‘‘Then you can just wait until I’m good and ready,’’ she told him and sailed into the house.

It appeared she hadn’t quite gotten down to mildly irritated, he decided. But he sat again. And he waited.

SHE TOOK HER TIME, stripping Aubrey down to her training pants, covering her with a soft sheet, tidying the bedroom. She went into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of lemonade she didn’t want. But she drank every drop of it.

She could see him through the screen door, sitting on the steps. For a moment, she considered simply going to the door, closing it, and tossing the bolt to make her point. But she discovered she didn’t have quite enough mad left to be that petty.

She opened the screen, let it close quietly.

‘‘Is she down for the night?’’

‘‘Yes, she’s had a long day. So have I. I hope this won’t take long.’’

‘‘I guess it doesn’t have to. I want to tell you I’m sorry for hurting you, for making you unhappy.’’ Since she didn’t come down and join him on the steps, he stood and turned to her. ‘‘I went about it wrong, and I wasn’t honest with you. I should have been.’’

‘‘I don’t doubt you’re sorry, Ethan.’’ She walked to the rail, leaned out, looked over her little patch of yard. ‘‘I don’t know if we can be friends the way we were before. I know it’s hard to be at odds with someone you care about. I made up with my father tonight.’’

‘‘Did you?’’ He stepped forward, then stopped because she’d shifted away. Just a little, just enough to tell him he no longer had the right to touch. ‘‘I’m glad.’’

‘‘I suppose I have you to thank for it. If I hadn’t been so mad at you, I wouldn’t have let myself be mad at him and get everything out. I’m grateful for that, and Iappreciate your apology. Now I’m tired, so—’’

‘‘You said a lot of things to me today.’’ She wasn’t going to brush him off until he’d finished.

‘‘Yes, I did.’’ She shifted again, met his gaze straight on.

‘‘Some of it was right, but not all. Not acting on how I felt about you before . . . it’s the way it had to be.’’

‘‘Because you say so.’’