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family together. He was her father and she'd already lost her mother, and if her father was dead she couldn't bear it.

"I know, I know," he murmured.

She looked up at him with wet eyes, unable to speak.

"If anything happened to my mother," he went on, "I'd feel just like you do right now, but I will tell you this. No matter what happens, you'll find your way through it. Isn't that what you told Annie?"

Courtney sniffed and nodded. She grabbed a tissue from her purse and blew her nose, embarrassed by all the attention they'd attracted. It didn't seem to bother Andrew, though, and she pretended it didn't bother her, either.

"That was good advice," Andrew said. "Annie was close to losing it when you signed up for that knitting class with my mom. I'm so glad you did, because she needed a friend. She's still got a few problems, but she's so much better now, thanks to you."

Courtney was too stunned to respond.

"I didn't thank you properly, but maybe I can help you with your dad. Do you think it'd be all right if I came to your grandmother's house after football practice?"

It required a monumental effort to simply nod. The final bell rang for homeroom.

"Gotta go," Andrew said. "See you later." He hurried down the hall.

Courtney dashed into her own classroom, marveling that one person could experience so many emotions in such a short time.

As soon as Mike dropped her off at Grams's after school, Courtney raced upstairs to her computer and logged on.

"Any word?" her grandmother shouted from the foot of the stairs.

Her heart fell when she hurriedly scanned her in-box. Nothing from her father. "No," she called back, dispirited.

The phone rang and normally Courtney would've answered it, but she wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. Not even Andrew. Despite what she'd said about getting through whatever you had to, she didn't think she could. She couldn't lose her father. There weren't enough chocolate chip cookies or skeins of yarn or comforting words to see her through that.

"Yes, yes, of course, I'll get her right away." She could hear her grandmother's voice. "Courtney, phone," she yelled even as Courtney walked down the stairs. "Someone wants to talk to you." Smiling, she held out the receiver.

The minute Courtney heard her father, she burst into tears of joy. The phone connection wasn't the greatest as her dad poured out his story of being stranded in the jungle for five days with no way to get in touch. There'd been torrential rains while they were surveying but he was safe. He was sorry to have caused his family so much worry.

The tears had yet to dry on her cheeks when Andrew arrived. Courtney was on the phone with Julianna and had just finished talking to Jason.

"I have company and I need to go," she told her sister, glancing self-consciously at Andrew. He stood awkwardly in the living room, being fussed over by Grams.

"Boy or girl?" Julianna pressed.

"It's a B," she muttered.

"Andrew?"

"Yes," she hissed. It was clear she'd told her sister far more than she should have.

"Then get off the phone and entertain your company," Julianna teased.

Grams was a gracious hostess. She'd seated Andrew on the sofa and chatted away with him as though he was a longtime family friend.

Courtney walked shyly into the room, and Grams smiled over at her. "I was just telling Andrew that you heard from your father."

"I was talking to my sister." Embarrassed, she pointed to the ancient black phone at the foot of the stairs.

"Is this the young man you mentioned?" Grams asked, lowering her voice as if Andrew couldn't hear the question. "The one you're knitting the socks for?"

Courtney wished she could snap her fingers and vanish, like the witch on that old TV series Grams sometimes watched. Her face felt hot and she glared at her grandmother.

"She knit a lovely pair for her dad," her grandmother was saying. "Those were navy blue, but these are green and - " She looked quizzically at Courtney. "Oh, dear, was that supposed to be a surprise?" Getting up with uncharacteristic agility, Grams scurried to the kitchen.

Andrew stood, his eyes holding hers. "You're knitting me socks?"

Courtney nodded. "I'm just finishing up the gusset on the second one, but it's nearly done."

"That's the coolest thing anyone's ever done for me. It's really...sweet."

Sweet. He thought of her as sweet. That was the last thing Courtney wanted.

CHAPTER 38

ELISE BEAUMONT

Bethanne's invitation to visit was a welcome reprieve in the