I can’t swim that well.

  Rain splashed on my face. I opened my eyes.

  Bruce leaned over me. He was crying. His tears fell on me. Not rain, then.

  I tried to tell him I was sorry. I was okay. My voice didn’t work.

  “Hang on, Sarah. Help’s coming. Hold on.”

  Bruce turned his head and shouted, “Over here. Help!”

  Agony pulled me away.

  I didn’t feel pain when I opened my eyes. I didn’t feel anything.

  It felt as if I floated on a bed. A hospital. It smelled like medicine. Or I did.

  I saw Aunt Cathy on the side of the room by the windows. Mom sat next to me in a chair.

  I croaked something. Mom about jumped out of her skin.

  “Sarah, honey.” Mom’s voice was soft. “I have some ice chips for you.” She eased a piece into my mouth.

  It took away the dryness.

  “Bruce?” I managed to whisper. “Where is he?”

  “He’s outside, honey.” Mom covered my hand with hers. “Can you tell me what happened? Who did this?”

  “I want Bruce.” He kept Jason from hurting Missy. Bruce said I was more important than his dog. He’d help me. I just knew it.

  “Bruce. I need him.” I closed my eyes again. “Bruce.”

  “Okay,” Mom said. “I’ll try to get him for you. Anybody else?”

  “Timber. Warren. Bruce, first,” I said. “Have to be safe.”

  “Jason really wants to see you,” Mom said. “He’s outside. He’s scared to death for you. I’ll go get him.”

  I yanked my hand away. Tried to sit up. Had to run. Couldn’t move fast enough. “No. No. No! Help me! Aunt Cathy, help!”

  “I will, Sarah.” Aunt Cathy caught me before I fell off the bed. “He’s not coming in here. I promise.”

  I turned my face into her shoulder. Tears burned my eyes. I cried.

  “I told you that Jason did this.” Fury filled Aunt Cathy’s voice. “And your daughter needs to come first with you, Laurie, not a snot-nosed punk.”

  “It’s not Jason. It can’t be,” Mom said. “He’s the mayor’s son. It had to be Bruce.”

  “Oh for God’s sake, Laurie. Grow up, will you? Quit throwing your husbands under the bus. You dumped Adam because he loved your kids. Now, it’s Bruce. You’re pissed because Sarah trusts Bruce more than she does you, and you want to blame him for something that Jason did.”

  “Look, I’ll bring Jason in here and Sarah can tell the truth about him.”

  “No!” I screamed as loud as I could, but it was barely above a whisper. “He’s not my boyfriend. I want Bruce, Aunt Cathy. Don’t let Jason in. Don’t let him, don’t let him!”

  “I won’t,” Aunt Cathy promised, stroking my hair. “I won’t. Laurie, get your husband.”

  “He’s in the hospital, but I don’t know where. He refused to wait outside with Jason.”

  “Damn it, go find him. I’ll stay with Sarah and believe me, nobody will hurt her.”

  “I’ll stay with my daughter.” Mom sighed. “You go find Bruce.”

  I could swear I heard Aunt Cathy grind her teeth, before she snarled, “Get. Bruce.”

  When Mom left the room, Aunt Cathy wiped my face. She helped me lie down. “Go back to sleep. Bruce will be here, but Jason won’t, no matter what your mom says. Okay?”

  “Pinkie-swear?” I managed to hold up my finger as if I was Priscilla’s age again.

  Aunt Cathy kissed my forehead. “Pinky-swear.”

  “And you’ll stay, too, no matter what she says?”

  “Pinky-swear.”

  This time when I woke up, I saw Grandma next to me. I knew I should feel safe with her. She was so take-charge. She looked down at me. “You’re awake. How do you feel?”

  “Where’s Bruce?” I asked. “I want him.”

  Aunt Cathy stood at the foot of the bed. “I’ll get him.” She started toward the door.

  “Are you sure?” Grandma gave me a piece of ice. “Your boyfriend’s here. He’s waited all night.”

  “Timber?” I asked.

  Grandma gave me a narrowed look. “No, Jason.”

  I jerked upward, “No. No. No!”

  “Damn it, Mother! I told you that the boy hurt her. What’s wrong with you and Laurie?” Aunt Cathy stormed back to the bed. “Sarah, chill out. The little buzzard isn’t coming in here.”

