Chapter 10
Sasha paced.
Her nerves were jangling far too hard, and the only way to keep from shouting at someone who didn’t deserve it was to wear off her edgy energy.
Which was why instead of being curled up in the family living room, wiggling in place and biting her tongue to keep from snapping at her innocent little brother, she was doing a contained marathon.
Her textbook lay open on the stack of hay at one end of the long aisle outside the horse stalls.
She’d read the headings, or a few paragraphs if necessary, then walk herself down the entire length to the far side of the opposite building while reciting everything she could remember based on the prompts.
The horses had begun with their heads over the stall doors, watching in case something interesting like treats were about to happen, but by her twentieth march past them, only Midnight was still waiting hopefully.
“Helicase unwinds the double helix. DNA polymerase adds complementary nucleotides in the five-prime to three-prime direction. Ligase joins the Okazaki fragments on the lagging strand.” She paused to rub Midnight’s nose.
“In other words, and I’m sure you know this, helicase unzips. Polymerase builds. Ligase glues.”
The horse gave a soft nicker, batted his face into her palm, then turned away.
Sasha laughed as she turned back toward her textbook. “Tough crowd.”
Her return journey was slightly different this time. Up ahead, sitting beside the book, Emma had her legs pulled up and arms draped around her knees. “Don’t stop if you’re not done. I can wait.”
Sasha consider the textbook momentarily, then closed the cover with a decisive snap.
“If I don’t already know it, anything I stuff into my brain now probably won’t stick.
” She hopped up on the bale beside her sister, easing her back to the wall and looking out over the familiar scenery.
“Good for you for being exempted from finals this year.”
“Means a boring June,” Emma pointed out before lobbing a grin at Sasha. “Boring is good.”
The provincial level exams weren’t that bad, and Sasha didn’t want to scare Emma, who’d be taking them the following year. “Physics, which is supposedly the hardest of them all, was a seven out of ten.”
“On the Sasha scale,” Emma pointed out. She made a face. “Which would be a ten out of ten for me and why I’ll be taking something other than physics.”
“You’ll ace this biology class,” Sasha said, leaning her shoulder into Emma’s. “Thanks for agreeing to be my grad date.”
“I’m excited to go,” Emma replied. She wiggled until she could look Sasha in the eye. “You sure you don’t want to go with one of the many guys who asked you?”
“Yup.” This answer was easy. “I’m friends with most of my classmates, but never anything more, so it’s not as if I need to pick one to make the celebration special. I’ve got far more memories of solving school problems and celebrating school successes with you. So you’re perfect.”
“That’s cool.” Her sister’s smile flashed bright, her blond curls bobbing. “Except for the part where you’ve never had a real boyfriend.”
Sasha waved a hand dismissively. “Even if I end up staying in Heart Falls, none of my guy classmates are boyfriend material. At least not in this current dimension.”
Emma laughed. “You need an alternate universe to find a guy?”
“Maybe.” New guys to get to know was on the pro/con list Sasha had started after “The Talk” with her parents. She hadn’t done a ton of work on the list, though, because her dad was right. Focusing on school until after grad was her priority. The summer would be long enough to make a decision.
Emma laid a hand on hers. “You’re daydreaming again. Worried about Crooked Creek?”
“Honestly, no.” Sasha crossed her legs. “Just thinking about how finishing school first before focusing on the decision was the right choice.”
“Makes sense.”
Her sister seemed to have something else to say, so Sasha took a page from their dad’s book and stayed quiet.
Emma looked around a little, squirmed a bit, then rushed forward. “Promise me even if you’re living at Crooked Creek, you’ll come back next year to be my date to the prom?”
Ah, now Sasha knew what was going on.
Sasha leaned forward and held out her pinkie. “I promise.” When Emma would have hooked digits with her, Sasha pulled far enough away Emma had to pause. “But? If some really sweet, cute, and into-you girl moves into Heart Falls this coming school year, I will not hold you to it.”
Her little sister rolled her eyes. “If some sweet, cute, and into-me girl moves to Heart Falls, I won’t know what to say to her because I’ll be too astonished.”
Sasha caught their hands together and squeezed pinkies. “If it does happen, I’ll be glad for you. If it doesn’t? We’ll go to your grad and you’ll have to wait for university to find the girl of your dreams.”
“Or at college. Or maybe Crooked Creek ranch.” Her unhappiness vanished, eyes brightening with her usual hopefulness. “You’re right. There will be lots of possibilities.”
