“I think it’s a wonderful idea if you tell everything. Are you prepared to do that?” Cady grinned.

“Your father will dig a hole and crawl into it if I do that. How did you survive living in that household with all that sanctimonious crap the two of them spout? What’s wrong? You’re white as a ghost.”

“What…what did you just say?”

“Mandy, get the child some brandy. I just said your father would dig a hole and crawl into it. He would, you know. He’s my son and he hates me. I don’t much care for him either. The truth is, he doesn’t like anyone, not even your mother.”

“No, no, you said something else. You said…you said sanctimonious. I…know that word. It means something to me.”

“I guess you would know it having lived with them.” Lola leaned forward in her chair, her green gaze locking on Cady. “Or, do you mean the word has something to do with that episode in your life that you can’t remember?”

Cady shivered, her eyes miserable. Atlas moved closer to her leg. She fondled his ears. “You know what I think, Lola. I think I’m just tired from the cross-country trip. I got all wired up when the movers came. All of a sudden I felt like something was hanging over my head, and it’s stayed with me. I can’t seem to shake it loose.”

“Never try to force anything. Maybe coming back here after all these years, you’ll finally get your memory back. They say you can’t go home again, but that isn’t true. I came back to Indigo Valley. And now you’ve come back. When I left, there were four stores and sixteen houses. I think the population was around three hundred. Now the little town is a city of forty thousand people. I imagine it’s changed even more in the twenty years since you’ve been here.

“Cady, dear, I know that we’ve talked about this in the past and I know how you feel about Indigo Valley. I know why you never wanted to come back here, and it’s all right. That’s why I always visited you in California. I knew it would be a trauma for you to come here. And now you’re here. I think I always knew you’d come, I just didn’t know when. I told Mandy and Anthony the day would finally come when you would want to explore your past. I think that time is finally here. I’m just so very glad to see you.

“Mandy, show Cady to her room. It’s time for my nap, too. Give her the Ginger Rogers suite. Dinner is at seven-thirty. Would you like Mandy to make something special for your dog? He looks like he could use some good food.”

“He pretty much eats what I do. I tried dog food, but he won’t eat it.” Cady dropped to her knees in front of her grandmother’s wheelchair. “I wish you had told me you weren’t feeling well. There was nothing keeping me in California. I can study and do my job anywhere. Just because Mom and Dad…”