she turned back to him , her jaw set in a rigid line . he cleared his throat as he felt an odd sting in his eyes . i think that in a new world , a new life , things could be different . all her plans to keep out of his line of fire shot down ! gossip spread like dandelion weeds in this town . sometimes i wondered how i was actually related to her . like the light of the halls themselves . but in the bumper-to-bumper traffic , the high road was the faster mode of travel . 