She’d been surprisingly cool about all of it. She hadn’t pushed too hard when I didn’t give a lot of details about the situation next door. She’d agreed when I asked if we could leave tomorrow instead of today. And when Frankie and I had insisted that we had to walk toward town to investigate something, but wouldn’t tell her what it was and wouldn’t let her come with us, she’d managed to keep her protectiveness in check and let us go.

“Text when you get there,” she said.

“Of course,” I said at the same time that Frankie replied, “My phone’s out of battery.”

“And text when you’re on your way back.”

“We will,” I said at the same time that Frankie replied, “She will.”

“And put on sunscreen and promise to walk closer to the houses, not on the shoulder.”

So, here we were, walking in buggy fields, my shoulder getting crispy where Frankie missed a spot with the spray sunscreen.

According to GPS, the animal crossing was only a mile away from the cabin, so the walk was easy, except for me worrying about a rock kicking up from one of the passing cars and hitting me in the head.

I’ll die and never know what Colette was trying to tell me.

Not this again, Mean Me groaned.

Not you again!

“Your face looks weird,” Frankie said. The dry grass crackled under our sneakers.

“Thanks.” I sighed.

“You make that face a lot.”

“I don’t do it on purpose,” I said. “I was just . . . thinking.”

“Worrying, you mean,” she said. “I told you . . . you have to schedule your worries.”

“I know, but I can’t always do it.” I put my hand on my shoulder to cover up the part that was getting burned.

“That’s weird. It’s easy.”

“Not everything that’s easy for you is easy for me,” I said.

“Duh.” Frankie twisted a black woven bracelet on her wrist.

“Where’d you get that?”

“Kennedy.”

“Just now? When they left?” I asked, eyes on the overpass in the distance. The road was flat and straight, so I could see it as we approached. It sat there, making me shiver in the heat, waiting for us.

Frankie ignored my question. “The clouds are cumulus now, but maybe they’ll turn into cumulonimbus clouds later, which are storm clouds.” She started talking about tornadoes, and I thought about saying goodbye to my relatives.

After hugging Uncle Bran and Aunt Maureen, I’d pulled Kennedy aside and apologized.

“I can’t believe I thought it was you,” I said. “That was so stupid.”