The story around town was that Kat Hayes had gone upstairs to feed the stray cat she'd taken in when something in the wiring of the old bed and breakfast set off a blaze.

Collins recalled the events of that night through a fog of confusion. The sirens had shrilled through the quiet of the night, cutting through any attempt at a conversation she might have had with Vance. By the time Vance managed to turn his car back around to try to help, the flames had reached the ceiling and burned mercilessly.

She could still hear the screaming hours later while she waited in the hospital lobby. The panic pounded a heavy rhythm through her veins as she kept replaying the horrific scene. To think she could have been inside with Kat when the fire broke out...

Worse still, she could have lost the only family she had left in the world.

Collins shivered and focused her gaze on Aimee. She was the actively working nurse this morning, but her ashen face and tired gaze did nothing to hide her worry.

"How is he?" Collins asked, though her voice was hardly more than a rasp.

Aimee offered a wan smile, her kind eyes glistened. "Stubborn as a mule and asking for you," she replied.

Relief washed over her. If Jonah had enough energy to put up a fight then he was obviously starting to feel more like himself. She'd spent two cold, lonely nights curled up in the hospital waiting room chairs hoping nothing was seriously wrong with him.

"Would you like to see him now?" Aimee questioned.

Collins nodded and followed the nurse down the corridor to her brother's room. As soon as she saw him, her vision grew clouded with tears.

"Good morning, little sis," Jonah greeted, his arms opened wide for her.

She was in his arms, crying like a baby, before Aimee even excused herself to give them some privacy. "How could you be so stupid?" Collins gasped. "I thought I'd lost you!"

When that fire broke out, no one was even sure if Kat was inside the building. Collins remembered screaming that Simon's sister was in there with Lionel, recalled praying that she wouldn't have to watch the only family left of Simon's burn to the ground and vanish, too. She didn't know what she'd expected to happen, but when Jonah ran into the burning home, her heart had stopped.

Everything else had frozen, too.

Jonah chuckled. "You forget I promised to always protect you. It's you and me. Always."

She could believe that now that she could hold him and hear his voice. But what if? What would have happened to her if he hadn't been so lucky?

Her brother pulled away. His brown eyes looked over her face, and he frowned as he read the signs she didn't know how to hide from him. The paranoia, the uncertainty, the darkness that tried to overwhelm her every time she lost a grip on control.

Every time she lost a part of her soul.

"Hey," he spoke gently, like a father to a terrified child. "I'm here, okay? I'm fine."

"Don't you ever do that again."

After he reassured her that he would never voluntarily run into a fire again, Collins settled into a chair beside his bed. She told him about Kat. Thanks to her idiotic, heroic brother, Kat had made it out of that house in one whole piece. She'd sustained some pretty bad burns and a mild concussion the doctors said.

Lionel hadn't been so lucky. Once the flames cleared and the smoke settled, Vance surveyed the damage and found the cat. Well, what was left of the poor feline anyway.

Vance had helped her bury him under the big oak tree in Simon's backyard.

Aimee showed up a little before noon with a tray of food for Jonah. As she watched the young nurse fret over him, Collins' heart swelled with gratitude. Her brother might not want to show it, but having someone there to worry about you, to care, was a wonderful thing.

It showed you that your life mattered to others even when it felt like it didn't matter to you.

She snuck out of the room to give them some time alone. Instead Collins headed for Kat Hayes' room. She'd stopped by last night to pay a visit, but Kat had already fallen asleep. How sad that Kat should have been so close to death, and her only living family was too far away to know it.

Collins glanced down at Simon's three postcards in her hand. He was sending them closer together now. Not that it mattered. He never gave her an address or number to call. It was like he was baiting her. Giving her just enough to know he was fine, but too little for her to seek him out.

Funny. Didn't Simon know by now that she was the last person on Earth who would try to drag him back here?

Kat's room boasted the same bright white walls as the rest of the hospital. The staff had pushed open the gauzy curtains to allow the natural sunlight to seep in.

"Morning," Simon's sister rasped.

She looked so frail. The vibrant tattoos so many would associate with a harsh exterior only served to emphasize how easily she could have turned to ash.

"It's closer to lunch now," Collins said. A glance at the clock proved her point. "It's noon."

Kat laughed. "So it is."

It was strange to talk to her when she'd never really gone out of her way to do so before. Even when Simon had been in town, Collins hadn't been close to Kat. She'd admired her for being someone rooted in place, impossible to faze. Someone Collins could look up to for being exactly what she yearned to be.

