Page 57 of Adam's Rising

She rested her hands on her hips. “I have time. But speaking of school… What about Peter?”

“Whoa. You’re right. I meant to handle that. I’m guessing I can’t go down there because that’ll raise questions. Maybe Clara Mae could…”

“Let me take him.” Claire bounced. “I know what to do. I just transferred not so long ago. I’ll have Grams drive us. She won’t ask any questions. She trusts me. The school will order transcripts from Talkeetna, send papers home for you to sign. Done!”

“Oh, that’s a…”

“Good idea?”

“A great idea,” Adam agreed.

The crunching of wood chips and voices broke them apart.

“Thanks for helping me this morning!” Claire called over her shoulder as she jogged toward the opposite barn doors. “I’m running late, so I’ll just let myself out.”

Rusty and Clara Mae stepped through the rear side of the barn.

Clara Mae nodded to Claire, then looked at Adam. “Nice to know Claire’s quick with her brain… and a better storyteller than you, young man.”

Well, Adam thought,at least she didn’t refer to him as a boy.

Then again, even Rusty had said that Clara Mae usedboyas an endearment.

Adam didn’t really care. Technically, while he was a teenager, he did feel like a boy sometimes.

He planned to live up to heryoung manpraise, though.

“She asked to go riding today, showed me the riding trail along the river.”

“I figured.” She glanced at her watch. “You’re not late. And I have to say…” She looked up at Rusty. “This one’s fast on his feet.”

“I saw,” Rusty said, nodding. “Sure you don’t have some of my ancestry blood in you, kid.”

Adam shrugged. “I don’t think so.”

“He sure rides like he does.” She brushed her hands together, like she was dusting off the last of the conversation. “Now let’s talk about what comes next. First off… where’s that lanky colt brother of yours. I haven’t seen him since he scarfed down three hands’ worth of my biscuits Saturday night.”

Here goes nothing. “About my brother, Ma’am. I’ll do more than my share of work, I promise. Plus, he assured me he’d work in the afternoons. I would like him to finish off the school year, so he can move on to the next grade.” He paused long enough to take a breath, then continued, “There’re only five weeks left, then he can work all summer.”

“Good idea. He’d probably just mope around all day anyway — like Frank, that good for nothing…”

Rusty patted her shoulder. “You took care of them, Clara Mae.”

She grinned. “I did, didn’t I? Betcha didn’t think this old woman had it in her.”

“You’re far from old,” Rusty said. “And I know you got it in ya.” He glanced over his shoulder, then leaned toward Adam. “I felt that danged electricity when she caught me with her only daughter.”

Clara Mae waved him off. “Get to work, Rust.” She turned back to Adam, wrapping a protective arm around his shoulders. She walked him to the center of the barn. “You watch your back, boy. You ain’t been in town nary a full three days, and you’ve already made enemies. Brett’s wise to me. I tried to take it all on my back, but he asked if someone had been spreading lies about him.”

Adam nodded but didn’t bother to reply. She hadn’t asked him a question; she’d made a statement — an all-too-real declaration. Taking his brother’s name had opened him up to some kind of hell he couldn’t even imagine, and now he was racking up his own enemies.

Clara Mae dropped her arm but placed both hands on his shoulders. “What did you and Claire decide about Lala?”

Enemy number three, he thought.Four, if he counted George. He’d gotten on that man’s bad side within hours of arriving at the ranch.

“That I should break up with her?” His voice went up at the end, like it was a question.

Dang it!

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