He went down the inside stairs and smelled the toast and eggs that wafted through the house. In the kitchen, Tallia stood at the stove with over easy eggs before her. Dylan and Danny sat at the table, quietly eating their eggs.

"Good morning, Alex. I hope you like your eggs over easy. Your toast will be done in a few seconds." Tallia put his eggs on a plate and set them before him. Toast popped up and soon these were also set before him.

Tallia finished her own eggs and sat down beside Dylan. She cast a doubtful glance at the stairs. "Alex, do you know if Michelle is up yet? Usually she’s one of the first ones up." Tallia looked intently at Alex and he felt as if she already knew about the disgraceful deed that he did last night.

"Um, I thought that she was up but I could’ve been mistaken," he lied, forcing a smile to his lips.

"Talking about Michelle, you guys were sure out late last night. All alone with a full moon," quipped Danny with a lewd wink. "Did the full moon affect you guys, Alex?"

Alex flushed crimson because of how close Danny was to the truth with out even knowing it. The boyish comment made Dylan react too. He threw down his fork and glared first at Danny and then, to Alex’s discomfort, at him. There was a fire in the older man’s eyes that Alex could not explain. Then Tallia spoke and broke the tension that had formed between the two men.

"Danny! I don’t ever want to hear you speak that way about your sister or a guest. Because you decided to be so witty, you can practice your wit on the dirty dishes while you wash them." The woman of the house finished her plate, put it in the sink and walked deeper into the house to begin the daily clean up.

Alex didn’t linger much longer. As he walked out the door, he could feel Michelle’s father’s eyes on his back and the look didn’t feel friendly. He left the kitchen as quickly as possible and went outside.

His first thought was to go to the barn but he stopped himself, knowing that that would have been the first place Michelle would have gone to. Then he figured he’d run into her sooner or later and trudged to the large building.

The door was already open and the sunlight filtered through the dust motes and hay. At first he didn’t see her, but then he heard her voice. She didn’t know he was in the barn yet because he didn’t have to open the huge door. He stood stock still and strained his ears to catch a few words of what she was saying to her four footed friend.

". . . don’t understand why. . . said he lost control but. . . it hurt me and I don’t know if I can trust him anymore," were some of the whispered fragments that drifted to Alex’s intruding ears. Her desperation struck his very heart. That and the hopelessness that he heard in her voice. Alex was reluctant to barge into the barn but he had an urge to speak to her.

Michelle swiftly got to her feet when she heard the rustle of disrupted hay. Alex could see Fancy’s ears twitch and her soft whuffle greeted him when he leaned on the stall door.

He looked at Michelle’s face with an intense scrutiny that made her shift beneath his gaze. Her eyes shifted away from his like quicksilver, never meeting but always trying. There was a tightness around her mouth and eyes, belying the uneasiness that she was trying to hide.

"Morning, Michelle."

The girl looked up and met Alex’s eyes with a look of such betrayal that it was like a slap across his face. She was still civil though.

"Good. . . good morning, Alex," she replied. She fixed her clothes absent-mindedly.

"Fancy’s looking good. Are you going to ride her tomorrow?" Alex was desperately trying to reach a common ground on which Michelle would relax. It worked.

"Actually no, I was planning on lounging her tomorrow just to get her working again," Michelle explained. "I might take her on a light ride day after tomorrow, but it’ll just be around the arena."

Alex couldn’t think of anything to say. Michelle looked uncomfortable again and tried to get past Alex and leave the stall. He stood his ground, trying to make Michelle brush past him but when she just retreated with none of her usual spirit it hit him like a rock and he walked out of the barn. The look in the girl’s face was like that of a broken horse, not liking what had happened and yet having no choice but to accept

She followed behind him out of the barn and walked ahead of him in the direction of the glen. She made it clear that his following her was not expected nor hoped for.

Alex called out to her and ran to catch up. He grasped her arm and tried to pull her into a loose embrace, not knowing what else to do, but she struck out like a wild cat, breaking loose and stumbling a few steps away.

Then, out of nowhere, Aaron appeared. He could see in Michelle’s relieved expression that someone was nearby and so he turned around. And came face to face with a huge fist. It connected with his left cheek and knocked the boy flat on his rear. Aaron stood over him and then hauled him up by his shirtfront.

