Mila fell asleep in a pile of clean clothes, blissfully happy at her newly acquired skill of doing laundry. Coupled with the fact that she was now the proud owner of more than one set of clothing, Mila couldn’t help feeling giddy. Even as she slept, she kept a smile on her face.

The next morning she awoke feeling happy and rested and eager to try on some of her new secondhand garments. She dressed in a softened pair of well-worn jeans and a red shirt with white striping on the sleeves and collar. She couldn’t tell if it looked good or awful, but they were items she’d picked herself, and she could not have been more delighted with the experience.

She walked up the long hill to the cherry orchards on the Hawke’s property and grabbed a pair of work gloves and a bushel basket. She smiled amiably at everyone as she found a spot that needed clearing and began her tedious work picking cherries.

It was lunch time before Mila even noticed how full her basket was getting, and once again ShayAnne was standing at the foot of her tree, calling up for Mila.

“Come down, Em!” the redhead coaxed. Mila wiped her hands on her faded jeans and began her descent through the tree limbs.

“Want to come inside and have a sandwich?”

“Sure!” Mila said eagerly. She walked with ShayAnne up to the house, listening to the other girl’s nonstop chatter about her life. Mila found it absolutely fascinating, even the parts about people she didn’t know.

“Of course, my dad just wants me to pick a major already,” ShayAnne finished up her story as they climbed the steps to the back porch, “but I swear, I’m only nineteen and Beth hasn’t even declared hers, so I don’t know what he’s squawking about. He’d probably have a fit if I went with art or something.”

“You like art?” Mila said at once, thinking of the book of Monet reprints in the study.

“Oh, yes!” ShayAnne replied enthusiastically. “Of course, I really have no talent for it, but it’s such a delight. I love going to museums. Have you ever been to the one in Tonnesfort?”

Mila shook her head.

“Well, it’s small, but they have collections by some truly gifted local artists. I love going there, plus there’s this little cafe right next door.”

“Do they serve chili fries?” Mila asked causing ShayAnne to laugh.

She wrinkled her nose slightly as she led the way through the back door. “No, silly, it’s like a coffee place, you know?”

“Oh,” Mila said, having no idea what ShayAnne meant.

“Well, anyway, you should totally go there sometime,” the red-haired girl said. “In fact, I’m going there next week to do some research for a paper I’m writing for mini session. It’s one of those credit via internet classes, have you ever taken one of those?”

Again Mila shook her head; ShayAnne continued, “Well, it’s great. I like it so much better than schlepping all the way to the college.”

“Oh,” Mila said.

“Ooh, hey!” ShayAnne said as she browsed through the refrigerator and selected sandwich fixings. “You should come with me. On Saturday. Are you busy?”

“No.”

“Well, then you should come!” ShayAnne insisted. “We can get a latte after and have a pretentious conversation about art.”

Mila grinned. “All right. That will be fun.”

“Won’t it, though? I just love having pretentious conversations about art.”

She waited for Mila to laugh, but the other girl just stared at her placidly. ShayAnne smiled at her. “That was a joke.”

“Oh,” Mila said with alarm.

“I swear, Em, sometimes I think you are the strangest girl I ever met.”

“Uh...” Mila said.

“Don’t worry,” ShayAnne laughed. “It’s a breath of fresh air. Now then, pickles or lettuce?”