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Back Safe in My Arms
Chapters (51)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise for Sara Shepard
  3. Also by Sara Shepard
  4. Dedication
  5. PART ONE
  6. —
  7. One
  8. Two
  9. Three
  10. Four
  11. Five
  12. Six
  13. Seven
  14. Eight
  15. Nine
  16. Ten
  17. Eleven
  18. Twelve
  19. Thirteen
  20. PART TWO
  21. Piper
  22. Fourteen
  23. Fifteen
  24. Sixteen
  25. Seventeen
  26. Piper
  27. Eighteen
  28. Piper
  29. Nineteen
  30. Twenty
  31. Twenty-One
  32. Twenty-Two
  33. Twenty-Three
  34. Piper
  35. Twenty-Four
  36. Twenty-Five
  37. Piper
  38. Twenty-Six
  39. Twenty-Seven
  40. Twenty-Eight
  41. Twenty-Nine
  42. Thirty
  43. Thirty-One
  44. Thirty-Two
  45. Thirty-Three
  46. Piper
  47. Thirty-Four
  48. Epilogue
  49. Acknowledgments
  50. About the Author
  51. What’s next onyour reading list?

Then she turned a page. The next spread was dedicated to an orange pony called Applejack. The pony was standing on a farm; behind her were apple trees, pigs, and more horses. Ronnie touched one, remembering how Esme had asked Vanessa if the farm they would be living at had horses. Was her daughter just really resilient, or had she suppressed the memories of the time she’d spent with Vanessa? She didn’t want Esme in therapy years from now, talking about that weird, mysterious, harrowing time this random woman took care of her in a motel up the street—trying to piece together what it all meant. Someday, Ronnie would tell her the truth. Maybe. But not now.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be there with you two in that motel,” she said. “You know that, right?”

Esme didn’t answer, just turned a page.

“And . . . maybe don’t mention any of that to Daddy Lane,” Ronnie continued. She was stroking her daughter’s back now. “We should just keep it a little secret between you and me.”

“Ooh, secrets.” Esme’s eyes gleamed. “Me and Daddy Lane have a secret, too.”

“Oh?” Ronnie cocked her head. “Did he make you listen to that awful protest music?” The sixties folk Lane loved was like nails on a chalkboard; Ronnie had made Lane promise never to play it in her or Esme’s presence again.

Esme shook her head, her pigtails swinging and smacking the sides of her face. “It’s a secret about school.”

“School?” Ronnie frowned. “What do you mean?”

“It’s a secret that I had to stay in Miss Barnes’s room for a while. But it was fun! I got to play with Miss Barnes’s dress-up box without all the kids around, meaning I got to try on all the costumes.”

Ronnie blinked. The last time Esme was in Miss Barnes’s class was the day Piper was attacked. The cops had come, Ronnie had been taken away, but Ronnie had called Miss Barnes from the police car, saying she was caught up somewhere and to tell Lane to bring Esme home. “Why did you have to stay in Miss Barnes’s room for that long? Was Daddy Lane doing some stuff in his room?”

Esme’s eyes were wide. “He told Miss Barnes he was talking to the police.”

“With the officers,” Ronnie repeated. “Because of the attack.” But that didn’t make sense. Lane talked to the police the following day. There weren’t enough Raisin Beach officers to get to the staff the day of the attack.

Ronnie’s skin was prickling. Why had Lane lied?