Tumbleweeds by Leila Meacham

This book is more of a mystery than I normally read but I enjoyed it as it also was an interesting study in personality and relationships.  Cathy is orphaned as a 12 year old and must move from her home in California to live with her grandmother (who she has only met once) in a small town in the Texas Panhandle.  At the request of Cathy's grandmother and her best friend, Mabel, Cathy is taken under the wing of the two most popular boys in the sixth grade, Trey Don (or TD) and John.  TD has been abandoned by both his parents and is cared for by his Aunt Mabel while John mostly fends for himself as his mother has died and her husband (who is not really his father) is an abusive alcoholic.  So the three youngsters bond with each other, creating their own little family.  It works well until they are about 16 when the boys are involved in an ugly incident they vow to cover up for their whole lives and Cathy and TD become a couple despite John's love for her (and frankly more stable personality).  The book follows the next 22 years in their lives as TD leaves Texas to ply both college and professional football and Cathy and John are left to pick up the pieces of their lives.  The final third of the book deals with TD's eventual return to Texas to reveal two major secrets and once again throw Cathy and John's now settled lives into turmoil.