go with twice；〃 I suggested； thinking of the pile I'd just
been assigned today。
He sighed a heavy sigh。 Then he reached over his toolbox to a paper grocery
sack。 He pulled out two
cans of soda； cracking one open and handing it to me。 He opened the second；
and held it up
ceremoniously。
〃Here's to responsibility；〃 he toasted。 〃Twice a week。〃
〃And recklessness every day in between；〃 I emphasized。
He grinned and touched his can to mine。
I got home later than I'd planned and found Charlie had ordered a pizza rather
than wait for me。 He
wouldn't let me apologize。
〃I don't mind；〃 he assured me。 〃You deserve a break from all the cooking；
anyway。〃
I knew he was just relieved that I was still acting like a normal person； and
he was not about to rock the
boat。
I checked my e…mail before I started on my homework； and there was a long one
from Renee。 She
gushed over every detail I'd provided her with； so I sent back another
exhaustive description of my day。
Everything but the motorcycles。 Even happy…go…lucky Renee was likely to be
alarmed by that。
School Tuesday had its ups and downs。 Angela and Mike seemed ready to wele
me back with open
arms—to kindly overlook my few months of aberrant behavior。 Jess was more
resistant。 I wondered if
she needed a formal written apology for the Port Angeles incident。
Mike was animated and chatty at work。 It was like he'd stored up the
semester's worth of talk； and it
was all spilling out now。 I found that I was able to smile and laugh with him；
though it wasn't as effortless
as it was with Jacob。 It seemed harmless enoug