  “Just checking,” Grandma said. “Do you want Bruce here first?”

  “Bruce.”

  Would she listen? Mom hadn’t. But Grandma was different. Did she hear me?

  Grandma kissed me. “Then your Aunt Cathy will get your dad in here. Hang in there, sweetie.”

  “Bruce,” I insisted.

  “He’s on the way,” Grandma said as Aunt Cathy left the room.

  “Guess I better start being nice to him.” Grandma sighed. “‘The things we do for love,’” she quoted.

  I couldn’t even smile. “Sorry about the stalls.”

  “Don’t worry. Warren and Priscilla are helping me out for a few days. Timber Watkins fell off the wagon. He showed up at the farm, drunk as hell. Cleaning the barns will make him puke his guts out. Best cure I know for what ails him,” Grandma said. “He’s not driving my tractor until he sobers up. He can push the wheelbarrow.”

  “Jerk,” I said. “We had a date.”

  “He can take you out when he’s sober,” Grandma said. “I like the boy, but he has to learn a few life lessons about alcohol.”

  “No.” I tried to shake my head, but it was too hard to move on the pillow. “He has to stay sober. Have to wait a year. Tell Timber to call his sponsor.”

  “I’ll tell Timber.” Grandma stroked my hair. “Get some rest, honey. Bruce will be here when you wake up.”

  She and Aunt Cathy did it. The next time I opened my eyes, I saw Bruce sitting in the chair by the bed. There were dark circles under his eyes and his white shirt was all creased. He held Cappy on his lap. “You look awful.”

  “You’re no beauty queen either today, Sarah.” Bruce stroked my hair with his free hand. “I’m here now.”

  “Good. I’m safe then.” I closed my eyes for a second. “You stay. Don’t let him in.”

  “I won’t,” Bruce promised.

  “Good. Mom and Grandma want to. Don’t let them.” A tear leaked down my cheek. “Help Aunt Cathy keep him out. Please.”

  “I will.” Bruce repeated the promise. He wiped at my face.

  I barely felt his touch. “Good. ’Cause you like me better than Missy. I’m safe.”

  “Who’s Missy?” I heard Helene ask.

  “My puppy.” Bruce kept stroking my hair. “And I love you, Sarah. Like Priscilla, not Missy. Okay?”

  “Yeah.” It was getting a little mushy in here, so I asked, “Are you in trouble? I told everybody you didn’t do it. You’d never hit me.”

  “I’m fine, Sarah. The police are here and they want to talk to you about what happened on Saturday. Are you ready to do that?”

  “Will they take Jason away?”

  “Whether they take him away or not, your Aunt Cathy and I will keep you safe. I promise.” He tucked Cappy onto the bed beside me, sliding him under the covers next to me. “And so will your friend here.”

  “Okay.” I snagged Bruce’s hand when he started to stand up. “You’re staying, right? Then I think I’m ready.”

  “I need to let you talk to Rocky without me,” Bruce said, sitting back down. “Otherwise, you might be influenced by having me here.”

  I struggled to understand and glanced over at Aunt Cathy. “They still think he did it, don’t they?”

  Aunt Cathy and Bruce shared a look before she said. “Your mom isn’t helping much, sweetie. She really likes the idea of you dating the mayor’s son.”

  A lump bubbled up in my throat. “She’s my mom.” Tears trickled across my face into my hair. “Isn’t she supposed to like me better? Better than Jason?”

  “Yes, but then she’s always had the emotional depth of a cookie sheet.” Aunt Cathy sat down in the chair on the other side of the bed, next to me. “And it’s not your fault, so woman up, Sarah. You need to do what’s right, so we can help you. The only person who can change this pattern of abuse is you, sweetie. If you keep doing the same things and expecting different results, that’s insanity.”

  As always, Aunt Cathy made all kinds of sense. I could trust her to tell me the truth when nobody else did. And she was right, just like always. With her in the room, it was safe to woman up.

  “Okay.” I let go of Bruce’s hand. “I’m ready. You can tell them.”

  “I will.” Bruce went outside and Rocky came in, followed by his deputy.

  I blinked up at Rocky. “Why are both of you here?”

  Rocky was dressed in his cop stuff. “To find out who hurt you, Sarah. Can you tell me? I thought it was Bruce. I hoped it was because I really don’t like him much.”

