Free A Wish and a Prayer by Beverly Jenkins

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. She’d 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 he’d threatened her. Mal, Trent, and Edison wanted her to call Sheriff Dalton there and then to report the incident, but all she’d 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 Stillwell’s voice. Mal had tried to explain earlier that she couldn’t make life fair, but that didn’t lessen the guilt churning inside.
    She wasn’t planning on pressing charges; not of fear but out of not wanting to add more weight to the heavy burden Stillwell was already shouldering. He’d had his livestock foreclosed on, no way to pay his child’s tuition, and he’d looked upon the oil money as his saving grace. Were she in his shoes, she’d’ve lashed out at the closest target around too—which 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, he’d see the rightness of the stance taken against the oil company by a majority of his neighbors. His anger aside, she’d 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 teen’s face when she saw Bernadine sent the blues packing. “Hey, Mom.”
    Bernadine had officially adopted Crystal during the Christmas holidays, and it was one of the best presents she’d ever received. “Hey, Crys. I thought you’d be chilling. What are you working on?”
    â€œMississippi River assignment.”
    Bernadine set her bag on the table. “Knowledge is power.”
    â€œI 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€œNo, I didn’t.”
    â€œSays so right here,” Crystal said, indicating one of the books. “Mr. 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€œSounds deep. How was your day otherwise?”
    â€œOkay. School was okay, too. Eli asked me out on a date last weekend.”
    Bernadine paused. Crystal finally looked up from the drawing she was making of the Mississippi.
    â€œSince this is the first I’m hearing of this, I assume you told him no?”
    â€œI did. Told him we were friends.”
    â€œHow’d he take it?”
    â€œOkay, I guess. He said some dumb stuff after I turned him down, but he was the same old Eli this morning at school.”
    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, “What kind of dumb stuff?”
    â€œJust some dumb stuff about me wanting to date Diego July.”
    Bernadine was swallowing, and then she was choking. “Diego?” she asked after her throat finally cleared. “Why he’d bring up Diego?”
    â€œEli thinks I like him.”
    â€œDo you?”
    Crys shrugged while drawing. “He’s kinda cute.”
    Bernadine didn’t want to make a big deal out of this, but Diego I-steal-cars-and-been-to-jail-a-hundred-times July? Not