She learned about love first... in the back seat of a car. Her second lesson came soon after, on autumn leaves no less fallen than she — and none more scarlet. From then on she had a— BAD NAME... and the whole town whispered: A — for the autumn when Dan Duncan branded her with it... P — for Bill Pearsall, whose love might redeem it... R — for reckless, which is what she was with Jeffers... I — for incorrigible — according to the sexpack... L — for license and the lust in which she reveled... N — for all the times she no longer said, “No...” O — for all the zeros she drew for her best efforts... R — for the repentance she simply could not feel... T — for those tomorrows — bad as her yesterdays... H — for her haven in the arms of a man who loved the town’s whisper— APRIL NORTH... APRIL NORTH... APRIL NORTH... APRIL NORTH... APRIL NORTH