A Good Yarn Page 0,73

in Seattle if my mother hadn't died, and my dad wouldn't be in South America risking his life, either."

"If my father could keep his pants zipped, my mother wouldn't be out singing 'Happy Birthday' to a bunch of brats and - " Annie began to sob, then jerkily moved her hand across her cheek. "I don't want to talk about my dad, all right? I hate him and it doesn't matter."

"We can talk about anything," Courtney told her.

Annie seemed to relax, as though she was relieved to change the subject. "The thing is, I actually think it's cool what my mom's doing. She always loved putting on parties, and she's really enjoying this. And you know what? She's making money. We're getting a lot of phone calls, and Andrew and I help out whenever we can. I have a surprise for her. Want to see?"

"Sure," Courtney said.

Annie leaped off the bed and sat down at her desk, turning on her computer. "Come and look," she said, glancing over her shoulder.

Courtney stood behind Annie as she brought up a graphic arts display. It featured balloons in one corner and a brightly decorated cake in the center, under a banner that read PARTIES BY BETHANNE, Birthdays a Specialty. Below that was their phone number.

"What do you think?" she asked. "It's for a business card."

"It's great!"

"I wasn't sure about the balloons, but it needs something there, don't you think?"

Courtney examined it again and disagreed. "Take them out," she suggested.

With a click of her mouse, Annie deleted the balloons. She cocked her head to one side and nodded. "You're right. It looks cleaner without the balloons. Besides, Mom said someone phoned and asked about an adult birthday party and I think balloons are more associated with kids, don't you?"

Courtney nodded. "This whole party idea has taken off, hasn't it?"

Annie smiled. "It's been really wild around here. Andrew and I thought Mom should have her own business cards. I guess she'll need a Web site next." She returned her attention to the screen. "Anything else I should change?"

Courtney studied the graphic for another couple of minutes. "You might want to use a different font," she suggested, "one of the less fancy ones. This one's pretty but it's kind of difficult to read. Try Comic Sans or Verdana. Or maybe Georgia."

Annie made the changes, deciding on Comic Sans, and sat back to examine the effect. "Hey, I like that."

So did Courtney. "This is really nice - you doing this for your mom, I mean."

"She asked me to work at one of her parties this weekend," she said, still focusing on the monitor.

"Are you going to?" Courtney didn't mention that she'd volunteered, too.

"Yeah, I guess. She said you might be there."

"I was thinking about it."

"I'll do it if you will," Annie said and looked up, grinning.

A warm feeling touched Courtney. "Does this mean we're friends?" she asked. It was an awkward question, but she needed to know.

Annie seemed to seriously consider it. After a moment she said, "I'd like that. And I know I already said this, but Andrew's right - I do owe you. He says you saved my ass." Her voice fell to a whisper. "So...thanks."

"It's okay." Courtney dismissed her gratitude. "I did some pretty stupid stuff myself after Mom died. One day I started a fire behind the grocery store. I can't even explain why I did it." She lowered her head. No one knew about that, not even her sister. "I was hurting so bad. It was stupid, and if anyone ever found out, I'd probably still be in some detention center."

"You didn't go to a rave, though, did you?"

"No, but I was younger than you. Trust me - I got into my share of trouble."

Annie's responding smile was weak, and she bit her lip. "According to the therapist I saw, what happened to us is pretty common. I'm not alone. Families split up, fathers walk away, and the kids just have to cope. I'm not very good at that. And...and I thought my father loved me."

"I'm sure he does." Courtney felt confident of that, although she could tell it was hard for Annie to believe.

"Maybe," Annie agreed reluctantly. "But he loves her more. It's all right, though - I'm dealing with it." Tears sprang to her eyes and she tried to blink them away.

"Can you print out that design?" Courtney asked, hoping to distract Annie. She pretended not to notice she was crying.

"Good idea." Annie turned back to her computer, reached for