for me.â Jodi slumped against the counter. âI canât sleep nights, thinking of how it must have been for you when I didnât answer your calls or return your e-mails. I want to make it up to you, and I thought if I helped out with the storeâ¦â
âWell, Iâd like that, honey.â Her mom set the second shirt on top of the first one and folded her hands. âBut I thought you wanted to work with horses somehow, and if thereâs one thing Iâve learned in all this, itâs that you should do the things you love. You can only go so long living your life for other people.â
âI know. And Iâm going to start a therapy riding clinic eventually, if I can raise the funds. Itâll take it a while to get off the ground.â Jodi rounded the counter and pulled a shirt from the box. Clumsily, she tried to emulate her motherâs quick folding technique. âSo I thought Iâd at least help you set up a system to deal with the Internet orders. I took some computer classes in school.â
âWell, that would sure help. And working togetherâ¦â Her mom bit her lip and ducked her head as if the shirts suddenly required her full attention. âIt would be nice.â
Jodi smiled. Throughout her nearly six-year brat-fit, her mother had never complained, never stopped calling, never stopped trying. And now that they were reconciled, sheâd never ask for anythingâbut it was obvious Jodi had hit on the one thing that would mean the most to her.
âI think itâll be nice, too, Mom.â
âBut take a week or so to settle in. Have you seen any of your old friends? I guess most of them have left.â
âI saw Teague,â Jodi said.
âTeague.â Her mother pronounced the name the way most people would say maggot infestation or uncontrolled vomiting . âOf course heâs still here.â
Jodi swallowed back a snappy retort. Her mother had never liked the Treadwells. Keeping her distance from Teagueâs parents was understandable, but it wasnât Teagueâs fault his folks had been the town drunk and the village floozy.
âHe looks like heâs doing really well.â
âYou saw him already?â
âAt the Rexall.â Jodi got up and examined some belts on a nearby rack so her mother wouldnât see her face flushing. âI ran into him yesterday, right after I got to town.â She unhooked a belt from a display rack. It looked like an obsessive/compulsive BeDazzler had attacked an innocent piece of leather with pink and blue rhinestones. âHe was dressed really nice.â
âYou can dehorn the devil and dress him in feathers, but heâs still no angel.â Her mom pulled another shirt from the box. âThat boy canât hide who he is. He canât even raise civilized livestock. Why anyone would raise bucking horses on purpose is beyond me.â
âItâs for the rodeo, Mom. And besides, itâs not just Teagueâs clothes that have changed. He has a really nice house, too.â
Her mother widened her eyes. âYou went to his house ?â
âJustâjust to drop off Troy.â Jodi turned her attention back to the belt, but her hands were shaking so much she dropped it. Bending to pick it up, she returned it to the rack. âTeagueâs an old friend, Mom. I was just visiting.â
âJodi, listen.â Her mom put the shirt down and rested her elbows on the counter. âYou know I love you, and I want whatâs best for you.â
Jodi nodded reluctantly. In all her plans to reconcile with her mother, sheâd conjured up memories of the fun things theyâd done together over the yearsâshopping, baking cookies, even a birthday trip to Vegas when sheâd turned sixteen. Sheâd conveniently forgotten the inevitable downside of their relationshipâthe lectures. They were picking up right where theyâd left