My head was not in the right state of mind. I barely even remember crossing the street; it's a wonder that I didn't get hit. Before I opened the shop door, I had a strange feeling that someone was watching me. I take a quick glace over my shoulder to see the guy standing on the other side in fact watching me and his friends were slapping him on the back and sneering comments that luckily, I couldn't make out from where I was. The smile that was on my face soon fades away. I can see clearly now that he is in fact just one of those guys that wants to get whatever he wants and then be on his way back home within the week. So, I guess there is no reason to even bother getting all giddy about him.

I walk on in the store and the door slings shut behind me. I look around the cute little store, all of my pa's amazing work spread out along the walls, shelves and tables. Each perfectly placed and shiny. I guess when Ember is not busy, he is making sure every piece sparkles in hopes that it will catch a tourist eye and they will buy it. I make my way to the back wall, where Ember is all set up making a small piece in front of an older couple. He is so engrossed in what he is doing that he doesn't even see me. I set the box on the counter.

"Pa said you needed these." I tap the box.

He stops and looks my way with a puzzled look on his face. "He had you bring more. I already have enough in the shop."

I shrug my shoulders. "He said that it was important to get it here today. I just do as I'm told."

He casually rolls his eyes back at me. "I will have to get it later; I'm kinda busy right now." He gestures to the couple on the opposite side of the counter.

"Do you want me to stay and put them up for you?" A part of me didn't want to go back home so soon. Besides I should have at least ten minutes or so to help out.

"Whatever you want."

I smile back at him full of excitement just to be able to help out a little. I open the box and start taking out the pieces to set them on the counter. There is a letter on the bottom addressed to Mr. B. Lindstrom. I hold up the letter to Ember. "Who is Mr. Lindstrom?"

He puts down the piece he is working on and comes over to me. "No one that you should be concerned about; look apparently these are for him. You need to put all of these back in the box. I'm sure he will be here by the end of the day to pick them up."

"Why would one man need all of these?" I hold up one of the glass pieces while pointing to the others in the box.

"I don't know Aura, but don't tell pa that you opened the box ok. This is a special order and he would be upset knowing that you looked in it."

This time I roll my eyes back at him. They always keep things from me. The men in black and now this Mr. Lindstrom.  Why won't they just tell me. "They are just glass pieces, what is the big deal?"

"Aura trust me; this is between pa and Mr. Lindstrom." He grabs the piece from me and quickly places it back in the box then closes it for no one to see. 

I shake my head in frustration. I don't know why no one wants me to know anything. I bet this has something to do with the men in black that were in the barn. This all has something to do with each other I just know it.  "Fine, I got to be going anyway before I am late." About the time the last part came out of my mouth the door opens up and in walks the guy that was trying to help me. I quickly look down and pretend to be busy.

I watch him out of the corner of my eye. He walks around looking at the glass pieces and finally makes his way to the counter. "Excuse me miss, I would like to look at this one piece over there." He points to one near the front of the store. I didn't have time to reply because Ember does instead. "I will be right with you sir; I am just finishing this piece up."

The guy looks at Ember and back at me. "Surely the little lady here can help me out." He winks at me. I hope Ember didn't notice the wink but with my luck I am sure he did. 

"She could but she technically doesn't work here and besides," He stops to look over at me, "don't you need to be going?" The glare in his eye tells me enough that i should be moving on and making my way back home. 

I nod my head slowly. "Yes, I should be going." I look back down and head out the front door trying my best not to look back up at the guy. The hot air hits me right in the face. I look both way and cross the street making my way to the truck. As I round the back of the building, I notice the guy's friends again over by their car and passing a cigarette back and forth to each other. I dart my eyes to the ground and walk towards the truck. I'm just about got opened the door when a hand shuts the door back. I feel a body up against mine, way to close. I can feel his breath on the back of my neck.

"Where you off too little girl? You want to hang out with us for a little while?" The voice was different than before, so I know it wasn't the one that helped earlier.

I shake my head no. "My pa is expecting me to be back."

"Your pa?" he says with a smirk and a slight laugh in his voice. The rest of his friends start laughing as I hear them walk over towards us.

I quickly turn around to face them. "Yes, I need to get back."

