She didn’t like the idea of another dog in the house. Daisy had been her dog when she was a kid, and it had torn her to pieces when she died. Daisy could never be replaced. And this dog felt like an intruder.

The dog hopped up onto her bed and lay next to her, his head resting on her pillow.

She turned her head toward him. His doggie breath was right in her face. Daisy used to do the exact same thing.

Jasper licked her face.

She laughed. She couldn’t help it. “You aren’t shy, are you?”

Jasper’s soulful brown eyes stared into hers as he gave a quiet woof.

###

Frank leaned back on the sofa and rested his head against Megan’s. “Jasper sure as heck has taken a liking to Kathy, hasn’t he?”

The dog had disappeared into Kathy’s bedroom an hour earlier. Since then, he’d heard a few soft woofs and an unmistakable giggle coming from his baby girl.

“It’s funny how Jasper can almost sense when someone is down and bring them out of their doldrums,” Megan said. She turned her head to look in Frank’s eyes. “Have you gotten her to talk about those bruises?”

Frank felt heat rising up his neck. “She won’t say a word. I figure her boyfriend did something I don’t even want to think about. Our baby’s skittish, and we both know I can be a hothead. The last thing I want is for her to just run off when she really needs us.”

Megan sighed, wrapped her arm around his and held it tight. “I hope she’s okay. She’s sleeping a lot.”

“She just needs time to get things back in order. Get her mind straight.”

A shooting pain hit his left elbow. Frank grimaced and shifted his weight.

Megan looked up at him. “Your arm’s still hurting. Why don’t you get yourself to the doc already?”

He shook his head. “It’s fine. I told you, I just pulled it funny unloading one of the bales of hay last week. I’ll take it easy for a bit.”

###

Kathy sat down at the dinner table and ran her hand across its smooth surface. Her father had built this table when she was nine years old. She remembered helping put the stain on and then watching as he covered it with countless coats of polyurethane. To this day, it still looked like a showroom piece.

The aroma of her mom’s roast beef wafted from the kitchen. Kathy knew it would be delicious, but her stomach pitched and rolled. She’d been feeling nauseated ever since the island. Nauseated and exhausted.

Kathy heard Mom moving around in the kitchen as she prepared dinner, and a wave of guilt washed over her.