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back
into a manageable place.
    “Maybe I am.”
    “Okay, grandpa ,” she jokes, and I
feel the anger boiling up again—mainly because she has no idea how
close to the truth she is.
    “You are either like her, with about twelve
different personalities,” I spit, “or you’re just plain
schizophrenic. Either way, certifiably insane.”
    With that, I stride to my truck, annoyance
radiating from me in waves. I glance back while driving away, and
if I didn’t know better, I would almost swear Niahm looks as if she
feels the smallest bit of regret for baiting me.
    She has no idea how close she came to
forbidden territory.
     
     

Chapter 7

Niahm
     
    “You are my sunshine…” The booming, off-key
song comes from the front porch. I light up at the sound, pushing
away the slight irritation at their lateness. They were supposed to
be here early this morning. It’s now nearly noon.
    “My only sunshine,” I holler back, jumping
up from the gray-carpeted floor where I’d been lying, watching
TV.
    “You make me happy,” the male voice cracks
on the high note.
    “When skies are gray.” I pull the front door
open.
    “You’ll never know, dear—” he sings,
extremely off-key, with a wide grin.
    “—how much I love you,” I join in with him,
“Please don’t take my sunshine away.”
    I launch myself into my father’s arms, which
close around me in a bear hug.
    “You two are beyond ridiculous,” my mother
says, grinning at us both. I release him and throw my arms around
her. She’s right, and I would never in a million years admit to my
friends this strange little coming-home ritual we have. I would
miss it if we were to stop—almost as much as I miss them when
they’re gone.
    “I’m so glad you’re home,” I say with
absolute sincerity.
    “You know, honey, I’ll sing with you anytime
you want. It doesn’t just have to be on our homecoming.”
    “And have them run us out of town?” I tease.
My father is well known for his completely off-key, tone-deaf
voice, which he happily shares at the drop of a hat. “How was the
sphinx?”
    “Beautiful, as always,” they intone
together.
    “You guys spend way too much time together,”
I grimace, watching as my father drops to vigorously rub the sides
of Bob’s neck, letting Bob lick his face unheeded. “And that’s
really gross, dad. I wish you wouldn’t let him do that. Then he
thinks he can do it to anyone.”
    “How did everything go while we were gone?”
Mom asks, giving my father’s shoulder a little push to move him
into the house, as he completely ignores me, not pushing Bob
away.
    “Great. No problems. Got two new horses in
the stable.”
    “Oh yeah? Who bought new horses?” Dad
asks.
    “The people who just moved into the Stanton
place.”
    That stops them both in their tracks. I have
their complete attention now; my father even pushes Bob down off
him, Mom stops trying to get him to move. Bob gives a snort of
disgust then tromps happily off, probably to chase butterflies.
    “Someone bought that old, rundown place?” my
mother asks at the same moment my father says, “Someone moved into
town?”
    “Yes and yes.”
    “Okay, spill,” Mom exhorts, practically
pushing me back into the house, followed closely by my father.
    “Guy named Shane Coleman, and his nephew
Sam.”
    “Uh-oh,” my father says. “What have they
done to offend you already?”
    I hate that my father can read me so
well.
    “Nothing. Shane is really nice, from what
little dealing I’ve had with him.”
    “The nephew, then,” my mother says to
him.
    “Do I need to pull out the shotgun?” my dad
asks. I laugh aloud at the thought of my father with a gun in his
hands. I myself can shoot a pop can dead-center from a hundred
yards, but he would not even know how to load the bullets.
    “No, he’s not that bad.”
    “Let me guess,” my mother says, opening the
fridge to pull out a bottle of water. “He’s your age, or close to
it, good-looking, and all the