"If I ever see or hear of you touching my goddaughter again with out her permission, I’ll do more than just knock a few teeth loose," the old man snarled. He abruptly let go of Alex and the boy fell hard on his back. Aaron walked to Michelle and wrapped her in his arms trying to guide her away from Alex. The old man wasn’t in the least bit concerned about Alex’s welfare.

Alex watched as Michelle kissed Aaron on the forehead and gestured for him to go about his business. The cowboy reluctantly walked towards the workers’ quarters, throwing one savage look at Alex – a warning.

The teen didn’t get off his back until he was sure that Aaron couldn’t reach him. Even then he inched his way onto his knees and only then to his feet. There was no reason for Alex not to take Aaron’s threat seriously. He cast a look to Michelle and she came over and brushed off his back for him. He heard a choking sound behind him and turned around to see Michelle fighting the laughter that was bubbling up inside her, the peals of laughter helping to relieve the pressure that she’d felt.

"I’m glad I could finally make you happy, even if it wasn’t the way that I had in mind," he said with a rueful grin.

Michelle abruptly stopped laughing and frowned an unsettling frown, her deep blue eyes boring into his very soul. She took one hesitant step closer and stopped.

"Let’s go to the glen. We have a lot of – talking – to do." Abruptly she turned and began walking to the glen.

It was a pleasant walk, one that Alex had never taken before. He had always taken this trail on horseback. From a human’s perspective though the trail was totally different. He noticed colorful flowers that had never caught his eye before. The trees seemed more impressive and loomed much more now that he was four to five feet shorter.

Alex tried to stay a respectful yard or so behind Michelle but she didn’t seem to notice. The hike was about thirty minutes since they had to use their own feet but to Alex the minutes flew by thanks to the anxiety that he was feeling about the forthcoming discussion.

When they arrived, Michelle occupied a large tree’s root system and used it as a chair. Alex chose to sit in the middle of the small glen, in the open and trying to show Michelle that he going to be open with her. For a while they just sat there, no words being exchanged. Alex began to wonder if Michelle had forgotten that he was there. Then he was aware of eyes on him, blue eyes. He looked into them as long as he could but, like always, he was the first to look away. Whatever Michelle saw in his eyes, she seemed to like for a smile graced her lips and for the first time in the past ten hours Michelle seemed happy.

"I’m not going to claim to understand why you did what you did, Alex, because I don’t know whether I can understand. But I do understand one thing – I love you immensely. And I think that you love me too.

"What happened last night," she paused and closed her eyes for a moment, "shook my trust in you and my faith in our relationship. But. . . I know it will never happen again. I know this because of the look in your eyes. It is so filled with remorse that I feel bad when I see it." Michelle slid out of the root chair and walked on her knees until she was directly in front Alex. Again she looked into him, as if checking to make sure that what she saw before was still there.

"I was scared last night, Alex, because of how strong my own feelings were. If I hadn’t sworn to myself that I would wait for that special night then I would have been hard pressed to stop you. I want you as much as you want me, Alex, make no mistake about it. But if you love me, you’ll wait for me and accept my decision. We’ll have our whole lives to hold each other, Alex, okay?" She was pleading with him but the look in her eyes said he either accepted the restrictions or rejected her altogether. That was something he would never – could never – do.

"How could I possibly say no to you, Michelle?" he complained. He reached for her hands out of habit, only realizing too late that she abhorred his touch. But when his fingers touched her hands, she grasped his hands with all the warmth of before. She smiled into his eyes and all was forgiven, if never forgotten.

Michelle could tell that Alex wanted more than just the hand holding but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to chance that desire she saw growing in his eyes. She began to wonder if she got that look in her eyes when she looked at him. She was going to ask him but the moment was too perfect and she didn’t want to embarrass him.

While she was thinking, Alex had removed his hands from hers and taken off the class ring that he wore on his right hand. Before Michelle knew what was going on he had slipped it on her left hand where the wedding ring would reside in a few years. It was a lot like her class ring and her parents probably wouldn’t notice that it wasn’t. She left it where Alex had put it.

When Michelle initiated the hug it surprised Alex so much that he didn’t even hug her back.

"Well, aren’t you going to hug me, Alex?" Michelle mumbled into his neck. She sighed when she felt his arms close around her waist and relaxed against him like old times. She softly kissed his cheek and then stood up, pulling Alex up after her.

