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from under the tractor seat. “It has a name, you know. What Mom’s got.”
    â€œYou mean why she won’t leave the house?”
    â€œYeah. She has agoraphobia,” J.T. said. “She’s afraid of having another panic attack in public, so she doesn’t want to go anywhere. She only feels safe in the house. I talked to Miss Laurie, my counselor at Cliffside, about it.”
    â€œI didn’t know it had a name,” Kate said. “I know she takes medicine.”
    J.T. caught his sister’s eyes. “We have to help her, Kate. Grandma can’t keep coming up here all the way from North Carolina. She’s got a life with Grandpa. He needs her, too. I know that Mom is their only child, but we can’t expect Grandma to give up her life for us.”
    Kate’s lips remained parted. Her brother’s compassion was unbelievable.
    â€œWait!” she said when he started walking away. It had been nine long months since they’d had a conversation, and there was a lot she wanted to talk about. “I wanted to tell you that I got an e-mail from Brady on my birthday.”
    â€œNo!” J.T. snapped, stopping abruptly and whirling around. “Do
not
be mentioning Brady to me—or Digger either! Do you hear?”
    Surprised, Kate drew back.
    â€œSorry,” J.T. said quickly, lowering his voice. “I didn’t mean to yell. And I’m sorry I didn’t write to you.” He lifted his hands and then let them drop. “I didn’t know what to say.”
    â€œYou could’ve just told me what you did,” Kate suggested gently, recalling how desperate she’d been for even the tiniest bit of information. She lifted her shoulders. “Like what you had for breakfast—”
    â€œBut I didn’t want to talk about it,” J.T. said, cutting her off. “I
still
don’t, so just let it go, okay?”
    â€œOkay,” Kate instantly agreed. But she couldn’t help herself. When he walked away, she trotted after him. “Can I tell you something I did? That Mom doesn’t know?”
    â€œWhat? About sending the trumpet?” J.T. asked, smacking at a deerfly on his arm while he kept moving. “I knew you did it behind Mom’s back.”
    â€œYou did?” Kate was surprised.
    â€œOf course I knew.”
    But how?
Kate wondered, slowing down. And why hadn’t he thanked her?
    â€œWell, that’s not it!” she called after him.
    J.T. kept going.
    â€œI became a vegetarian,” Kate declared when she caught up to him.
    Her brother finally stopped and stared at her. “What?”
    Kate nodded vigorously. “Yeah. I don’t eat meat.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œI saw a film, J.T. It showed how they slaughter animals—how
awful
it is. Not just the chickens, but the cows and the pigs—and the lambs. I cried so hard. I swore I’d never eat meat again. I wish no one would eat meat.”
    Her brother’s face softened. “Kate,” he said, opening his hands. “You
live
on a chicken farm!”
    â€œI know.” Kate screwed up her face. “
I know!
”
    â€œMom hasn’t noticed?”
    She shook her head. “Grandma hasn’t either. Jess is the only one I told.”
    â€œAre you getting protein and stuff?”
    â€œSure, it’s not a problem. I researched it. I eat a lot of peanut butter and beans. It’s easy, ’cause I’m the one who does the food shopping
and
most of the cooking when Grandma’s not here. Did you know that? Every other month, she goes home to North Carolina. I go to the grocery store with Jess’s mom. I take the bags and everything.”
    J.T. stared at her. “You didn’t tell me that.”
    â€œIt’s hard sometimes,” Kate went on, glad to have a sympathetic ear. “Like when we drop Jess off for a piano lesson on our way to the Food Lion. Nobody else I know has a mother who