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Tess gently smoothed a lock of hair from the girl's face. "It's kind of scary to try something new, isn't it?"
Katie turned to her suddenly. Stark fear had stolen the color from her cheeks. "I ... I can't do stuff like this? remember? I get all ... flustered."
Tess's heart twisted. She had to force her next words past the lump in her throat. "You can. All you have to do
is?"
"I can't." She stared longingly at the paint. Her voice fell to a throaty whisper. "I wish I could...."
Tess kneeled in the short grass and took Katie by the shoulders, turning her gently until they were face-to-face. "Remember our talk?"
Katie nodded, chewing on her lower lip.
"Okay. Now, let's take this one step at a time. What is it that's hard for you?"
Tears magnified Katie's eyes. She struggled valiantly to keep them back. "I don't write so good. The letters get all mushed together."
"You can paint without having to write."
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"I ... can?"
Tess smiled encouragingly. "Your sister's making stars for her window. How would you like to make rain on yours?"
Katie nodded fervently.
Tess reached for the can of yellow paint and held it up to Katie. "Dip your brush in."
Katie gripped the paintbrush in shaking fingers. Frowning with concentration, she dipped the bristles in the can and gingerly withdrew the brush. Sunshine yellow paint clung in globs to the black tip.
"What now?"
Tess cocked her head toward the curtain. "Fling it."
Katie's mouth dropped open. "You mean just throw paint at the curtain?"
"That's what I mean."
Her eyes rounded to the size of quarters. "But that'll make a big mess." Tess grinned. "Yep." "Daddy don't like messes." "Do you see your daddy around here?" Her nervous gaze darted around the yard. "N-No." "Go on," Tess urged with a smile. "Fling it." Katie took a deep breath and moved closer to the curtain. Squeezing her eyes shut,
she flicked her wrist toward the ground. Bright yellow paint flew everywhere, speckling the curtain, the tree, the grass.
"Aah!" Savannah lurched backward just as yellow splattered across her star.
Katie's eyes popped open. When she saw the mess she'd made, humiliation made her lower lip tremble. "I'm sorry, Vannah. I was just?"
Savannah stopped her apology with a smile. "It's beautiful, Katie. Just like the Milky Way."
"It is?" Katie stared down at the yellow-speckled cur-
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tain. A slow, cautious smile began to tug at the corners of
her small, drawn mouth. "It looks like rain, Mama. It
does!"
