Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 102079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
“Matthew, should Sarah manage the farm stand this summer?” my mom called in his direction.
Matt said, “Yes,” while Isaac said, “No.”
But nobody asked for Isaac’s opinion.
And I had no intention of saying yes until Isaac shared his unpopular opinion. He didn’t want me around the ranch all summer.
The “farm stand” sounded simplistic, but it was a fully enclosed shed just off the road at the end of the Corys’ long lane. It had windows, a bathroom in the corner, a register, a deep freezer with meat and raw dairy products, and shelves of farm goods: eggs, jams, honey, beeswax candles, and baked goods Violet made fresh every morning.
“It would be easier to make this decision if I weren’t so distracted by my disappointment over missing my senior prom.” I dropped my chin and folded my hands, twiddling my thumbs.
“Sarah,” Dad said with a stern tone.
“Honey, let’s talk about this at home,” Mom suggested.
Was it okay for her to use Matt to guilt me into saying yes, but not okay for me to use my form of persuasion?
“Gabby and Eve are in the car, so we’re all adults. Let’s talk about it now.” My buzz was gone, but there seemed to be some residual bravery dictating my words. “If you all raised us so well, then where is your trust in us, in yourselves, and in God that we can handle a school dance? Newsflash: we drive cars with radios. Don’t you think we’ve heard all the sinful songs? And the dance will be chaperoned. No one’s going to get pregnant on the dance floor. And I’m sure I still have a curfew despite being eighteen.” I stopped short of rolling my eyes, but I wanted to.
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
Our gazes shifted to the porch steps where Isaac sat, slowly clapping.
“Bravo. I think Sarah should go to law school instead of Matty. That was a brilliant case she made.”
“Shut up.” Matt smacked Isaac on the back of the head, and Isaac snickered.
“What if Mom volunteers to chaperone?” I added.
Mom squinted at me, but I kept a pleasant, unaffected smile.
“Janet,” my dad said her name in a rare moment of deferring a decision to her.
“I’ll volunteer too,” Violet added.
I bit back my grin, and so did Matt.
“Okay,” Mom murmured with a nervous smile.
“Okay,” I said. “Since that’s decided, I think I’ll accept the job at the farm stand.”
Everyone seemed happy with the state of affairs—except Satan.
CHAPTER FOUR
MADONNA, “LIKE A VIRGIN”
“Totally awesome!” Heather squealed as soon as I told her about prom.
I held the phone to my ear while doing sit-ups on my bedroom floor. “We have to go shopping next weekend for a dress. I bet there’s nothing left since everyone else has picked the good ones. And don’t you have weights? I need to do some butterflies to make my chest bigger.”
Heather laughed. “Why do you need a bigger chest?”
“If I tell you, you can’t tell anyone, and I mean anyone. Not even Joanna.”
“I swear. Now, tell me.”
I stopped exercising and untangled the phone cord from around my waist. “Earlier, when we were eating Easter dinner at Matt’s house—oh my gosh, Heather, so much happened. I don’t know where to start. First, Isaac still smokes.”
“Well, duh. He’s twenty-four, and he was in the Army. Of course, he still smokes.”
I deflated at my naivety. “Also, he poured some sort of booze from a flask into his glass of Coke, and he offered it to Eve, so I freaked out and took it from him, guzzling it down all at once.”
“Oh my gosh, are you totally being serious?”
“Yes.” I proceeded to tell her everything, and when I finished, the line was silent. “Heather?”
“Isaac thinks you and Matt have had sex?”
I twirled the phone cord like a jump rope, every nerve in my body rapidly firing. “I don’t know if he believed me, but yeah, he might.”
“What did Matt say when you told him?”
I cringed. “I haven’t told him yet.”
“Sarah! What if Isaac says something to Matt? You’ll look like a liar to both of them. You have to tell Matt.”
“I can’t tell Matt; he’ll be mad that I was lying to his brother.”
“Why did you lie to Isaac?”
I sighed, falling onto my back again. “Because Isaac is older and more experienced. And I’m eighteen, but I have the least experience of everyone. And it’s embarrassing.”
“Your dad’s the preacher at the only church in Devil’s Head. You know that even if you weren’t a virgin, everyone would assume you were.”
“What’s it like?” I wrapped the cord around my finger.
“What’s what like?”
“You know.”
Heather laughed. “I’ve told you this so many times. It was fine. Weird. But good. I feel like Travis came quickly, but what do I know?”
“Was it wet?” I asked with an unavoidable grin.
“The condom?”
“Was it wet before the condom?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t want to touch it.”