” He looked up.I met his eyes and could tell he was a man who was rarely surprised, if ever. “I’m not here to take advantage. Hayden was my biol...gical mother, but I never knew her.”He stared at me for a moment and then said, “I also find this difficult, because your mother, err ... Ms. Rosenbaum hired me to help with the arrangements for your death.”I stared back at him. I had nothing to say about that. It wasn’t as if I’d had any say in the matter when it occurred.“I don’t like surprises,” he. . It was a feeling about what he did. He took me and didn't hold back. Didn't wait for me to do everything. He wanted me, and he let it show." I'm sorry it took us this long to work it out." Shawna turned and stared across the mattress. "We ... Well, Marcus wouldn't notice, but I should have." I didn't show you. I didn't show anyone," Hope explained. "I just bottled it all up and hoped it would change, but neither of you are mind-readers." I am," Shawna replied indignantly."Oh, really?" Hope. Then she rinsed the dirt from her carrots and scrubbed them against each other. She dried her hands on her worn skirt and ate a carrot as she walked back toward her tiny home.A brief squeal made her stop. She could not figure out exactly where the undulating cry came from in the gloom of twilight, but she knew it was somewhere in the slave quarters, and it was a woman in pain or fear not an injured child or a trapped animal, certainly not a man. The small world became very quiet; even the crows. But now, crushes meant something,twelve-year-olds could actually have mildly romantic encounters,pseudo-dates. Like going to Halloween parties together.Deirdre Halloway had long brown hair down to where she had to move itaside to sit. And long brown eyelashes that framed eyes so green theymade one think of Oz. She wore a real bra, not a trainer and her hipswere wider than her shoulders. "Are you going to the Halloween party,next week," Dee had asked. Typically, Andy had become close.