Caught by surprise, Emma’s words didn’t register for a minute. Sasha scrambled to respond. “Crooked Creek? You’d come out there?”
A rude noise escaped her sister. “Duh. Of course, even if you don’t decide to go ahead with the big grand scheme. It sounds as if the ranches are going to work together more in the future, no matter what.”
It wasn’t a huge revelation—except with everything else bubbling in her brain, Sasha hadn’t considered that part of the equation.
She seriously needed to get that pro/con list started for real.
But first, it was exams and last minute school projects. And grad—
The day of the event, Jinx came over to the Stone house with her mom and baby brother. Her Auntie Julia also came, but she’d left one-year-old Anneka with Uncle Zach.
“I’ve got two here to get ready, so I’m glad to share the load,” Tamara told Julia before turning to Petra and taking the baby car seat from her as she walked in the back door. “Hello, Jaden, you lucky little guy. Your first Girls’ Night Out. Or afternoon at least.”
“Not counting the ones he hitched a ride in my belly, it is,” Petra offered. She eyed Sasha and Emma. “Fancy duds, gals. You could get votes in the Tacky Threads Throwdown.”
“No, they couldn’t, because they’re not going out in public until we make some magic,” Tamara offered deadpan.
Julia widened her eyes. “Oh my. I didn’t know that robe was still kicking.”
Emma snickered. She wore an old flannel shirt of their Dad’s and bright red leggings with more holes than proper.
Sasha’s neon green robe from her Auntie Julia used to fit but was now a few years too short.
To make it slightly more modest, Sasha wore a pair of bike shorts, and the bright pink clashed wonderfully with the green.
Jinx slipped to Sasha’s side, brow raised high. “Is this some Heart Falls tradition I wasn’t told about?”
Sasha tugged her toward her room. “I told you to bring something to wear you could take off at the last minute without messing up your hair and makeup.”
“I didn’t know it was supposed to be something terrifying.” Jinx threw her duffle bag on Sasha’s bed then snickered. “I would have borrowed Jake’s robe.”
“Bad?”
“It makes him look like a bear wandering around the house on his hind legs.”
Sasha laughed. “Get changed and meet us back in the kitchen. Our moms will help us with our hair and makeup.”
Her mom had brought out a large mirror and propped it up on the island.
Emma was already seated on one of the three high stools arranged in front of it, She examined her reflection as her mom used a curling iron on a few ends.
Emma’s natural curls hung to her shoulders, loosely pulled back with a thin band of baby blue she wore like a tiara.
The colour made her eyes even brighter than usual.
“Your hair is already gorgeous,” Sasha complained, smiling at her sister as she leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Brat.”
Emma grinned good-naturedly. “Means there’s more time for you.”
“Time enough for all you girls,” their mom promised.
“Kelli says if our insides are already dressed up, happy and proper, our outsides won’t take too long to match,” Sasha shared.
She’d long ago accepted that her dad was her rock, she could tell her mom anything, and Emma was her forever friend. But when Sasha got worried, it was usually some comment from Kelli that gave her comfort.
Her mom nodded. “A very good Kelli-ism.”
It wasn’t Sasha’s typical focus to get done up fancy-like. Her go-to for school was a ponytail or leaving her long brown hair down with minimal makeup applied. But it was special to share the time not only with Emma and Jinx and her mom, but the aunties who dropped in to say hello.
Charity and Kelli got there just as Sasha’s hair was finished. The braids her mom had made coiled around her head like a crown, a few strands left loose to frame her face. The updo looked great but felt very fancy. Sasha wasn’t sure yet if she liked the sensation.
Kelli wore jeans and a jean shirt like usual, her hair in two braids. She whistled softly, one hand pressed to the swell of her belly as she leaned back on the island. “Damn, girls. You clean up really nice.”
“You need to get into your dresses,” Charity ordered. “I want to take some pictures.
“And we need to watch the time,” Sasha’s mom warned, glancing at her watch. “We want to take pictures outside the school, as well, and the rest of the family are going to meet us there at three. The grad march starts at four.”
They’d barely finished zipping themselves in when Auntie Ginny arrived, her cheery yellow dress swaying over her baby belly.
She brought Sasha and Emma herbal posies.
She fussed a little as she slipped them onto their wrists.
“I have one for you, too, Jinx, as a keepsake. But I figured Logan is going to give you something to wear.”
Jinx flushed, the pink of her cheeks matching the pale pink of her dress. “He said he was.”
“Jinx got him a rose for his vest,” Emma informed Ginny. “They’re going to match.”