"Nothing," declared Hazel, beginning to sniff a little.
"Then why don't you tell him so?"
"Him? Him?"
"Yes, him. Bill. Mr. William H. Wingo. The sheriff of Crocker County. That's what I'd do if I loved him."
"I don't love him," snapped Hazel, the shine in her black eyes giving the lie to her words.
"You blessed child," said Sally Jane, and threw her arms around Hazel and drew her to her breast. "You blessed child. I don't know what ever came between you and Bill, but something did, and if you've got an atom of sense in your head, you'll move heaven and earth to make it up with him."
"He doesn't love me any more," declared Hazel, her emotion getting the better of her.
"Do you love him?" probed the older girls.
A pronounced sniffle.
"Do you?"