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that? That was kindarude, maybe because I was so nervous. But he didn’t seem offended. Instead, he said, “Big brothers are supposed to irritate their little sisters. Makes it all even out since they irritate us from the moment they’re born.”
    “I don’t really get the whole sibling rivalry thing,” I said, trying to delay whatever bad news was coming my way. Maybe if I distracted him, he’d forget what it was he wanted to tell me — alone with no witnesses.
    “That’s right. I forgot. You don’t have any brothers.”
    “Or sisters,” I felt obligated to point out.
    “That’s right,” he said again, like he was a teacher who’d asked a question and I’d gotten it correct. “You’re an only child. You don’t act like one.”
    I furrowed my brow. “What does an only child act like?”
    “Spoiled, usually.”
    “Says who?”
    “The same people who say older brothers are irritating. Anyway, listen, I have a favorto ask. It’s about Whitney. She’s feeling, you know, like she doesn’t belong, so will you maybe invite her to go with you for lunch?”
    “You couldn’t ask that with Caitlin around?”
    “If she knew I was asking, she’d give me a hard time about it and probably be unfriendly to Whitney — just because it’s a favor to me.”
    I stared at him. “First of all, she wouldn’t be unfriendly. She’s not a mean person. Second, I don’t understand why it’s a favor for you, if I invite Whitney to lunch. Do you like her or something?”
    “Well, yeah, I like her, and I know she doesn’t have the whole work ethic down, but if you could just, you know, be nice to her, include her —”
    “You think you have to tell me to be nice?”
    “Hey, you hang out with my sister. What else am I supposed to think?”
    “You’re the one who needs lessons in‘nice.’ When I get in the car and say, ‘Hey,’ as in ‘hey, good morning,’ ‘good day,’ ‘hello,’ you grunt. What’s up with that anyway?”
    He held up his hands. “Don’t go all ballistic on me. I have things on my mind.”
    “Like what?”
    “How to make a good impression as a supervisor. It’s not easy, you know. Just like this. I ask a favor and suddenly we’re arguing. Geez, forget it. I’ll find someone else.”
    He started walking away.
    “Sean?”
    He stopped and looked back at me.
    “Yeah, I’ll invite Whitney to join us for lunch.”
    “Don’t put yourself out.”
    “No, seriously, I’m sorry.”
    “Thanks. I owe you.”
    Again, I couldn’t figure out why he owed me or why he cared so much about Whitney’s happiness. Did he care about everyone assigned to his crew? Or was Whitney special?
    He started to walk away again, stopped,looked back at me. “You didn’t tell Caitlin I was on probation.”
    He said it more like a statement than a question.
    I shook my head. “No. How’d you know?”
    “She didn’t give me a hard time about it last night.”
    “She wouldn’t —”
    “She would. So, thanks. And don’t forget to be nice to Whitney.”
    “Obviously you haven’t noticed, but I do ‘nice’ really well.”
    He grinned. “I’ve noticed.”
    He strode away with a lazy walk that, contrary to the way it looked, actually covered a lot of ground quickly.
    It was only when I headed to Splash that his words really struck me.
    He’d noticed — noticed that I was nice. I didn’t know why that knowledge made me feel really good. Maybe because I’d started noticing lately that he was nice, too.
    *  *  *  
    Whitney, however, was still a challenge.
    “Why do the kids even need to be in inner tubes?” she asked. “It’s just a slide.”
    “Maybe they want to feel like it’s a big-kid ride,” I said as I held the tube for a toddler so she could climb in. She was the only one around at the moment because the park had just opened. Her mom was off to the side watching, which again made me wonder why I was even here.
    “They’re kids. Do you really think they notice?” Whitney was