Cedar Woman (102 page)

In an
instant, Sonny realized
that
he
wo
ul
d
,
in
fact, hit
L
ena
a
n
d
po
s
si
b
l
y
inj
u
re
h
e
r, b
u
t
it
was
too
late
to st
o
p
.
Mic
h
ael
realized
t
h
at S
o
nn
y’
s
a
dv
an
ce
was
t
o
o
a
g
g
r
essive; L
e
na
c
ou
l
d be h
u
rt.

Mic
h
ael
lifted
Le
n
a
fr
o
m t
h
e
flo
o
r
of
the
ar
e
n
a
and
spun
h
e
r
around just
in
ti
m
e.
The
broom
flew
by h
e
r
an
d landed on
t
h
e
floor
of
t
h
e
a
ren
a
.

“
Cha,
Bro
t
her! What
a
re
y
o
u
doin
g
?
” Michael
excl
a
i
m
ed
in
a wh
is
pe
r
,
s
o
t
h
a
t no
o
n
e
else
c
ou
l
d
hea
r
.

S
o
nny
was
m
o
r
ti
f
i
ed.
He
n
e
eded
a
q
u
ic
k
e
x
c
u
se…
s
o
m
ethi
n
g
…
n
o
on
e
co
u
l
d know
o
f
h
i
s
p
ass
i
on f
o
r
t
h
is
d
electa
b
le
g
i
r
l
.

“
Brot
h
e
r
,” he apo
l
ogiz
e
d,
“m
y foot sli
pp
ed
o
n
t
h
e
d
e
w-
co
ver
e
d gras
s
.”
Sonny
look
e
d
at
his
cousin
and
gave
a
sha
m
e-faced,
l
o
psid
e
d

gr
i
n
. Micha
e
l
looked
clo
s
ely
at
S
o
n
n
y,
co
n
f
u
se
d
,
but
h
e
w
as
so ca
p
ti
v
ated
b
y
h
is
n
ew
lo
v
e,
t
h
at
h
e
d
i
d
n
o
t
p
o
ssess
t
h
e
a
b
ility
to
l
o
ok

beyond
the
surface
of
his
bro
t
her/cous
i
n
’s
action
s
.
S
m
iling,
Mi
c
h
ael

clapp
e
d
So
nny
o
n
t
h
e
ba
c
k
an
d
la
ug
h
e
d
.

“
Y
o
u
al
m
o
st
got
m
e,
ug
l
y
m
an,
enni
t
!”
Mi
chael cho
rtl
ed,
and wal
k
ed
o
f
f to j
o
in Le
n
a
.

S
o
nny
pick
e
d
up
t
h
e
b
ro
o
m
and
wat
c
hed
h
is
co
u
sin
take her
by
t
h
e ha
n
d
an
d
wa
l
k
i
n
t
o
t
h
e
de
e
p
e
n
in
g
da
r
kn
e
ss.
H
i
s
heart
a
g
ai
n
b
r
o
k
e,
as
a

single
tear
t
r
a
c
ed
its
way
do
wn
his
c
h
ee
k
.
S
o
nny
b
r
u
s
q
u
ely
bru
s
h
e
d
it

awa
y
,
s
t
rai
g
h
te
n
ed
h
i
s
ba
c
k
,
p
u
t
on
a
s
m
il
e,
and
t
u
r
n
in
g,
s
t
arted
t
o
dance with
t
h
e br
oo
m
.

M
ichael
dr
e
w
Lena
i
n
t
o
his
a
r
m
s
and
bent
t
o
kiss her
full, sen
s
u
o
us lips.
She
tilted
her face
tow
a
rd
his,
a
ll
of h
e
r
fe
a
rs gone.
Co
m
p
lete
trust was i
m
p
licit in
h
e
r actio
n
.