They walked along the small stream that ran through the glen until Michelle was forced to admit to her hunger due to her rumbling stomach. When Alex finally noticed, he gave her a stern look and herded her back to the big house to get some food.

"Your mom told me that you hadn’t eaten but with all that happened, I’d forgotten," Alex remonstrated.

Michelle didn’t put up a fight and meekly went where he told her to go. She had to admit to herself that she was definitely hungry.

"Alex--," Michelle started, but the question got stuck in her throat and she stopped, embarrassed at what she had been thinking. "Umm, never mind. I. . . forgot what I was going to say." She looked away, hoping that he wouldn’t press the subject.

"What?" He did.

"Oh, nothing. It’s not important. It’s actually pretty stupid."

Alex looked at her quizzically. "Well, it must be something because you’re red as a beet. And you only get this way when you have an embarrassing question, usually embarrassing to me. But I’m in an especially good mood for some reason so. . ." He gesticulated with his hand, motioning her to go on with her inquiry.

"It’s just that you put this ring on my hand in a very meaningful spot and I," she paused for the fear that she was sounding childish and dense. "I was wondering if you put it there for a reason." Michelle looked up at Alex through her lashes as if they could protect her from an undesirable response.

Alex didn’t stop, or hug her or even break his long, smooth stride. He didn’t seem to be thinking about the question at all and Michelle began to doubt herself. She felt his eyes on her though and the current coursed through her body again. She refused to look at him and let him know how much turmoil he had put her in. She wasn’t sure how she would react if the ring meant what a ring on that finger usually meant. She still had a year of high school; Alex had graduated the past year. She was looking forward to a long eight-year college plan and she wasn’t sure if a family would fit into those plans. If Alex asked though. . .

His voice broke through her thoughts. "What do you think the reason would be, Michelle?" he vaguely asked.

Michelle felt a jab of anger. If I knew for certain, do you think I’d be asking? she thought harshly. She looked at him and tried to find any hint of sarcasm or mockery and could only find uncertainty. He had asked her because he wasn’t sure himself. And he wanted to know if she would accept without having to actually ask. Michelle wasn’t going to let him off the hook that easy.

"If I knew do you think I would be asking," she shot back acerbically.

Alex crinkled up his nose like he did when he was exasperated with her, but his eyes acknowledged the gauntlet she had tossed at his feet. That was the thing she liked about her city slicker - he was always up for a challenge.

"I understand," he started in an overly patient tone, the one that drove Michelle up the wall, "that inbreeding can dull the wits after a long period of time, but even the most backward hick down in the bowels of Mississippi knows what a proposal looks like." His eyes were straight ahead, neither looking left nor right. There was a wry twist to his lips.

Michelle sucked in air to keep her from ruining the ‘friendly’ bantering. "If this even remotely resembled a proposal, trust me, I would’ve recognized it." She paused to see how far she should take. "I mean, after being proposed to by Johnny-," she teased.

Alex spun her around so she was looking right at him. Through a clenched jaw he said, "What, do I have to get down on bended knee for you, Michelle? Is that what Johnny did? I will, you know. I’d write it in the sky, I’d say it from a thirty story building with a Mega-phone, any way to get you to say yes." An intense light burned in his eyes and it sent shivers down Michelle’s back. She felt that it was no longer time for levity.

"Alex," she began gently, "I was just kidding. You’re the first guy to propose to me, albeit clumsily." She flashed him a supportive smile. Now came the hard part. "But you have to understand that I still have nine years of schooling to go and it’s not going to be fun. Not for you at least. I’m going to have to eat, breath, and live school. That wouldn’t be fair to you." She wasn’t sure if she had gotten her point across or not.

"So is that a yes," Alex asked with barely contained glee. It was clear to Michelle that she hadn’t gotten her point across.

"Well, you’d have to live with that-," Michelle looked doubtful and shrugged but Alex whooped and picked her up, twirling her in circles.

"God, Michelle! I thought you were actually going to refuse-"

"I was," Michelle said softly. She refused to look at him as he roughly set her feet on the ground. When she did finally glance at him, he was staring at her like she was a hideous monster. Then his face fell and Michelle could tell that he was crushed. His breathing was ragged and Michelle wished he hadn’t asked her.

