did he back out of the drive.
Weary, she cut the engine and sat in the darkness. The confrontation with Stillwell had left her shaken. Sheâd never had such fury directed her way before, and it was scary. She hated to admit it, but Leo had been right. There was at least one person so angry over the outcome of the lawsuit heâd threatened her. Mal, Trent, and Edison wanted her to call Sheriff Dalton there and then to report the incident, but all sheâd wanted was for it to go away, at least for the present. She needed time to think things through. She felt awful. In her mind, she could still hear the pain in Stillwellâs voice. Mal had tried to explain earlier that she couldnât make life fair, but that didnât lessen the guilt churning inside.
She wasnât planning on pressing charges; not of fear but out of not wanting to add more weight to the heavy burden Stillwell was already shouldering. Heâd had his livestock foreclosed on, no way to pay his childâs tuition, and heâd looked upon the oil money as his saving grace. Were she in his shoes, sheâdâve lashed out at the closest target around tooâwhich in this case happened to be herself. She understood that, and hoped that once Stillwell returned home and had the opportunity to view the situation in a calmer frame of mind, heâd see the rightness of the stance taken against the oil company by a majority of his neighbors. His anger aside, sheâd even offer to foot his tax bill and help with tuition if that would allow him and his family to breathe and not lose their land. Exhaling a big sigh, she left the truck and went in the house.
C rystal was seated at the kitchen table, drawing. Colored pencils and opened books were spread out around her. The smile on the teenâs face when she saw Bernadine sent the blues packing. âHey, Mom.â
Bernadine had officially adopted Crystal during the Christmas holidays, and it was one of the best presents sheâd ever received. âHey, Crys. I thought youâd be chilling. What are you working on?â
âMississippi River assignment.â
Bernadine set her bag on the table. âKnowledge is power.â
âI guess, but some of this is kind of interesting. Did you know that one time, way back in the day, the Mississippi flowed backward?â
âNo, I didnât.â
âSays so right here,â Crystal said, indicating one of the books. âMr. James thinks we should learn about the river because of all the flooding on the news. He calls it topical teaching. I call it a lot of work. He gave us each an assignment, and mine is to find out how the river has changed in the past hundred years because of the increase in population.â
âSounds deep. How was your day otherwise?â
âOkay. School was okay, too. Eli asked me out on a date last weekend.â
Bernadine paused. Crystal finally looked up from the drawing she was making of the Mississippi.
âSince this is the first Iâm hearing of this, I assume you told him no?â
âI did. Told him we were friends.â
âHowâd he take it?â
âOkay, I guess. He said some dumb stuff after I turned him down, but he was the same old Eli this morning at school.â
Bernadine got the impression that she might need to delve just a bit further into this, so she went to the fridge and withdrew a bottle of water before asking nonchalantly, âWhat kind of dumb stuff?â
âJust some dumb stuff about me wanting to date Diego July.â
Bernadine was swallowing, and then she was choking. âDiego?â she asked after her throat finally cleared. âWhy heâd bring up Diego?â
âEli thinks I like him.â
âDo you?â
Crys shrugged while drawing. âHeâs kinda cute.â
Bernadine didnât want to make a big deal out of this, but Diego I-steal-cars-and-been-to-jail-a-hundred-times July? Not