A flush raced under Hannah's skin. "Uhm, no," she stammered. "For a moment, I thought he … so I got nervous… I panicked… so, he must think I…" Her voice trailed off.
"You want me to tell Josh you like him?" Ben somehow always managed to decipher her incoherent rants. "Man to man?"
"No, Ben. Please. Just keep out of it, will you? I just have to think it over, okay?"
Her brother smiled. "Okay. Whatever. Relax. I'll sit back and wait while you think things over for the next two months."
Hannah pulled a face. "You know me too well."
They went back outside and sat down at the table, where Emily and Josh were just talking about traveling. Ben chimed in and told them how he was planning to travel through Eastern Europe with Katie next year. "She's traveling through the west of Europe now, and that alone will take her thirty days. If all goes well, we'll both have enough time and money to travel in the east part of Europe next summer. Which means I'll have to slave away all year." Ben and Katie were both second-year students of physiotherapy, but Ben still had a lot of catching up to do.
"I made a trip to the four holy mountains last spring," Josh said.
"How did you travel?" Hannah asked. She knew the Navajo legend of the mountains that bordered their territory on four sides, as defined by their ancestors. Today's Navajo Nation was within the imaginary lines formed by connecting the holy mountains on the map.
"I went by car," Josh replied. "Walking it was a bit too much for me."
"Wow! I'm surprised you left the rebellious motorcycle at home."
"Well, it was sort of a pilgrimage for me. I didn't think it was appropriate to break the law. I left our village at dawn and visited the mountain in the west first."
"Why there?" Hannah inquired. "Shouldn't you start in the east? Where the sun comes up?" Okay, she sounded like Miss Smarty-Pants, but she didn't mind airing her knowledge to impress Josh. She wanted him to notice she still knew a lot about his culture.
"I had my reasons. I wanted to evoke the powers of our ancestors, feel the spirits of the past, and go back in time."
Hannah blinked and couldn't help staring at him. What he said was beautiful. Josh was the most unusual seventeen-year-old guy she had ever met.