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I respected her for it, even though I’d never given Abey that impression. That was wrong, too, and it was something I needed her to know.

“I’m sorry I did what I did, Athena, and I have to make it right. To Mr. Graves and to Abey and myself. Maybe you could think about how you might make things up to this Jenny girl.”

My little nugget of advice seemed to sit well with Abey’s mom. She nodded at me, but Athena twisted her lips into a pout and crossed her arms. “Fine.”

“Good,” Bax said. “Now, that’s enough talk about that. Wanna skip rocks? I bet I can get mine farther than yours.”

“Nuh uh!” Athena jumped up and took off toward the lake.

Bax followed, but he turned back. “C’mon, Mama. Show us how it’s done.”

Abey’s mom stood, dusting crumbs off her jeans, and followed Bax and Athena to the edge of the lake.

“Wanna go for a walk?” Abey asked me, and she held out her hand.

Reaching up, I took hold of it, and she hauled me off the ground. “Sure.”

I followed when she pulled me over a crop of large boulders, crumbling rocks, and up a dirt path, and we climbed higher into thicker forest.

“I meant what I said, you know.”

“I know,” she said, still pulling me behind her. “C’mon.”

She was surefooted, and I was a panting mess, trying to keep up with her long strides. After a little while, she noticed and slowed her pace, and we wandered off the trail. Once we were far enough away that the others couldn’t see us if they looked, she led me into a secluded area beneath the huge roots of a tree on the side of the steep hill in front of us. The thick roots wound through the dirt and acted like a roof above us, and there were three large boulders framing the area. It felt like we were in a cave, except the sun blazed high above, and it lit up the tree’s already changing leaves. The glow of the cottonwood’s fall foliage basked Abey’s face in a warm golden light.

As she backed up to the dirt wall behind her, I asked, “What’s your mom’s name? I just realized you didn’t tell me.”

She laughed. “I didn’t?”

I shook my head.

Reaching for my belt loops, she pulled me against her body. “It’s Mervella. Most people call her Merv, if you can believe that. My daddy used to call her Vella.”

“She seems nice,” I said as I fitted my hands over her hips and lifted up on my toes to reach her lips.

I thought she would kiss me, but she became still. Her face scrunched up in confusion. It was absolutely adorable. “Are you kiddin’?”

“No. Why would I joke?”

She shrugged. “She’s such a grouch sometimes that I guess I don’t see her as ‘nice.’”

“Well, it’s clear she loves you guys.”

“Can we not talk about moms right now? I was puttin’ all my best moves on you.”

“Oh.” I laughed. “Okay.”

“C’mere,” she said, pulling me closer, her eyes fixed on my lips. “I’ve wanted to kiss these lips all day.”

“Really? Even though I’m a criminal?”

“Yes,” she said. “And it got worse when you spilled water all over your shirt.” Her eyes flicked lower, right to the still-wet spot. “I kept tryin’ to imagine what was underneath.”

A smile played at the edges of my mouth. “Oh, really?”

“Yes,” she said again, touching her lips to mine.

“You sure you wanna be doin’ this when your family is fifty yards away?”