Chase let out a breath. Why did she ever think anything would get past Sarah with her network of informants? Okay, maybe informants was a little strong, but really, she wasn’t ten years old anymore. “I wouldn’t call it a run-in. More like she was just running in her sleep.”

“You can’t always laugh away the things you don’t want to talk about,” Sarah said, staring down toward the lake.

“Why don’t you say what you have on your mind, Sare—it’s been a long night.” Chase held on to her temper, barely. No one could get to her like Sarah, and she ought to know that by now.

“I don’t suppose you had it checked out at the hospital.”

“Jerry Malloy was out with us,” Chase said, although Nat had undoubtedly told Sarah that also. “He’s a paramedic, remember? He looked at it.”

“Right, in the field. Wounds like that—”

“Sarah,” Chase said gently, because after all, her sister was just worried about her, “I’m fine. But if it makes you feel any better, Lily checked it out a little while ago. Shot me full of antibiotics, and she’ll keep an eye on it.”

“Lily.” Sarah slowly turned her head and met Chase’s gaze. “Lily seems to be your first stop whenever you turn up here.”

The reins on Chase’s temper unraveled just a little more. “Right. Lily. You know, the camp medic. The emergency room physician from the big New York City hospital with credentials probably as long as both my arms? She’s more than qualified to handle a big scratch.”

“I won’t even point out that bear claws leave more than a scratch,” Sarah said with the first hint of a bite in her voice, “and I know all about Lily’s credentials. She’s a superstar, you’re right. Top of her class, every class. Destined, I’m sure, to head the ER at that big city hospital. She’s also…fragile right now.”

If Chase had had hackles, they would’ve been standing up three inches high along her spine. A red cloud of anger suffused her. She’d heard this kind of thing from Sarah before. Keisha’s a nice girl, don’t lead her on. Josie’s on the rebound from a nasty breakup and she’s likely to fall hard for the next person who pays any attention to her. Juanita is a lot more sensitive than you think, and…

“I don’t think Lily needs anyone to stand up for her, Sarah,” Chase said before Sarah could include Lily in that long list of warnings.

Sarah said, “Lily is one of the smartest, strongest, most accomplished women I’ve ever met. And she wouldn’t be here if she didn’t need healing of some kind.”