I started getting better at horseshoes. I finally beat Nick once.
“Pay up, buddy-ro!” I said, giving his arm a light smack.
“Hey, I didn’t know we were betting. How come we weren’t betting all the times I won?”
“I changed the rules.” I started giggling.
“Just like a girl. Change the rules on me.” Nick sat on the picnic table. “So, your dad and stepmom just got married a month ago? Is that weird or what?”
I shrugged. “Not everybody can say they got to be a junior bridesmaid twice in one year.”
“Do I detect a note of sarcasm?”
“No, really,” I said. “At my mama’s wedding we got to ride in a horse and carriage. And in the front hall at the country club there was a swan four feet tall that was made out of ice. And there were huge strawberries that were decorated with chocolate. It was so funny—the strawberries looked like they were wearing little tuxedos. And Daddy’s wedding was like a backyard thing. Daddy just wore a nice suit and Lynn wore a tea-length dress. But it was still real nice.” I could tell Nick was getting kind of bored, so I changed the subject. “And now I’m going to have two bedrooms. And I have a stepbrother who’s a freshman in college.”
“That would be cool. What about the stepsister that’s here, what’s her name? Diana? You get along?”
“Sure.” I picked at a string on my jeans.
Nick’s mama and daddy came out of the dining room. It had gotten pretty dark, and I could barely see them. “Nick!” His mama called. “We’re heading back to the cabin.”
“I’ll be there in a few minutes,” he called back.
“All right, don’t be too long.”
I could see the whites of Nick’s eyes as he rolled them in my direction.
“Such protective parental units,” I whispered, smiling.
“When you’re an only child, it’s like they’re focused on you like a laser beam, you know.”
“Yep,” I said. “I know.” I could tell he liked me.
Later that night, I couldn’t sleep, and I stared through the shadows at the lump in the next bed that was Diana. She’d barely said a word to me all night. I’d been right in the middle of telling her a story about playing horseshoes with Nick, and she’d crawled into bed and switched off the bedside lamp. If Diana was a normal person, that would have really hurt my feelings.
At youth group, my teacher, Aunt Lana, had led a discussion once about what God would want us to do in certain relationships. We had actually talked about the movie Toy Story, about how Woody never gave up on friendship. We had talked about when it was time to give up on someone, and Aunt Lana had said, with God, the time is “never.” God never gives up.
So, I need to keep trying with Diana. Daddy would want me to keep trying. I shouldn’t give up, even if she doesn’t respond yet.
I wish I could talk to her about the horses. One of them had stared at me today. Its big brown eye had a white rim around the edge that made it look wild, kind of out of its mind. It had a thin stream of snot running out of its nostril, and flies kept buzzing around. What if my horse reared tomorrow, like the one three years ago? What if I fell off again? I hoped Maggie gave me the oldest, most decrepit horse in the barn. I didn’t care if I rode a horse that could hardly walk.
I couldn’t fake being sick. Mama fell for that sometimes but Daddy never did. He would make me go. Daddy was always saying stuff like he did at supper tonight. Tough it out, sport. I turned over my pillow and pulled the covers up over my shoulders.