Irena yelped and hopped to the side as the small rock struck her hind flank and then immediately moved back next to me.

For some reason, that dumb dog returning to my side after I'd been cruel to her was the thing that made the tears start flowing relentlessly down my cheeks. My chest heaved and I swiped at the wetness falling from my eyes.

I fell to the ground and brought Irena into my arms, hugging her to me, petting her fur and saying, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, over and over in my mind, hoping dogs had mind reading power. It was all I had to offer her. I buried my head in her fur and hoped that she'd forgive me.

After a few minutes, my breathing started slowing, and my tears dried up. Irena continued to nuzzle my face, letting out small whines when I hesitated between pets.

I heard pine needles crunching behind me under the weight of someone's feet and knew it was Uncle Nate. I kept looking straight ahead as he sat down next to me, bringing his knees up, like mine.

For several long minutes, we both sat like that, not saying anything, just staring ahead, Irena's panting and occasional soft whines the only sounds amongst us.

After a few minutes, Uncle Nate reached over and took my hand in his, squeezing it. His hand felt rough, dry, but it was warm and I needed the contact.

"They don't know who you are, Archer. They have no idea. And they don't deserve to know. Don't let their judgment hurt you."

I took in his words, turning them over in my mind. I had to guess that he'd seen that exchange somehow. His words didn't make complete sense to me, Uncle Nate's words usually didn't, but somehow they comforted me anyway. He always seemed to be right on the border of something profound, but just falling short of anyone else but him understanding the depth of his own thought. I nodded to him without turning my head.

We sat there for a while longer, and then we got up and went inside for dinner and to bandage up my cut cheek.

The laughter and splashing in the distance grew fainter and fainter until it finally faded completely away.

Bree

A few days after Archer Hale waved to me in the grocery store parking lot, I worked the early shift at the diner and when I got home that afternoon, I saw that Anne was sitting on her front porch. I walked over and greeted her and she smiled saying, "Iced tea, dear?"

I unlatched her gate and walked through it and up her steps. "That sounds great. If you can stand the smell of me– eue de griddle and bacon fat."

She laughed. "I think I can manage. How was your shift?"

I collapsed on her porch swing, leaning back and shifting my body toward the small fan she had running next to her. I sighed with comfort.

"Good," I answered. "I like the job."

"Oh, that's good," she said, handing me the glass of tea she had just poured. I took a grateful sip and then leaned back again.

"I saw you being picked up by the Scholl girls the other night and I was so happy to see you've met some friends. I hope you don't mind having such a nosy neighbor." She smiled kindly and I smiled back at her.

"No, not at all. Yes, I went over to the other side of the lake with them. We ran into Travis Hale and hung out with him at The Bitter End."

"Oh, you've been meeting all the Hale boys."

I laughed. "Yes, are there more?"

She smiled. "No, just Archer and Travis among the younger generation. Suppose Travis is really the only chance of another Hale generation now."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, I don't see Archer Hale coming off his property to date much, much less marry someone, but again, I don't know too much about him other than that he doesn't speak."

"He does speak," I said. "I've talked to him."

Anne looked surprised and tilted her head slightly. "Well, I had no idea. I've never heard him say a word."

I shook my head. "He signs," I said. "And so do I. My dad was deaf."

"Oh, I see. Well, I never even thought of that. I guess he presents himself as someone who doesn't want much to do with anyone else, at least the few times I've seen him in town." She frowned slightly.

"I don't think anyone has ever really tried," I said, shrugging. "There's nothing wrong with him, though, except maybe his people skills, and that he can't speak," I said, looking over her shoulder, picturing Archer. "And a few fashion issues." I grinned.

She smiled back. "Yes, he does have an interesting look to him, doesn't he? Of course, I imagine if you cleaned him up, he'd look more than presentable. He comes from a long line of lookers. Actually, all the Hale boys were so good looking, they were practically in-human." She laughed girlishly and I grinned at her.

I took a long drink of tea and tilted my head to the side. "You don't remember exactly what happened with the other two brothers the day of Archer's accident?"

She shook her head. "No, only what I heard in town. I don't know what happened between them to cause all that tragedy. I try to remember them as they were–how every girl in a hundred mile radius swooned over them. Course those boys took advantage of that, even Connor who was the less rowdy of the three. But as far as I remember, the only girl any of them ever took a real interest in was Alyssa McRae."

"All three of them?" I asked, my eyes widening. This sounded like a story.

"Hmm," she said, looking off into the distance. "It was a right soap opera around here with them, mostly between Connor and Marcus Hale. Those two boys were always competing over something. If it wasn't sports, it was girls, and when Alyssa came to town, there was only one girl they competed over. Nathan Hale didn't make any bones about the fact that he was interested, too, but the other two didn't pay too much mind to him, I suppose. Like I said before, he was always a little different."

"Who finally won her?" I whispered.

Anne blinked and looked at me, smiling. "Marcus Hale. She married him–shotgun wedding we called it back then. She was in the family way. But she lost that baby and it wasn't until years later that she got pregnant again, with Archer." She shook her head. "After she married Marcus, that girl always looked sad, and so did Connor Hale. I always thought they both felt that she made the wrong choice. Of course, with all the drinking and womanizing Marcus Hale still did, even after he and Alyssa got married, the whole town pretty much knew she made the wrong choice."

"And then Connor Hale became the Chief of Police?"

"Yes, yes he did. Got married too, trying to move on as well I suppose. And he had Travis."

"Wow. And then it all ended in so much tragedy."

"Yes, yes… very sad." She looked at me. "But, dear, you being able to speak to Archer, well, I think that's wonderful." She shook her head slightly. "Makes me realize how little we all did for that boy." She looked sad and lost in thought.

We both sat quietly for a couple minutes, sipping our tea before I said, "I better go shower and change. I'm going to bike down to the lake again today."

"Oh good. I'm so glad the bike is working out for you. Get as much lake time in as you can. The weather will be turning soon."

I smiled, standing. "I will. Thank you, Anne. And thank you for the chat."

"Thank you, dear. You bring a smile to an old woman's face."

I grinned at her and waved as I walked down her steps and through her gate.