Different Paths by Judy Clemens Page B

who had taken over my straw bale and was watching them work. I hadn’t noticed his Caddy in the drive, but peeking back out I saw it parked to the side, under a tree.
    “Hey, Randy,” I said. “What’s up?”
    He glanced over at me and nodded, but kept chewing on the piece of grass he had stuck between his teeth. He turned and looked through the door at the rest of the group, but didn’t say anything to anybody. I raised my eyebrows at Lucy, and she shrugged. These teen-agers in the mornings…
    I pulled my head back outside and we stood in an awkward circle outside the door, David rejoining us and gesturing for Tricia to come over. I wasn’t sure she was going to, but she finally came to stand next to him.
    “Sorry.” I leaned against the doorjamb. “My tour guide duty ends here. I think I’m done in.”
    “I could show them more.” Zach appeared at my elbow. “Could take them up the silo, or let ’em try out the bobcat.”
    The mens’ eyes lit up at that.
    “You go ahead,” Katherine said. “I think I’ll pass.”
    “Yeah,” Sarah said. “Me, too.”
    Zach looked at me. “So can I?”
    I laughed at the child-like expressions on Alan and David’s faces. Even Trevor showed some interest. I stuck my head back into the parlor and shouted to Lucy. “You need Zach anymore?”
    She yelled back without looking at me. “You can have him. I’m about through.”
    “Okay, Zach. Go ahead. Just be careful. Our liability insurance only goes so high.”
    Alan went a shade paler, and I laughed. “Sorry. Just a joke. You’ll be fine.”
    He looked mildly relieved, but not altogether sure.
    “I mean it. Zach will keep you safe.” I looked at Zach. “Right?”
    “Right.” He leaned into the parlor. “Coming Randy?”
    Randy grunted and left his straw bale, loping along beside Zach as they led the guys toward the shortest silo.
    I turned to the ladies. “What do you folks want to do?”
    “They’ll really be okay?” Katherine’s forehead creased. “Alan’s not real good with heights. And Trevor doesn’t always think…”
    “They’ll be fine .” Geez, were these people completely clueless? So much for teasing the newcomers. “What about you? Anything you’re interested in that I could manage?”
    Katherine looked at Tricia until she finally met her eyes, and I could see silent conversation going on between them. I ignored Ma, whose expression left no doubt that she thought I should play lady of the house and invite the women inside, where I could be hospitable at the same time I rested my foot.
    Katherine tilted her head at her sister, and Tricia turned toward me, her expression tentative.
    “What?”
    “Can I…would you show us your home? It’s such a great example of a period farmhouse.”
    My eyebrows rose, and I ignored Ma’s expression of “I told you so.”
    “Tricia’s interested in interior design,” Katherine said. “Rugged and realistic is all the rage, and she likes to get ideas wherever she can.”
    “You know,” Sarah said. “Just for fun.”
    I squinted toward the house. “I don’t know. I wasn’t expecting company.”
    “Oh, Stella, surely it’s not that bad.” Ma frowned, apparently forgetting she was supposed to be feeling sorry for me.
    “Remember I do live alone.”
    “Well, then, I guess you’d better change your habits if you ever hope to cohabitate with that young man of yours.”
    “Ma…” Heat crept out of my collar, but I wasn’t sure if it was from irritation or embarrassment.
    “You have a boyfriend?” Sarah sounded almost disappointed.
    “Well, yes, actually—”
    Ma put her hand on mine. “Come on, honey. Let’s go inside, where you can sit down.” The woman was relentless.
    “Oh, all right. It is a nice house, but I don’t have it fixed up anyhow special.”
    In fact, the decorations were still pretty much as my mother had left them close to fifteen years before when she’d died. Not my thing, decorating. If it was practical, I