Dad smiled at me and then at Oren. “Of course. Oren, do you need to call your uncle to let him know where you are?”

Oren nodded and pulled out his cell phone.

Whoa! Was he going to call his uncle and actually talk to him?

He started texting.

Oh. I guess not.

As I waited for him to finish his text, I opened the car door so he could climb in.

Oren slid the phone back into his pocket, looked up and froze. His eyes became as big as saucers, and he swallowed hard.

“Hey, you know what?” said Dad quickly. “We can walk to the ice cream place. It’s not far.”

Why would we walk? It was so hot out. Oh! I suddenly remembered what had happened to Oren’s parents. Maybe he was scared of cars now. I guess I couldn’t blame him. He probably just needed some reassurance.

“My dad’s a really good driver,” I said. “He’s very cautious and follows all the rules and speed limits. You’ll be very safe, I promise.”

“Evie,” Dad said, putting his hand on my shoulder. “That’s enough.”

I frowned up at him. “But you told me we should always face our fears. Like when I fell off my bike, you said that I needed to get back on right away or I’d always be scared.” I shrugged. “Now I ride all the time.”

“Evie,” Dad said sternly. “This is different.”

I didn’t think so. I mean, okay, yeah, having your parents die and breaking your arm and having two black eyes was worse than skinning your knees and cutting your chin. But it wasn’t really different. Just a whole lot worse.

I had opened my mouth to say so when Oren suddenly rushed past me and hopped into the car.

“Are you sure, Oren?” Dad asked. “You don’t have to—we can walk.”

Oren shook his head and gave us what he probably thought was a smile. It looked more like a terrified grimace, but at least he was trying.

“All right,” my dad said. “If you’re sure.”

I was about to remind Oren to buckle up, but he was already on it, pulling the strap across his chest and clicking it into place. I was closing the door and was about to get in the front beside Dad but instead decided to sit in the back beside Oren. Just in case he got scared and wanted to hold my hand.

He didn’t.

Nine

We had planned to go to the garden center next, but once we were in the car, Dad said that errand could wait for another day.

When we got to The Big Scoop we could see it was busy. Dad dropped us off at the door so he could go park the car.

“See?” I said as Oren and I went inside to stand in line. “My dad’s a very good driver.”

He didn’t say anything.

I was sure he would finally have to talk to the teenager behind the counter though. How else would she know what his order was? I was really looking forward to hearing his voice.