“Good news is, your grandparents are on their way. They should be here in a few hours,” Dan said.

“I’ll be able to live with them?”

“Yes.”

She didn’t know how it started; suddenly, she was gasping, and then the gasps hurt so much that she couldn’t get around them, or around her own air, which somehow seemed to be pressing into her. A nurse rushed in and her two visitors stepped back. She could only hear her own gasps, feel her own feelings, but the last thing Summer saw before she sank heavily into unconsciousness was O’Connor mouthing the words: You’re safe now, it’s okay. You’re safe now, it’s okay...

After her mother died, Summer’s body had been physically free of the compound, but her mind had stayed trapped behind its walls. For a while, her grandparents tried to get Summer to work with a specialist who dealt with former cult members, but she’d refused to speak to him, saying it wasn’t her who’d been part of the cult but her mother. She’d only been a kid. She’d screamed this at the grief counselor until he’d smiled and said they were finally getting somewhere. When her free counseling ended, her grandparents shifted her from therapist to therapist, trying to find someone to coax her out of her depression. But no one could understand what she was feeling, and she didn’t want them to. It was her private hurt.

Her therapist suggested she get a part-time job, and her grandparents latched on to the idea, citing all the opportunities that came with having a job. They also offered to buy her a used car to get to and from work, which was the only reason she agreed. A car meant freedom, and that was a precious commodity. She got a job at a local restaurant, busing tables and then later working as a server. The tips were good and she had nothing to spend her money on, so she saved it. What else was there to do? Summer had gone over the options, things like cheerleading and chess club, and the sport that must not be named—softball. She had no interest in doing things that normal kids did; nothing brought her joy. In the morning, she’d drive to school, and after school she’d drive to work, from work it was home: easy-peasy.