Mending Fences by Sherryl Woods Page A

the Carters’ even more than usual. Evan could usually be found in the den watching movies once his homework was done. More than once she’d convinced Caitlyn to join him and hang out.
    Unfortunately, Caitlyn had picked up on Dani’s interest, not Evan. The other day she’d called Dani on it.
    “Do you have a thing for my brother?” she asked when they’d been in the Carters’ pool for hours and Josh and Evan had gone inside to grab snacks for all four of them.
    “Quiet,” Dani said, mortified. “Do you want Evan to hear you?”
    “Sorry, but you were acting all goofy. You’ve been doing that a lot lately when Evan’s around.”
    “Well, you have to admit your brother’s pretty cool. Why wouldn’t I notice him?”
    “You and every other girl,” Caitlyn said. “He must get, like, a hundred calls a night on his cell phone. I don’t get it myself. He’s a pain.”
    “That’s just because he’s your brother. He’s cute and he’s smart.”
    “And older than you. You’re wasting your time getting hung up on him. He thinks of you like a kid sister, same as me.”
    Dani couldn’t deny it, but she still harbored hope that one day he’d wake up and notice her. After all she was underfoot all the time. Just last week he’d taken her and Caitlyn to the movies and decided at the last minute to see it with them. He’d even bought them drinks and popcorn. It had felt almost like a date. She’d put the movie stub into her treasure box with the clippings.
    Afterward, though, Josh had gotten all weird when he’d heard about it. He’d come charging home and confronted her.
    “I hope you’re not thinking about hanging out with Evan,” he said heatedly. “If you are, forget about it.”
    “What difference does it make to you?” she demanded. “You’re not my keeper.”
    “No, but I am your big brother. It’s my job to look out for you. Evan’s too old for you.”
    “He’s eighteen,” Dani retorted. “Same as you.”
    “And you’re sixteen.”
    “I’m old enough to date.”
    “Not Evan,” Josh repeated, his expression grim. “I mean it, Dani. Stay away from him. He’s trouble.”
    She had no idea what he meant. The two of them hung out all the time. “That’s not a very nice thing to say,” she said. “He’s supposed to be your best friend.”
    “It’s one thing to hang out with a guy. It’s another thing to let him spend time with your sister. Take my word for it, okay? Evan’s too experienced for you. Forget about him.”
    “No, it is not okay,” Dani said stubbornly. “I’ll hang out with any guy I want to.”
    Josh flushed. “If you don’t listen to me, I’ll talk to Mom. She’ll make you listen. Are we clear?”
    Since having her mom find out that she was crazyabout Evan was the last thing Dani wanted, she promised Josh she’d steer clear of him. He didn’t need to know that she’d kept her fingers crossed behind her back when she said it.
    Now Caitlyn gave her the same dismayed look that Josh had given her.
    “Forget about him, Dani,” she said with surprising urgency. “He’s not good enough for you.”
    Dani regarded her with a puzzled expression. “How can you say something like that about your own brother?”
    “Because I know him better than you do,” Caitlyn said. “He’s not always this nice guy, superjock, the way he pretends to be around your house.”
    “You’re just saying that because he thinks you’re a pest,” Dani accused.
    “No,” Caitlyn said emphatically. “Besides, it would be weird if you were dating my brother. Find some other guy to date and forget about Evan. Please.”
    But of course, all those warnings accomplished was to make Evan more intriguing than ever. And luckily, because Evan and her brother still hung out together almost every day, there were plenty of opportunities for Dani to spend some time with him and find out for herself if he was the terrific guy she thought he was. Getting time alone with him was trickier,