Early days yet—another favorite Reba saying—but her classes were going well, especially English and music. She was making new friends, and she loved having her own large room at the ranch house, loved knowing Shallie and Cord were together. Outside of her anxiety about the DNA results (but it wasn’t as though that could go badly), she’d never been happier.

And an unexpected bonus—when Susan moved in with Tina and Mitch for her temporary stay, she offered Carly some of the T-shirts she’d left at the trailer. She said Carly should take her pick, take as many as she wanted. Hard choice, since Carly liked (and had worn) them all. She chose the cat-love T-shirt, plus the So Many Books one and then the one celebrating The GateCrashers. No need to be greedy, she told herself. In exchange, she gave Susan the Horses Help T-shirt she’d received from Emma, figuring she could easily ask for—or buy—another.

CORD AND JULIE spoke every two days, as they’d promised. She’d told him that last month’s forest fire had been devastating, but successfully vanquished. She and Chris hoped the damage to woods, farmland and a number of small towns could be repaired, recovered from, although they knew it would take years.

He’d told her about the situation with Carly and the DNA test. Julie regularly asked if he’d “heard anything yet.”

“Trust me, I’ll let you know,” he always said.

Her other regular question was when (not if) he and Shallie were getting married.

Same response.

SHALLIE’S MOST RECENT call with Emma, a day ago, had ended with what was becoming a standard question. “So, when are you two getting married?”

Standard response: “Don’t know.”

“Come on! You’re meant to be with him. You’re such a great couple!”

“Perhaps…”

“And you’re basically living together as it is. Make it official already!”

“We’ll see.”

Then their call moved on to other subjects. Emma described her new therapy clients and mentioned that many of the people Shallie had met were continuing to improve. In turn, Shallie told her about Cord’s newest clients, a couple from Chicago who were staying at Russ’s motel. She went on to say that she and Cord had talked to Russ about fixing up more rooms, making his motel the “residence of choice” for Hollister Horses’ clients. And, as Cord had surmised, J.P. was interested in getting involved, investing in the motel and its renovations.

Emma asked about Carly, and Shallie found it easy to respond. Everything was positive—doing well at school, loving her music program, planning another concert with The GateCrashers, which made her a celebrity among her fellow students. The pet support charity had brought her happiness and satisfaction.