  “He may not be a real people person, but Bruce is okay.” I managed to look around the room, seeing the cops, and Helene the social worker from Children’s Services.

  “I yelled.” I said to the deputy. “You didn’t come.”

  “I didn’t hear you,” Officer Morrison said. “I’m sorry. I could have caught the perp.”

  “Cool,” I said. “Jason would have been majorly pissed.”

  “Jason?” Helene asked. “Who is Jason?”

  “Her boy-friend,” Rocky said. “Is he still here?”

  “I don’t know, but I’ll find out.” Officer Morrison started for the door. “How old is he? Do we need his parents to talk to him?”

  “He’s eighteen,” I said. “A senior. I thought he was cool. I didn’t know he was a jerk.”

  “Nobody did for sure,” Aunt Cathy said. “It’s not your fault, Sarah.”

  “I know.” I sighed. “Nobody has the right to hurt me. But why did I let him? It wasn’t real love, was it?”

  “I guess that’s something you’ll have to discuss with Bernice when you feel better,” Aunt Cathy said. “Now, Rocky and Officer Morrison are going outside to talk with Bruce and Jason. Helene and I will stay with you, and nobody will let Jason in here. Are you okay with that?”

  I managed to nod. “Could you send Bruce back in here, Rocky?”

  “What about your mom?” Rocky gave me his steady cop stare. “Do you want her?”

  “No,” I said. “She likes Jason much better than me.” A tear trickled down my face. “I didn’t want to go with him to Homecoming. But she wouldn’t let me break up with him. He’s the mayor’s son, you know. And it didn’t matter to her that I liked Timber better. She despises him because his dad had major problems with PTSD.”

  Aunt Cathy passed me a tissue and sat down on the bed by me. “Honey, if something like that ever happens again, I want you to tell me. Nobody, not even your mom, has the right to make you date somebody you don’t want to date. Okay?”

  “But she’s my mom. I wanted to make her happy.” More tears slipped down my cheeks. “I wanted to make her love me for real like she loves Priscilla.”

  “You can’t make somebody love you, Sarah.” Rocky’s voice was gentle. “I know. I tried for years, and it doesn’t work that way. I’ll go get Bruce for you.”

  “Okay.” A lump rose in my throat and I buried my face in my aunt’s sweatshirt, soaking it with my tears. My voice sounded muffled when I said, “Thanks, Rocky.”

  Aunt Cathy wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tight. “I love you, sweetie.”

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  I tried to eat the supper the nurses brought me, but a lump of mystery meat, gray potatoes, and lime Jell-O didn’t appeal since I was used to eating what Warren cooked.

  When I finally gave up, the nurse took away the tray and told me if I wanted a snack later, she’d find me one.

  The door opened and Timber came in, followed by Warren and Vonnie.

  I caught a whiff of hamburgers, grilled onions, and French fries and knew they’d been to Mulligan’s Diner in Pine Ridge. “You guys suck big time.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Timber said. He came over and dropped a kiss on the top of my head, then pulled a white sack from under his coat. “Here. I brought you soup.”

  “I wanted a burger,” I whined, fighting a smile.

  “Tomorrow night after the doctor turns you loose,” Warren told me.

  “What he said.” Vonnie stayed by the door, obviously to watch for the nurse. “Eat quick before they take it away.”

  Timber opened the bag and pulled out a covered Styrofoam bowl. “It’s chicken noodle. And if you eat it all, there’s coconut cream pie.”

  I dug into the soup. “I missed you guys so much. What’s happening at school? With Jason?”

  “Everybody’s talking about you,” Vonnie said. “The cops are still investigating, but my dad told me they’ll get him.”

  “I passed on Hailey Collins’ new address to Rocky,” Warren said. “He’s going to follow up with her and her folks. She’s staying with relatives in Seattle. They have a restraining order against Jason, so it doesn’t look good for him.”

  “I wish I’d been nicer to her.” I kept eating the soup. “She was so mean and nasty that I never thought about her hurting.”

  “Nobody did.” Timber sat in the chair next to the bed. “She didn’t even confide in Abbie and they were on cheer together for three years. Hailey just pushed everyone away.”