His hand brushes my cheek and moves the few strands of hair from my face. "I think you should stay. It will be fun. Maybe you could show us around this place." He moves his hand behind my neck, embracing it within his hand. I felt a huge lump in the back of my throat. This is what my pa was worried about; men like him. I wasn't sure how to get out of this.

One of the other guys came a little closer and reached out to touch my hair. "I never met an Indian girl before, you are Indian, aren't you?

I barely nod back at him. I didn't know if I should say yes or no or tell them I was only half. Even if I did, I'm not sure that it would even make a difference. I wanted to leave in that moment. Each time I tried to move it felt like they pushed me harder into the side of the truck. I didn't realize that I had even started crying. I don't know how long I was there but the next thing I knew the guys were getting jerked away from me. Then those blue eyes stared me down. "Are you alright? Sorry those guys can be jerks at time."

I quickly wiped my cheeks. "I'm fine. I have to go," I say a little out of breath. I turn to open the door and jump in before he could say anything else. I was about to back up when his hands grab the door. "I'm sorry, really. Let me make it all up to you."

I don't bother looking in those blue eyes of his. "Seriously, I really need to get back before I get in a lot of trouble."

"Of course, hope you have a safe drive home." No sooner than he moves his hands, I back out of the spot and head home.

Halfway there, I pull off to the side of the road and collect myself. I don't need pa knowing that I was upset or even crying. I was to go straight there and back. I knew better than to stop and talk to anyone. I knew there were boys out there that were jerks. But the one; was he a jerk? Was he one of them? He helped me a few times and was trying so hard to be extra nice to me. Oh, Aura get it out of your head no one has ever looked at you that way so why now.

I glance back in the rearview mirror at myself and will the tears away so that that hopefully be the time I get back no one will notice. I pull the truck back on to the road and head on home. As I pull into the yard and park the truck by the barn, I look around to see if anyone is around. Apparently, the kids are inside with ma. I get and hear my pa calling for me. I make my way into the barn. He is there making a new glass globe.

"That is really pretty," I tell him as I admire the colorful swirls.

"Did you get the box to the shop?"

I wanted to ask about who Mr. Landstrom was, but I knew that if I asked then he would have known that I opened the box and all I was to do was drop off the box and come straight back home. So, I keep it to myself. "Yes, Ember said he would take care of it."

"Good. Well guess you better go on get in the house to help your ma out then."

"Yes sir." I stand there for a few more seconds watching him.

He looks up for a split second and then back down to see what he is doing. "Is there something on your mind sweetheart?" he asks.

I shrug my shoulders and shake my head no. Slowly I turn around and head back into the house to help ma get ready for supper.

My ma was hovering over the stove stirring in the pot. She has on her brown dress with her apron tied snuggly around her. I watch her for a few as she pats her hands on the apron and then makes her way to the counter where more vegetables are sitting. I make my way over to her and hold out my hand for her to hand me the knife. I start cutting up the vegetables so that she can start on making the cornbread.

"So how was the drive into town?"

"It was fine. Busy as always, this time of year." I pick up the veggies and throw them into the pot. "I had to park across the street because it was so crowded."

She makes a grunts under her breath and sighs, "All these tourist like they don't have anything better to do at home."

"Right!" I let out a small sigh. "But it would be nice wouldn't it ma just one time to go someplace different to see the world, to see new things like the ocean even."

"Oh Aura you have such a huge imagination. You have all you need here at home. You are surrounded by nature, Mother Earth herself. You don't need anything more than that." She nudges my arm. 

"But that's just it ma; I feel stuck here all the time. I rarely get to go anywhere. I need more. What if the remainder of the summer I can help out at the store? At least I could help out Ember during the busy part of the year and it will get me out of the house.

"I don't think your pa would want that, Aura."

"Ma please, I'm going to go crazy if I spend my whole summer here." I turn around to face her.

She looks up at me and smiles. "I will talk to your pa later, but I am not making any promises."

Ma did not bring up the topic at supper time. However later that night I could hear them talking in hushed voices. It ended with him going back downstairs and out to the barn. I watched him walk all the way to the barn through my bedroom window. The house became all quiet again and I make my way back into bed, pulling the covers over me.