grinned. “It doesn’t matter how old you get. I’m always going to be the big sister.”
“And she’s always going to be an interfering know-it-all,” Bree added pleasantly. She winked at Penny. “I’ve finally made peace with it. You’d probably better just do the same.”
She reached down beside her chair and hauled up a stack of pastel binders, each labeled something like Caterers or Bridesmaids Dresses.
“Okay, ladies. If Rowena is finished being insufferable for the moment, we’ve got a wedding to plan.”
* * *
E LLEN HATED THE day camp her dad had decided to stash her in while he was at work. It was almost all outdoors, which meant it was too hot, and too…Colorado.
Kids out here thought the weirdest things were fun. They shot arrows, climbed rocks, paddled canoes, rode bikes… No wonder they were so skinny. One of the girls had laughed at her for sweating during the rock climbing. Well, ex cus e her if the shopping and movies and YouTube stuff she did for fun in Chicago didn’t build up Amazon biceps.
Where she lived, nature wasn’t always trying to kill you, so you didn’t have to play “survival games.”
Today hadn’t been the worst, because someone from a place called Bell River Dude Ranch had joined them to teach an art lesson. Alec Garwood had come along with the woman. That was nice, if only because Ellen actually sort of knew him.
His parents owned that dude ranch, she discovered, which was kind of cool, except he said it was mostly horses and more of this outdoorsy stuff—canoes and bikes and rocks and campouts. Still, the other kids looked up to him, you could tell. When he came over and sat next to her during the art class, they all began treating her better.
It didn’t seem to matter that he was only ten, and some of the other kids were all the way up to twelve. He was like one of those natural born leaders or something.
He was rotten at art, though, and he laughed about it, adding colors and blobs to his painting until it looked like a picture of wet mud. She was pretty good, and she’d expected him to be nasty about it. Boys sometimes were if they felt stupid. But he wasn’t nasty. He kept saying how good she was, and several other kids heard him, which was nice.
She painted a watercolor of some loblolly pines, which she liked the name of, even though she’d just learned it today. Her other choice had been to go to the stables and paint a horse, but horses made her nervous. She didn’t want anyone to notice that—especially Alec. She had a feeling he would be like a horse guru or something, considering he owned a ranch.
Anyhow, the pines had turned out really pretty. Even the teacher said so. Ellen found herself checking her watch, hoping it was almost time for her dad to come get her. He approved of her doing art—it was the one thing she liked that he didn’t call “inappropriate.” Besides, he’d promised to take her out to dinner.
“So did you decide if you want me to pierce your ears?” Alec had tilted his chair back on its rear legs, and he was ruffling his paintbrush through his fingers, spraying paint on his paper. The teacher had stopped reprimanding him half an hour ago, when it became clear his painting was hopeless.
Ellen ran her hands across her drawing, smoothing it out. “No,” she said flatly. “Why would I let you do that? You don’t know anything about piercing peoples’ ears.”
“What’s to know?” He got his brush sopping wet, swished it around in the green paint, and let loose a spray of dots that looked like Martian blood. They hit the paper, then slid down in blobs, picking up the mud color as they dragged along. “You use ice to numb your ear, I know that. Then take the needle and…bam!”
He jabbed with the paintbrush, mimicking the needle through her ear. She winced, in spite of herself.
“See?” He smiled. “I knew you were scared.”
“I’m not scared. I’m just not an idiot. You didn’t say anything about
“And she’s always going to be an interfering know-it-all,” Bree added pleasantly. She winked at Penny. “I’ve finally made peace with it. You’d probably better just do the same.”
She reached down beside her chair and hauled up a stack of pastel binders, each labeled something like Caterers or Bridesmaids Dresses.
“Okay, ladies. If Rowena is finished being insufferable for the moment, we’ve got a wedding to plan.”
* * *
E LLEN HATED THE day camp her dad had decided to stash her in while he was at work. It was almost all outdoors, which meant it was too hot, and too…Colorado.
Kids out here thought the weirdest things were fun. They shot arrows, climbed rocks, paddled canoes, rode bikes… No wonder they were so skinny. One of the girls had laughed at her for sweating during the rock climbing. Well, ex cus e her if the shopping and movies and YouTube stuff she did for fun in Chicago didn’t build up Amazon biceps.
Where she lived, nature wasn’t always trying to kill you, so you didn’t have to play “survival games.”
Today hadn’t been the worst, because someone from a place called Bell River Dude Ranch had joined them to teach an art lesson. Alec Garwood had come along with the woman. That was nice, if only because Ellen actually sort of knew him.
His parents owned that dude ranch, she discovered, which was kind of cool, except he said it was mostly horses and more of this outdoorsy stuff—canoes and bikes and rocks and campouts. Still, the other kids looked up to him, you could tell. When he came over and sat next to her during the art class, they all began treating her better.
It didn’t seem to matter that he was only ten, and some of the other kids were all the way up to twelve. He was like one of those natural born leaders or something.
He was rotten at art, though, and he laughed about it, adding colors and blobs to his painting until it looked like a picture of wet mud. She was pretty good, and she’d expected him to be nasty about it. Boys sometimes were if they felt stupid. But he wasn’t nasty. He kept saying how good she was, and several other kids heard him, which was nice.
She painted a watercolor of some loblolly pines, which she liked the name of, even though she’d just learned it today. Her other choice had been to go to the stables and paint a horse, but horses made her nervous. She didn’t want anyone to notice that—especially Alec. She had a feeling he would be like a horse guru or something, considering he owned a ranch.
Anyhow, the pines had turned out really pretty. Even the teacher said so. Ellen found herself checking her watch, hoping it was almost time for her dad to come get her. He approved of her doing art—it was the one thing she liked that he didn’t call “inappropriate.” Besides, he’d promised to take her out to dinner.
“So did you decide if you want me to pierce your ears?” Alec had tilted his chair back on its rear legs, and he was ruffling his paintbrush through his fingers, spraying paint on his paper. The teacher had stopped reprimanding him half an hour ago, when it became clear his painting was hopeless.
Ellen ran her hands across her drawing, smoothing it out. “No,” she said flatly. “Why would I let you do that? You don’t know anything about piercing peoples’ ears.”
“What’s to know?” He got his brush sopping wet, swished it around in the green paint, and let loose a spray of dots that looked like Martian blood. They hit the paper, then slid down in blobs, picking up the mud color as they dragged along. “You use ice to numb your ear, I know that. Then take the needle and…bam!”
He jabbed with the paintbrush, mimicking the needle through her ear. She winced, in spite of herself.
“See?” He smiled. “I knew you were scared.”
“I’m not scared. I’m just not an idiot. You didn’t say anything about
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