Jilly shot up the hill with her overnight luggage and Maverick in tow. She burst through the kitchen door of the farmhouse. "Grandma I'm here!" she announced loudly and the screen door slammed behind her. River smiled and leaned in to grab the tupperware container of cookies off the passenger seat before closing her car door. Her dad walked up the drive, work clothes on.

"What're you doing here?" It was rare to see him home in the daylight during harvest and not out in the fields. "Slackin'?" she joked.

"Nah. We cut out early. Got a storm system movin' in. Better safe. Crops'll be there tomorrow."

She raised her eyebrows, chuckling. "You're getting soft in your old age."

He patted his round belly under his overalls. "Ain't that the truth. Speaking of which, did you bring me more goodies?"

River laughed. "Yes. Jilly insisted on bringing snacks for her sleepover. Sugar cookies." She lifted the container and he peered in, snagging two off the top.

He handed her one. "Don't tell you mother." He winked, then bit off half of his, toasting her with the other.

"Your secret's safe with me." She laughed. Her mom was a strong believer in guilt by association. She wasn't going there. Innocent little cookie or not.

"Speaking of secrets," he started. "You and Jackson goin' out on the town tonight? Seein' as how you're free and all?"

She rolled her eyes. He and Amanda were like two peas in a pod. She wasn't sure why it bothered her so much that they just assumed. Like it was something so natural. "No, Dad. Amanda and I are gonna go have a drink, probably a girls night." It wasn't the whole truth but it would prevent any further line of questioning.

He looked like he was about to say something else but then schooled himself and stuffed the rest of the cookie in his mouth, holding up his hands in defeat. "I'd better go get things in order in the barn. You sticking it out here until the weather passes?"

"I'm just gonna check in with mom and head out. Have a couple hours of quiet at home before I go meet Amanda."

"Alrighty. Don't you worry about that lil' peanut either. She'll be fine."

As long as he was there she had no doubt. "I know, Daddy. Thanks."

Nodding, he started to turn, then stopped and came back. Silently, he took the lid off her container and grabbed another couple cookies, raised them in the air in a wave and walked off towards the barn.

Turning towards the house, she looked up at it and sighed, reluctantly trekking up the hill. Inside, Maverick was happily slurping some water from his dish which had been placed carefully by the table along with his food bowl. She rounded into the spacious living room, hearing voices coming from upstairs. She turned right into the narrow enclosed stairwell and stopped at the top. Straight ahead was her old room. She hadn't been in it since they'd been back.

She moved to the doorway. Jilly was in her mom's lap on the window seat as she read her a chapter out of Alice In Wonderland. It was the same copy her mom used to read from when she was young, in that very spot. Memories of moonlit reading sessions with her mom on hot summer nights when she couldn't sleep flooded her vision.

She might as well have been in a time machine. The white painted wood floors and scattering of rag rugs. The red Jenny Lind bed with matching red flowered quilt and ruffled white bed skirt. The white dresser with the space in the middle she used for her makeup and perfumes and lotions, oval mirror above it with the bench in front. It had been the perfect spot for doing her makeup in the natural morning sun. The matching white wardrobe was in the same spot too. Glancing at the built-in bookshelves on the wall opposite the bed, all of her old books stood, patiently waiting for someone to turn their pages again. Nothing had changed.

"River." Her mom looked up. "We didn't hear you come in." River smiled stiffly, crossing her arms.

"Hi, Mom." Jilly waved with one hand, hugging her stuffed bear to her chest with another.

"Hi, Sweets," she smiled and stepped into the room. "I'm gonna head out. Are you all ready for this?" she asked Jilly, who nodded rapidly.

"Grandma says this was your room when you were little like me." River nodded and Jilly continued. "You must have been super lucky to have this room. It's pretty. Are all those books yours, Mom?"

"Yep those are all my books. And I bet you there are still bookmarks in some of them. Grandma used to read them to me just like this," she said pointing at the two of them on the cushioned seat.

Her mom looked at her nostalgically, but it only lasted a second. "We'll be fine here. You can go."

After giving Jilly a million hugs and making sure she was all set, she made her way outside to the car and back down the gravel. Blue skies stretched as far as she could see and she wondered if maybe the weather man had been way off today. Then again, she knew how unpredictable mother nature could be in the plains.

Turning up the radio, she tapped her fingers on the steering wheel, AC blowing around random wisps of hair that had fallen out of her messy bun. She loved Jilly with all her heart but just like any other mom, she relished her alone time. She idly wondered what movie was playing at the CinePlex. Amanda was always game for a good movie. She reached to the side pocket of her purse for her phone, but her fingers found nothing but empty leather. "Dammit." It was probably on the dining room table next to the tupperware dish her Mom had sternly reminded her that she'd forgotten.

Ding Ding Ding. Lights lit up all over her dash. Her car went silent as she fought the gravel with no power steering, coasting to a stop on the side of the road. She turned the key to try and start it up again. Nothing. "Great."

She climbed out and slammed her door shut, looking around. Basically halfway back to town. The sun beat down on her and heat waves resonated up from the gravel road. Removing her favorite plaid flannel shirt she'd owned forever, she tied it around her waist. She glanced up and down the road, debating which direction to walk. If she went back to her parent's place, she'd get twenty questions and an inevitable lecture from her mom, which undoubtedly would end with a conclusion that something she had done resulted in the car breaking down. On that thought, she took off towards town.