Joanna reached out and took Kristin’s hand. “You’re going to have to forgive your parents,” she said softly. “Both your mother and your dad.”

“Forgive them,” Kristin echoed. “Why should I? My father’s the one who called me a slut! He said I was no better than a common…” She faltered to a stop again, unable to continue.

“It doesn’t matter what your father called you,” Joanna said. “Forget about it. And it doesn’t matter what he thinks of you, either. This has far more to do with you and Terry than it does with either one of your parents. Have either of you changed your mind about what we discussed this morning?”

Kristin shook her head, tossing her wild tangle of blond hair around her tear-ravaged face. “Just like you suggested, we made an appointment to talk to Reverend Maculyea,” she said. “But the soonest she can see us together is tomorrow afternoon after work.”

“But you and Terry still want to get married?”

“Yes. Terry offered to come home with me to talk to my folks so I wouldn’t have to do it alone. He wanted to ask my father for my hand in marriage. Now I’m glad he didn’t. My father probably would have taken after him with a baseball bat.”

“Does Terry know where you are right now?” Joanna asked.

Kristin shook her head. “No,” she whispered.

Taking the telephone from its cradle, Joanna passed the handset to Kristin. “Call him,” she said. “Let Terry know where you are. That way he won’t call your house and antagonize your parents any more than they already are. That way, too, in case he already has called your house, he won’t have to worry about where you’ve gone. In the meantime, I’ll give you some privacy. I’ll go to the kitchen and see how that cocoa is coming.”

Joanna started to walk away, but Kristin reached out and stopped her. “You’re sure it’s all right if I stay here tonight? You’re sure you don’t mind?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Joanna replied with a rueful smile. “After all, it’s my fault. If you hadn’t been following my advice about telling your parents what was going on, they still wouldn’t know anything about it, so you’d still have a place to spend the night.”

Leaving Kristin alone, Joanna headed for the kitchen. There she found Butch and Jenny standing at the stove peering into a pan of made but not yet steaming cocoa. “What’s going on?” Butch asked.

“Kristin’s having a little disagreement with her parents,” Joanna explained. “She lives with them, and they asked her to leave the house tonight.”

“That sounds like a big disagreement to me,” Jenny said. “What’s it all about?”

“It’s private, Jenny,” Joanna said after a moment’s thought. “If Kristin wants to tell you, that’s up to her, but you’re not to ask-not under any circumstances. Is that clear?”

Jenny nodded and sighed. “Is it because I’m too young?” she asked.

“It’s because it’s nobody’s business but Kristin’s,” Joanna replied. “Now, how about that cocoa? Is it almost ready?”

“Coming up,” Butch said. “Jenny, get out the mugs, would you? I’ll pour. We’ll let your mother serve.”

Minutes later, Joanna returned to the living room taking two cups of cocoa and leaving Butch, Jenny, and the two dogs still confined to quarters in the kitchen. Kristin was just hanging up the phone.

“You talked to Terry?” Joanna asked.

Kristin nodded. “You were right. He had already called the house, talked to my father-or had been yelled at by my father-and he was worried sick. He wanted to come right over, but I told him not to. That I was fine and that I was going to stay here overnight. I told him I’d meet him for breakfast in the morning-before work.”

She took the cup of cocoa Joanna offered her, tasted it tentatively, and then set it down on the end table. “Is it true that the same thing happened to you and Deputy Brady? Or did you just say that to Terry and me this morning to make us feel better?”

“No,” Joanna said. “It really did happen.”

“And what did your parents do?”

“My father was already dead.”

“And your mother?”

“She was upset,” Joanna admitted. “She was actually very upset.”

“And how long did it take her to get over it?”

“Never,” Joanna said.

Kristin’s eyes widened. “Never? You mean she’s still mad about it?”

Joanna nodded.

“But you seem to get along all right,” Kristin objected. “I mean, your mother calls and talks to you. I saw her at the shower on Sunday. She seemed to be having a good time.”

“We get along all right now,” Joanna said. “About as well as we’ve ever gotten along, but that one issue is always between us. We hardly ever talk about it, but it’s still there. That’s probably how it will be with your father, too. Eventually he won’t be so angry. In fact, once the baby’s born and he’s a grandfather, your dad will probably come around. But things have changed between you and him, Kristin. Your father is used to always having the last word. Now he’s come up against a situation where you’re making your own decisions without consulting him and without doing things the way he wants you to, either. He’s just now learning the hard lesson that he’s going to have to let you go, and he doesn’t like it.”

“You make it sound like an ordinary part of growing up.”

“It is an ordinary part of growing up,” Joanna said. “Being pregnant is a complicating factor, but it’s not the only one. This may seem to be a big deal to your parents, but in the larger scheme of things, it’s not important. You and Terry love each other. You’re going to get married and raise this child together. That’s what’s important. That’s all that’s important.”

Once again Kristin’s blue eyes brimmed with tears. “When you first came to the department, Sheriff Brady, I didn’t like you very much,” she admitted after a moment. “I’m sorry I made things so tough for you.”

Joanna smiled. “I didn’t like you very much, either. I think we both felt threatened, and now we’re over it.”

“The same way my parents may get over this?”

“Exactly the same way,” Joanna replied. “Just give them time.”

By the time Kristin finished drinking her cocoa, Joanna could see that the day’s emotional upheaval had taken its toll. “Go to bed, now,” she said. “The bathroom’s that way. We have only one, so we’ll all have to take turns. Once you have a decent night’s rest, you’re going to see the world through much different eyes. I have a feeling you haven’t been sleeping very well the last few nights. There’s nothing like tossing and turning to wear a person down.”

“How did you know that?” Kristin asked.

“Believe me,” Joanna replied, “it was more than a lucky guess.”

Once Kristin had retreated to Jenny’s room and while Jenny was in the bathroom getting ready for bed, Joanna walked Butch out to his car.

“I couldn’t help overhearing what she said to you on the porch. How pregnant is she?”

“Just barely,” Joanna said. “But remember, there’s no such thing as slightly pregnant. You either are or you aren’t.”

“If her parents threw her out, what kind of people are they?”

“Fallible people,” Joanna answered. “People who are doing the best they can. They’re like parents everywhere-wanting what’s best for their children and being upset when results come short of the mark.”

“Wait a minute,” Butch said. “Are we talking about Kristin Marsten’s parents, or are we talking about some other parents I could name?”

“All parents,” Joanna said after a moment. “Your mother and my mother included.”

“No! You can’t mean it.”

Joanna reached up and kissed him. “But I do mean it,” she said. “Maybe after all this time I’m finally growing up, too. Now good night. Drive carefully.”

Back in the house, Joanna hurried to clear the dining room table of paperwork before Jenny emerged from the bathroom. By the time a pajama-clad Jenny headed toward the couch, Joanna had refilled the briefcase and snapped it shut.