  “My dad says it is textbook abuse.” Vonnie continued to stand guard at the door. “The first thing the guy tries to do is separate the gal from her friends so she won’t have any help if she needs it.”

  I nodded. “Jason tried, but my friends didn’t go anywhere even when he was rude to them. And B.J. made Gabe follow me around to play protector even before everybody else got super involved. That totally pissed off Jason.”

  “Yeah, but he should have figured out that we’re smarter than he is,” Warren said. “He picked the wrong girl when he messed with my sister.”

  He looked so proud of himself I had to grin.

  He glanced past me to where Cappy nestled next to me. “So, how did he get here?”

  “Cappy didn’t walk in by himself,” I said. “You’re supposed to be the smart one in the family. Bruce brought him.”

  “Cappy.” Vonnie tilted her head. “I never did get that name.”

  “My dad was an Army captain when he found him at the PX,” I said. “I couldn’t say, captain, very well.”

  “You were only three,” Warren told me. “Cut yourself some slack, Sarah. So, she called the tiger, Cappy and that’s been his name ever since.”

  Once I finished eating, he and Vonnie headed downstairs for coffee so Timber and I could talk.

  When they were gone, Timber handed me a gift-wrapped package. I slowly unfastened the tape, savoring every moment. I folded up the galloping horse wrapping paper. I’d bet he had to look all over to find it. Inside was a hardcover copy of the Album of Horses by Marguerite Henry. It’d been out of print forever, so I knew he’d been hunting for it for a while.

  “I was saving it for your birthday, but I didn’t want to wait until Wednesday to give it to you,” Timber said. “I screwed up our date, kid. So much for May.”

  “Yeah.” I leaned over to kiss him. It was sweet, nice, and oh, so hot when he kissed me back. “You’ve got a long way to go before you’re ready for a relationship, Timber. So, do I. Want to hang out and be friends?”

  “No problem, kid. Do I still get your special chocolate-chip cookies?” Timber carefully put his arms around me. “Okay?”

  “Yeah.” I rested my cheek against his shoulder and slid my fingers through his curly black hair. “Awesome. The cookie thing. I have a few conditions.”

  “No problem.” He kissed me. “What are they?”

  “You have to teach me how to bowl so I can beat you. You’ve got to help me clean stalls and learn how to ride so we can hit the trails together. Oh, and you have to watch me cheer unless you’re on the field or the court. Deal?”

  He laughed. “Yeah, kid. No problem. I’m the only one you bake cookies for. Got it?”

  “I got it and I got Timber Watkins, too,” I said. “I think I won this time.”

  “We both did.”

  I had more visitors later that night. B.J., Terry, and Gabe showed up with Annie Kincaid. “What’s going on?” I stared at her. “Annie, was I supposed to babysit today? Why are you here?”

  “Because you’re going to need help, and that’s what I do.” Annie gestured to my three friends. “These guys rounded me up since I’m their lawyer.”

  “She’s good,” B.J. said. “She fixes things, and she does what you want when you hire her.”

  “I can’t afford an attorney,” I said. “No offense, Annie, but I’d be baby-sitting so long that Trina would be out of college and you’d need at least three or four more kids of your own.”

  Terry laughed. “We don’t pay her, Sarah. The state does. If you ask for her, she’ll represent you. And that’s what you do next time your case-worker shows up. You say you want Annie.”

  Gabe handed me a box of chocolates. “She’s helping me and my dad re-connect. He has PTSD from Iraq and Afghanistan. And we’re old enough to tell judges what we want.”

  “So you have to talk to her so she can speak for you.” B.J. pointed to the candy. “Are you opening it or saving it?”

  I laughed, and she came over to help me tear into the carton. “Annie, will you be my lawyer, even if I’m not sure what I want?”

  “Yes,” Annie said. “Are you going to continue to date Jason?”

  “Of course not! I never would have gone with him to Homecoming if I could have gotten out of it.” I picked a chocolate out of the middle of the box. “I just want to stay in Stewart Falls. I don’t want my dad moving me to California.”

  “All right. We’ll talk about it later when you feel better.”

  On Tuesday afternoon, Aunt Cathy arrived with Helene. I’d started to wonder just what was going on. I hadn’t seen Mom or Bruce since yesterday. The doctor had told me I could go home in time for supper, and I’d wondered when they’d get here to pick me up.