Strong. Brave. Unafraid and unmoved of what anyone dared to say behind their plastic smiles.

But that wasn't who she saw propped up against the pillows of that bed. This version of Kat was a ghost of the woman who'd raised Simon while she'd been little more than a teen herself. Human and vulnerable.

"I'm so sorry," Collins whispered.

"For the fire? You had nothing to do with it." Kat waved an arm as if to shoo away her apology.

"For being so stuck in my own head that I forgot I wasn't the only one Simon left behind." It hurt to say it. To admit she'd closed herself off so all she'd thought of was herself. Felt sorry for herself because she'd been the one abandoned.

"Simon loved you," the older woman said. "He left both of us. I just want to understand why."

Collins nodded and moved closer to Kat's bedside. "You know he planned to join the Marines?" The shudder that ran down her spine was automatic. "That he dreamed of leaving Sailor's Port behind for good?"

"He mentioned it a few times. I might have lost my cool and threatened him when he did. This has been our home." She frowned, realizing where she was and what that meant. "Was our home," she corrected.

"I brought Simon's postcards." Collins didn't know how to reassure Simon's sister, so she didn't try to. There was nothing worse than offering empty promises to someone who would see right through them. "I've gotten three since he left town."

"He's sent you postcards?"

"Yes. I explained that to you the night of the fair. We planned to meet at your place to discuss them."

But Kat shook her head. "I-" she licked her lips, her eyes widening on Collins' face. "I don't remember."

vVv

Mr. Granger wasn't too happy when she showed up to class Monday and asked for an extension to his writing assignment. But at least he gave her until Friday to submit the paper.

Collins sighed as she shoved her textbooks into her locker. The postcards she'd tossed inside that morning seemed to taunt her, messing with her peace of mind.

Kat Hayes couldn't remember what had happened the night of the fair. The doctor had explained that her memory loss was normal and temporary. A direct result of the concussion she'd sustained when the fire nearly suffocated her.

With everything going on, Collins hadn't had it in her to tell Kat about the death of Lionel, either. She'd lost too much already.

"Oh, well, if it isn't the hypocrite," a feminine voice whisper-hissed.

Collins gritted her teeth and slammed her locker door closed. Alice Bone blinked innocently at her, as if she didn't exist specifically to torment her every single day she could.

"I'm honestly surprised that word is part of your limited vocabulary," Collins said.

"And I'm surprised you decided to show your face here after what happened this weekend." Alice lifted her chin as if in challenge, her strawberry blonde curls bouncing.

Seriously? Evil Barbie could even try to blame the fire on her? "Give it up, Alice," Collins breathed. "I'm not in the mood to try to follow your twisted logic today."

"Oh, my bad." Her voice dropped with false sweetness. "You're just in the mood for a wild ride around town with a certain quarterback, right?"

She wasn't following. The confusion must have shown on her face because Alice grinned.

"Still don't remember?" she asked. "Maybe this will refresh your memory."

Collins grabbed the sheet of paper Alice held out to her. She regretted it instantly. The paper was a poster of her. Her face on a half-naked model with a number to call if anyone wanted to do business with her.

She crumpled the poster up into a tight ball with every intention of throwing it away. She wasn't going to scream no matter how much her throat burned to do so. She wouldn't give anyone the satisfaction of seeing just how much it bothered her.

No. It was better to smile. To shrug and show them nothing they did or said would ever hurt her.

Even if it did hurt sometimes.

Alice watched her like a hawk, glassy eyes looking for any break in Collins' guarded exterior. Collins smiled at her.

And Trey Woods went crashing headfirst into the set of lockers directly behind Alice.

There was a surreal moment of silence as the high school population of Sailor's Port stared in shock. It wasn't everyday you saw the star quarterback act like a total klutz off the football field. Then again, Trey had never had to share the field with Vance Brock.

Vance watched Trey struggle to his feet with an expression of calm. Like the eerie silence of the sea before the waves broke into a tsunami.

This tsunami was a mess of flying fists and the screams of onlookers as Vance pounced.

"Are you happy now?" Alice hissed. "This town has gone to hell because of you! And still you are always the victim."

Maybe because that seemed to be the only role she fit into no matter how hard she tried not to let it define her? But she'd never admit something like that to Alice.

So Collins ignored her. Instead she focused on the scene in front of her. Trey might have had all the practice colliding with bulky footballers, but he never stood a chance against Vance's rage. Collins jumped back when Trey made a growling noise and rushed at Vance.

