Rae followed Kylee to the laundry room at the back of the house, Gerrit close behind. He bumbled along like an elephant on a tightrope, and she shook her head. He was probably twice the size Papa Tom had been, and twice the trouble, but she was starting to love him almost the same. She couldn’t help it.
With a flourish, Kylee swung open the laundry room door, revealing five black-and-white puppies yipping at, stumbling over, and head-butting each other in a roiling, furry mass of ears and limbs and tails.
Gerrit’s eyes grew wide, and he took a step back. “They’re so small. And noisy.”
“They’re eight weeks.” Kylee shrugged. “Ready to go to their new homes. I’ll let you get acquainted.”
She waved Gerrit into the room and closed the door after him, locking him away with the puppies so none of them could escape. The two girls stood alone in the hallway. Kylee turned to face Rae and waited.
Rae’s heart suddenly beat a little faster. So many things to say. So many regrets.
“Green, huh?”
Kylee touched her hair. “It turned out way darker than I expected.”
“I like it.”
“Thanks.”
“Look, Kylee, I—”
“I shouldn’t have been so hard on you.” Kylee threw up her hands. “I’m sorry.”
“No.” Rae waved her friend’s words away. “I’m the one who’s sorry. I know you would never go behind my back and try to steal David. I was stupid.”
Kylee rolled her tongue ring around in her mouth. “I was only trying to help.”
Rae hung her head. “I know.”
“You were different with him. Happier. Like all that stuff with your parents and”—air quotes again—“The Plan wasn’t so important anymore.”
Rae rubbed her temples, a headache forming. She needed to get home soon and rest, but not before she said what she came here to say.
“I’m starting to realize The Plan isn’t all I thought it was.” She met Kylee’s gaze. “Instead of making my life easier, it made it way more complicated. And you’re my best friend, Ky. I’ve been miserable without you. Please, will you forgive me?”
Kylee scrutinized her for a long moment, then nodded. “So.” She grinned wickedly. “Have you kissed him yet?”
Rae huffed in exaggerated exasperation. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“You have, haven’t you?”
“No.”
“But you want to.”
Rae made a face. She’d had several long talks with David since the accident, and each one had put more butterflies in her stomach than the last. They’d agreed to take their relationship slow—very slow—but . . . “Maybe.”
“I knew it,” Kylee shouted in triumph. “I’ll turn you into a normal teenager yet, Rae. Just wait and see.”
Rae smiled. It was what she had prayed for last night. That Kylee would be willing to accept her apology and that they could pick up where they’d left off. Maybe it had worked. Maybe this was what that whole “harvest” thing meant. That you get out what you put in. If you plant anger and suspicion, you harvest misery. Yep. She’d experienced that firsthand. And if you plant reconciliation, forgiveness, hope—there was no telling what good things might come out of it.
Rae glanced around the house. “Your parents out of town again?”
“Yeah. My stepdad doesn’t really like me tagging along on their little adventures, so . . .”
“So dinner at my house tonight?”
Kylee hesitated.
Rae folded her hands under her chin and batted her eyelashes. “Please?”
“You’re such a dork.” Kylee laughed. “Okay, fine.”
A yelp came from the laundry room, and Rae and Kylee exchanged a look. It was impossible to tell whether the sound had come from a puppy or Gerrit.
“Do you think they’re okay in there?” Rae asked.
Kylee shrugged. “He’s really getting a puppy for that Morgan kid?”
Rae nodded. “You would like him. Maybe we could all hang out sometime. Me and you, David and Morgan.”
Kylee gave her a long look before cracking a half smile. “Maybe.”
Another yelp made Rae jump, and she jerked her chin at the laundry room. “We better go check on them.”
Kylee opened the door, and Rae giggled. When was the last time she’d actually giggled? Gerrit was sitting on the floor, his long legs stretched awkwardly in front of him, five puppies crawling over him like he was a jungle gym.
His hair stuck out in all directions, and panic flashed in his eyes. “Help.”
She and Kylee gently nudged the puppies off him and helped him to his feet. He appeared thoroughly terrorized.
“What do you think?” Kylee asked.
He brushed himself off, muttering something about sharp teeth.
Rae picked up the puppy with the chubbiest belly and nuzzled its face. Who could resist that puppy smell? “I think they’re cute.”
Gerrit protested. “They’re nothing but bullies.”
Kylee smirked and moved toward the door. “Well, if you don’t want one . . .”
“Now hold on.” He pointed at the runt of the litter. “I kind of like that guy.”
The puppy was more black than white and at least a third smaller than the rest, but he had shoved one of his siblings’ heads into the ground with his front paws and pinned it down. Rae set the chubby one down and picked up the runt.
“This guy? He seems a little wild.” He squirmed in her hands and attempted a growl. She caught Gerrit’s eye and smiled. “Morgan will love him.”
GERRIT BANGED ON the steering wheel and shouted, “You couldn’t wait five seconds? You had to pull out right in front of me?”
The newfangled silver Prius ahead of him drove on unaffected. Gerrit grumbled. This was a bad idea. What if Morgan wasn’t home?
Then again, what if he was?
“What street do I turn on again?” he asked himself and glanced around for the scrap of paper on which Rae had written the directions. Then he narrowed his eyes at the puppy sprawled on the seat beside him. “Don’t even think about it.”
The puppy looked at the scrap of paper as if it might make a good lunch. Gerrit snatched it away. The little runt growled, if you could call it a growl, and gnawed on the seat belt instead.
“Stop that.”
The puppy did
