Her family situation is, at least from our standpoint, very strained.” I turned to Inez, saying, “Her mother remarried, and she’s now got two ol...er stepbrothers that leer at her when neither parent is around. We have inferred that they say or suggest inappropriate things, so she hates being in the house alone with those boys. Meka knows one of them – he’s a senior – and said he is not to be trusted. Period. That’s why Brit volunteered to be one of Coach’s assistants – in order to stay away from. "But Kris, there aren't any women around here as good looking as you. Why would I settle for less?" I teased her."I know I'm the most gorgeous creature in this part of the state," she teased back, though her words were true, "but Mike is getting a bit concerned about you and about the amount of time I'm taking away from him and the boys."Actually, I was more healed than I thought. Unconsciously, I'd been checking out the 'available' ladies in our town-and wasn't impressed with the crop. While. He wasn't joking or being sarcastic. He was serious butpolite. After delaying my response for what seemed like a lingeringeternity, I snapped out of the sudden shock to my ego simply replying,"No, thank you." I was already quiet for the first half of our trip, butafter the innocent mistake by the gas station clerk, my mind was awash inthought, about who I was and who I would ultimately be when we got to ournew home in Dallas. Could I still introduce myself as a guy, the boy Ihad learned to. She probably doesn't have a bag packed. She'll be ready; I'll get the plane out for you."We all ate a quick breakfast. I changed clothes into jeans and a heavy blue cotton shirt. I put my desert boots on and felt ready. I put my vest and extra magazines in my gym bag and left for the station.I was checking out two MP5s with six full magazines each when Dave came in. He said, "Sarah was amazingly proud that I was going with you on a tough problem. She said if we were together, we were both in.