They fell to the ground, each fighting to land the hardest punch. All the commotion finally made it to Principal Flannigan's office. His usually pale face was tinged with red as he saw the fighting boys.

He snapped his fingers at two of Trey's teammates. "Break it up! Now!"

It took three of them to drag Vance off of the quarterback. He glared at the smirking fool on the floor. "You worthless piece of-"

Trey laughed. "What's the matter, Brock? Jealous I kept your ex warm while you were off in Europe?"

What the heck was Trey talking about?

"Let go of me!" Vance fought against the guys holding him back.

"She's not that good," Trey continued, wiping at blood on his busted lower lip. "I much preferred Regina, if you know what I mean."

"Stop it!" She hadn't meant to shout. But it was impossible not to understand what Trey was insinuating. Even harder not to know who had been behind the posters about her.

Vance's eyes flashed to her. Saw the shock and embarrassment on her face. "Collins."

"You'd better listen to your owner, Brock," Woods piped up. "You little bit-"

"Shut up, Trey." He looked so pathetic sitting there on the floor, one eye already swelling from the beating he'd taken. "The only dog here is you. A stupid, whiny pup trying to make up for his tiny package."

A few snickers followed her insult.

Principal Flannigan clapped his hands. "Alright, that's enough from all of you! Estrada, Brock, and Woods, I want you in my office." He raked his hands through his carrot hair. "The rest of you get to class!"

Everyone dispersed.

Collins spent the next half hour explaining to Flannigan what had happened between her and Trey the night of the fair. She handed over the crumpled poster Alice had baited her with earlier, shivering when the older man's eyes looked over the edited picture. After the way Flannigan had tried to make a move on her in exchange for her advanced classes, she wasn't entirely comfortable having him look at any part of her. Edited photo or not.

He let her off with a verbal warning. Vance, on the other hand, kept his mouth tightly shut while the principal went over the seriousness of fighting on school grounds. Flannigan gave Vance an in school suspension for the remainder of the day.

Trey Woods received a three day suspension for his part in the drama.

Collins sighed when the bell finally rang at the end of the day. She knew she'd have to tell Jonah about what happened and she dreaded it. He'd be furious. But maybe the doctor could give him a sedative to help calm him?

"Collins, wait up."

She took a deep breath, trying to ignore the way her heart raced at the sound of his voice. But if she'd had any hope of calming her reactions to him, she would have done it by now.

"Why'd you do that?" Collins asked. He had a bruise forming beneath one piercing gray eye and a cut on his top lip.

How was it possible for him to look even more attractive that way?

"Because he deserved it." Vance shrugged as if that explained everything. "Because he needed to be taught a lesson. He's done this kind of thing before, and I'm tired of him getting away with it."

She recalled what Trey had said about Regina. "If he was always so bad, why didn't you stop your sister from dating him?"

"She never listened. She got that stubborn streak from our mother."

That was true. The more someone told her not to do something, the more determined Regina became to do it. That had been part of her charm.

"I could have handled Trey, you know."

Vance nodded. "I'm sure you could have in your own way," he agreed. "But I wanted you to know you didn't have to. Not alone."

That sounded a little too close to the promises he'd made her before when they hadn't been strangers living with tainted memories.

"Thank you," she said. "That's twice now that you've helped me. Three, actually, if you count the funeral we had for Simon's cat." Collins saw a hint of a smile curve his lips. "Anyway, I'm going to visit my brother before he finds out about today."

Vance grasped her arm before she could walk away. "Collins, did Regina ever tell you anything about a drug dealer she was seeing?"

"What?"

He looked so lost. So worried and helpless and all she wanted was to hold him. To reassure him that everything was fine when nothing really was.

"The night Regina died, she'd been smoking and drinking." He paused, trying to find the words to tell her what he knew about his sister. "I left her here. And she went on to drugs and alcohol. And sleeping with complete strangers."

She remembered the guy from Regina's party. The one who was married. "There was a man at the party."

"He apparently helped get her high as a kite that night."

"But maybe we can find him and see if-"

Vance shook his head. "Sheriff Tills looked into it. There was another video recorded that night on my sister's old phone that helped us identify him."

Which was great news. Wasn't it?

"He crashed his trailer fifteen miles out of town," Vance stated. "Died instantly and took whatever clues I might have gotten from him to help me understand what was going on with Regina."

It seemed Regina Brock had died with secrets after all. 

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