Asking questions with her little frown

 "You gotta stay out of this," Boone wondered how many more times he was going to have this conversation with Maddie over Junie and her real Dad. "There will be a time, but it's not right now."

Junie was still not receptive to the family. She acted as if they were strangers. "Bringing in her real Dad won't help. She just needs time."

Maddie's frown was small, but it was there. He'd never had a riff like this with her. How could something like this drive them apart?

"I thought of all people, you would understand." Her words were bitter as if she was in no mood to wash dishes, so he took over.

"I do understand," he said, looking at her blankly. "We just don't want to make things worse."

He cleaned the kitchen while she plopped herself at the dining table in thought. "I don't know how to make it better."

"What? This with Junie or yourself?" He brought her big thermos cup of water to sip on. He could see she was forgetting to keep hydrated these days. They'd both decided to drink more water instead of caffeine. They both drank coffee and even tea, which kept them up at night when they should have been sleeping.

"I guess me," she shrugged. "I don't know what happened. When did Junie change? Why couldn't I have..you know, been the one to notice?"

"Well, don't let her change you. You are being a big sister. I know you are worried. You've worried over her more than she'll ever know." He told her.

"What are you trying to say?" She looked at him as if she were the one with the problem.

"Oh, Maddie," Boone smiled as he clasped her hand on the table. "I love you. I want you to know, you are a good person. You're great. You use your ingenuity. You're positive, and well, you always make my day better. Don't fuss over something you can't change."

Yeah, he was certain he'd said the wrong thing, but she smiled back as if he were the only cheerleader she would ever need.