Wes’s cheek. “You have a little something on your face, too.”
To Sierra’s surprise, Wes cracked up. He returned the favor and painted a streak on each of Katie’s cheeks. She then evened out his war paint by marking his other cheek. Vicki and Antonio laughed the hardest at Wes’s and Katie’s antics. Sierra laughed and joked with the others, but she felt that strange sensation in her stomach that she got when she thought Amy liked Wes. Now it was Katie instead of Amy who was getting Wes’s attention.
Drawing inward, Sierra nibbled on her corn on the cob and gave herself a lecture about giving in to these immature jealousy fits over her brother. She needed to stop feeling so possessive. Sierra knew she couldn’t spend the rest of her life examining the motives of every girl who appeared interested in Wes.
Picking up her glass of milk and taking a long drink, Sierra resolved to put away her childish insecurities about Wesley. She decided if she considered him more of a buddy than her adored brother during this stage of their lives, she would be less likely to feel she was selecting whom he could date. The funny thing was, Wes wasn’t dating anyone and hadn’t been for a long time, as far as Sierra knew. Maybe she was afraid that since he was getting older, his dating choices would be more like potential marriage choices, and she wanted somehow to be involved in that selection.
Now she realized it wasn’t her choice. It wasn’t her life; it was Wesley’s. Her role was to love and support him. And the only way she could do that was to let go of all these assumptions and expectations.
Strangely, the mental exercise increased Sierra’s appetite, and she went after her ribs with renewed gusto.
“Do you suppose they actually serve ribs like these in Texas?” Antonio asked. He was seated across from Sierra and seemed to be directing his question to Amy, who was sitting next to him on the long bench.
“I don’t know. I’ve never been there.”
“Neither have I,” Antonio said, reaching for a napkin from the stack in the middle of the table. “Where I come from in Italy, you would never see such ribs.”
“What part of Italy are you from?” Amy asked.
“The north. Near Lake Como. Have you heard of it?”
“My uncle is from that area. I don’t remember the name of the town. He runs an Italian restaurant in Portland.” Amy gave Antonio one of her best smiles and said, “I think you would like his restaurant. The food is very good.”
As Sierra watched, Amy and Antonio launched into a lively conversation about Italian food. Turning her attention to Tawni, Sierra said, “What do you think?”
“What do I think about what?” Tawni asked. She had broken off a corner of her white bread and was eating it without butter.
“What do you think about this Texas food? Do you like it?”
“It’s okay. I’d probably enjoy it more if I didn’t know how loaded it was with fats and carbs. I have a magazine shoot next week. That means rabbit food the rest of the weekend for me.”
“Don’t you hate that? Having to worry about your weight and how you look every minute of every day?”
“I try not to worry about it,” Tawni said. “I don’t think I do as much as I used to. It’s part of the career I’ve chosen. If I were an athlete, I’d have to work out every day to be good at my sport. As a model, I have to spend time on my appearance. But that’s not all I do every minute of every day.”
“I didn’t mean to imply it was,” Sierra said, thinking of all the warnings about gaining weight as a college freshman. “I w
as just thinking it would be a pain to have to watch what you ate all the time.”
“It is sometimes,” Tawni said, sounding less defensive. “I guess anything in life can be a pain. We all end up choosing the level of pain we can endure to reach our goals.”
“You’re right,” Sierra said. “That’s profound.” She wasn’t used to having Tawni share such thoughts with her.
“You know who told me that?” Tawni said, wiping her fingers daintily and pushing away her plate.
“Jeremy?”
Tawni shook her head. “No, it was Lina. Lina told me that was why she gave me up for adoption. You know she was only fifteen when she got pregnant with me, and her boyfriend was no longer in the picture by the time she found out. Lina said she wanted what was best for me and didn’t think at that point in her life she could offer me the same things adoptive parents could. She said her goal was to finish school and become a college professor, which she did.”
“I imagine giving you up for adoption was the deepest level of pain for her,” Sierra said. “But I’m glad she did. Otherwise you and I never would have been sisters.”
A tear formed in the corner of Tawni’s eye and threatened to tumble down her perfectly made-up face. “That is so sweet of you to say, Sierra.” Tawni reached over and gave Sierra a hug. “I don’t know if I’ve ever said this really clearly to you, but I’m glad we’re sisters—very glad.”
“I am, too.” Sierra’s words were whispered into her sister’s ear as the two of them hugged and cried just a little.
In the background, honky-tonk music blared, and Sam’s rib slabs sizzled on the grill. It was an unlikely setting for such a bonding moment. But Sierra knew it was a moment she would never forget.
eighteen
SIERRA AWOKE EARLY the next morning with a stomachache. She wasn’t sure if it was from the ribs she ate at Sam’s or if it was from all the junk food she had scarfed afterward when they all went back to the Student Center and hung out in the lounge, talking until almost midnight.
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