Walt came into the stable while she was feeding the horses. “Hey, I’m way ahead of you,” she said.
“You usually are. Damn cold out there.”
“It’s not the tropics in here. Let’s get a cup of coffee while these horses feed. I have something great to tell you.”
He lifted an eyebrow and threw an arm wide for her to precede him into the tack room. She poured a couple of mugs and dressed one with powdered cream and sweetener for her uncle. “I talked to one of the administrators at San Francisco State. It’s not official, but it looks like they’re going to let me in. And if they do, she said I can enroll for summer classes if I feel like it. And as soon as I get down there, she’ll write me a pass to audit. It wouldn’t hurt to sit in on a few classes. That might give me an edge.” She grinned largely. “I won’t be too far away, Uncle Walt. I should see you, Vanni and Paul pretty often.”
“And what about Humboldt State?” he asked. “You mentioned…”
“I think San Francisco might suit me better,” she said. “More potential social life, for one thing.”
“It’s just that Humboldt is right here,” he said. “Close to the people you love.”
“I know. And I’ve been so happy here with you, Uncle Walt, but I’m ready to spread my wings.”
He thought about that for a moment, then said, “That’s good news, Shelby,” he said, toasting her with his coffee cup. “To you.”
“Thanks. Thing is, I’m going to want to go early to find a place off campus. There’s housing—mostly dorm housing—not available to me until next fall when I’m a full-time student. But I’ve been thinking about it and I don’t think I’m up to that lifestyle, seven years older than the average freshman. This is good, that I’m kind of forced to find my own place. I can always change my mind later, move onto campus, but I bet I stay in my own place. Maybe I’ll have roommates at some point, if I find students I have something in common with, starting with age and maybe life experience.” She smiled. “To all of you I’m so young, to them, I’ll seem old.”
“I can understand that.”
She looked down into her cup, then up. “I’m going to want to go real soon, Uncle Walt. Get settled in. Meet people. You know.”
“What’s real soon?” he asked suspiciously.
“Real soon,” she repeated. “But first, I’m taking that vacation I promised myself. I’m going to spend two full weeks on the beach in Maui.” She laughed. “If I wasn’t tempted to do that before, this weather for the last couple of weeks sure sealed the deal. I have to see the sun again!”
“You deserve it. When do you suppose you’ll do that?”
She gazed up at him with clear eyes. “Right away. A couple of days…” He was speechless; his mouth might’ve dropped open slightly. “I made all my arrangements. Did you know you can do all of that on the computer?” She laughed again. “Everything from plane tickets to hotels and car rentals.”
He frowned. “Yes, I knew that.”
“Well, I’ve never gone anywhere. Not since I went to spend summers and holidays with you as a kid and you always sent the tickets. Really, it’s so slick. Punch in a few dates and times, give ’em a credit card and—”
“Shelby,” he interrupted, “what’s this about?”
She fixed her lips into a tight line, sighed, then said, “It doesn’t seem like it, but I’ve been here six months. It’s time for me to get on with things.”
“I realize that, but this is abrupt.”
“I apologize, it must seem so—but I’ve actually been working on the details and didn’t want to say anything until I had an agenda. I hope that doesn’t upset you, Uncle Walt, because I’ll be back to visit. No reason I can’t. Not now.”
“Your mood’s been a little different lately…”
“I’ve been thinking so hard about this,” she said with a shrug.
“You don’t have to tell me, but does Luke have anything to do with this?”
“No. No, of course not.”
“You sure about that?”
She turned away from her uncle. “I’ve been thinking about things and…” She turned back. “Listen, it’s tempting to just stay here, like this, forever. I could travel from here, go to school from here… There’s no future in it, that’s all. I’m thinking like a boxer—I want to go out a winner.”