1
Charlie Grace leaned forward and focused on her reflection in the high school bathroom mirror. “Did either of you bring hairspray?”
Lila shook her head. “No, but your hair looks great.”
“You need a little more volume in those bangs,” Reva acknowledged. She pulled a can of Aqua Net from her Jordache purse and handed it over. “Good thing I came prepared.”
Charlie Grace took the can. “You’re amazing.” She ratted the front of her fawn-colored bob a bit more, then held the can in place and sent a spray of product across the top of her head. She grabbed her graduation cap. “Now, how is this supposed to go?”
Reva stepped forward. “Here, I’ll do it for you. If this black girl knows anything, it’s fashion accessories.”
“Help me with mine, too?” Lila asked, holding her cap against her own dark hair.
The bathroom door suddenly flew open. In rushed Capri, long blonde hair flying, and her dress and gown draped over one arm. “Am I late?”
“Oh my gosh, why do you do this?” Reva asked. “Hurry and change. The procession starts in less than fifteen minutes.”
Reva pinned Charlie Grace’s cap in place, then lifted her friend’s hand to examine her new engagement ring. Although the stone was petite, it was pretty. “I still can’t believe we’re graduating. And you’re getting married soon.”
Capri unbuttoned her jeans and kicked off her boots. “Me either.”
A wistful look filled Lila’s face. “You know, everything is about to change. I mean, soon, Reva will be heading off to Tulane. Charlie Grace will be a married woman. I’m starting vet school.” She turned to Capri. “And…”
Capri waved off her nostalgia. “Guys, who cares about the future?” she said with a devilish grin. “Let’s just enjoy today, celebrate our hard work, and worry about the rest later.”
Like Lila, Charlie Grace couldn’t help but feel a sense of impending change. She gave one last glance in the mirror. “It went by so fast. Everything is about to be different.”
Reva parked her hands on her hips. “Not everything. Thunder Mountain has remained the same ever since I moved here. I mean, after we have diplomas in hand, do you really think this tiny mountain town will be any different? They’ll still be grilling hamburgers and serving beer down at the Rustic Pine. The shelves at Western Drug and General will still be stocked with green beans and corn. Mrs. Cavendish will continue spreading gossip every chance she gets.”
She held out her hand and caught Capri’s jeans as she flung them aside. “The doors to this high school will open next fall, and another couple of dozen kids will start freshman algebra with Mr. Jolley. More pimple-faced fourteen-year-old boys will learn to build engines in shop class with Mr. Reay. The doors of Moose Chapel will open on Sunday mornings. Summers will be filled with tourists hoping to spot a bear or a moose. They’ll all leave when the quaking aspen leaves start turning. As I said, some things never change.”
“But we will,” Lila argued.
Capri slipped her gown over her head and said in a muffled voice. “Things will change only if we want them to.”
Undeterred, Lila turned to her friends with tears in her eyes. “I know we’ll all be going our separate ways,” she said, “but we’re going to stay friends forever, right?”
Charlie Grace rushed to her side. “Of course, we will,” she insisted, reassuring Lila with a tight hug. “Nothing could ever tear us apart.”
“Besides, I won’t stay in New Orleans. I’ll be back,” Reva told them with firm insistence. “We’ll always be here for each other,” she added, taking Capri’s hand. “It’s where we belong.”
2
Twenty years later
Charlie Grace pulled the worn leather glove from her hand and wiped her brow with her forearm. Even at this early hour, beads of sweat formed as she heaved hay bales from the barn and carried them to the feeding pen.
“This isn’t my job,” she muttered out loud. “Not when I pay someone good money to work.” She let the bale tumble at her feet and pulled the pocketknife from her jeans pocket. She opened it cautiously, taking care not to slice her finger, then slid the sharp blade across the yellow twine, releasing the hay into the splintered wooden trough. Dusty dried alfalfa leaves blew up into her face.
She coughed and pulled her inhaler from her other pocket. Lifting the small plastic contraption to her mouth, she drew a long, airy pull of the medicine and tried not to growl as she shoved the thing back inside her pocket.
Charlie Grace worked with haste, knowing she had to get the cattle fed and return to the house. The school bus showed up each day promptly at seven-thirty sharp. If Jewel wasn’t at the end of their ranch lane waiting, she’d miss her ride to school, and Charlie Grace would have to drive her daughter into town. She didn’t have time for that today.
Not when she had an important meeting with Reva and the bankers this morning.
One of the heifers lifted its head from the trough and stared.
“I hope this isn’t an indication of how this day is going to go,” Charlie Grace told the young Angus. “And don’t go batting those long eyelashes. Your turn will come once breeding season hits. You’ll see how challenging it is to maneuver life with an offspring who needs everything from you.” She tilted her head toward the neighboring pen. “And don’t go thinking any of those steers will help. All they do is eat and breed.” She slapped her glove on the leg of her jeans. “You’d be doing good to remember that.”