"Alex, it’s not that I don’t," she began.

Alex ruthlessly cut her off. "It’s not what, Michelle? That you don’t love me? That you don’t care enough for me to share your life with me? It’s not what?" he practically spat at her.

Michelle swung her head around helplessly. "Alex, I just think that we should talk about it. I mean, I’m seventeen! How can I possibly be expected to decide the rest of my life in one day? You have no right to expect that of me, Alex Rave."

"But Michelle, if we love each other, there’s no risk," he said in a wheedling voice. "Besides, look at your family. Your grandparents and your parents got married right out of high school and everything worked out."

"We’re not them. There are a lot of complications now a days. I still don’t know whether I’m going to have to go out of state to go to college. I never have heard you mention what you have in mind for your future. How can we plan our futures together when we don’t even know our plans for ourselves yet?" Michelle paused and took Alex’s hand in her own. "Come on. We’ll go eat and talk about it." At Alex’s disgusted look Michelle bristled. "Don’t you get all stand offish with me, mister. A proposal isn’t supposed to pressure me into marrying you. And if you keep acting like an only child who hasn’t gotten his way instead of the adult that you are. . ." She left the threat hanging.

Alex glanced at her with another disgusted grimace but refrained from speaking. Michelle just sighed exasperatedly and continued walking with Alex’s hand clenched in a knuckle-crunching fist.

Alex sat at the table and watched Michelle make her breakfast. When she sat down at the table Alex leaned back in his chair and refused to speak first. So Michelle let him stew in his own obstinacy.

He didn’t seem truly angry. He just seemed thwarted. Michelle could see that he hadn’t expected her to tell him that she needed more time. She stubbornly pushed down the thought that she hadn’t asked for more time, she’d said no. Either way, Alex had stopped thinking with his head and Michelle wouldn’t tolerate it. So she let him sit.

Michelle ate a leisurely breakfast and drank two glasses of orange juice; she also cleaned up the kitchen before speaking to Alex.

"Alex, it’s just that I need more time to-"

"Oh, now you just need more time? I got the impression you were turning me down completely," he threw at her.

Michelle’s blue eyes took on a dangerous glint and her voice became strangely calm, the calm before the storm. "If you keep on this manner I’ll turn you over to your parents and advise them to turn you over their knees and give you a good old-fashioned whooping, like a petulant child deserves. Not to mention make my answer firm." Michelle dared him to speak and didn’t continue talking until he signaled her to. She meanly nodded her thanks. "Now, yes, maybe I did say that I wouldn’t marry you, but I was taken completely by surprise." Alex opened his mouth to protest but Michelle fixed him with an angry scowl. He settled back in his chair and clamped his lips tightly shut. Michelle took a deep breath, reminding Alex of his mother when she was exceptionally angry with him. "And don’t you dare say that we’d pretended before and that I should’ve guessed because pretending was exactly what it was."

Michelle looked away and gathered herself. A few moments passed and Alex began to shift in his seat. Michelle’s face was turned away from him and he couldn’t see what she was doing. When a little time had passed he began to worry that she was really upset, that she might be crying. He finally got up and kneeled next to Michelle’s chair.

"Michelle, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to force you into any quick decisions. It’s just that I didn’t expect you to say no," he tried to explain.

"But weren’t you listening to what I just said, Alex? I’m not saying no. I am saying that I would like a little more time to think things over. It would give you some time to think things over too. To make sure you’re not getting yourself into more than you can handle," she said with a self-deprecating little smile and shrug.

Alex took her hands in his. "I can handle you just fine, my beautiful Ice Queen." He pecked her on the cheek and sat in a chair a little closer. His brows drew together in brief consternation.

"How much time, Michelle?" Alex refused to drop the subject. Michelle shook her head and grinned.

"Tell ya’ what, Alex. If you promise to give me the rest of today then I’ll give you my answer tomorrow evening." At the impatient look in her friend’s eyes she made a slight compromise. "Okay, fine. Tomorrow afternoon." She fixed him with a stern glance and Alex just smiled winningly.

Then his smile changed. A subtle change but it made Michelle nervous. It was a soft smile of acquiescence and apology. He lifted Michelle’s left hand and removed the ring. He started to put it back on his own pinky finger but then thought otherwise. He lifted Michelle’s other hand and slipped the ring onto her right ring finger.