Opening the car door, I put one foot out of the car before the smell of the horses hits me. It really is country. I smile to myself, and the sudden memories of me riding the horses come back to me in full force; the memories of falling off them, and the ones of me and Jacob going on the secret trails we found. It’s all too much, and I want to run away again. I want to hightail it out of here just like I did eight years ago.

“Kallie,” my mother says. She rushes down the two steps and hurries over the little concrete path in front of the house. I look at her, and she looks just the same as she did four years ago when she flew out to see me. Her hair is a touch whiter, but she is still in her jeans and a T-shirt. I turn and walk around the car and rush to her. She holds her arms out, and the minute I smell her, I fall apart in her arms. “It’s okay, sweetheart,” she says softly, smoothing my hair. “It’s going to be okay.”

“Mom.” I just say her name as I hug her harder than I ever have in my whole life. I’ve missed her so much. I didn’t know how much until I hugged her.

“What is all this?” When I hear my father’s voice, I sob and run to him. He catches me in his big arms, and I finally see how much he’s aged. His beard is salt and pepper now. I’m sure the hair on his head is the same, but it’s covered with the cowboy hat that he puts on as soon as he starts his day. “There’s my girl,” he says softly, and I know that with them, nothing will be able to touch me. They will protect me until the end.

“Okay, enough of that,” my mother says, and I look back at her, and she has her arm around Olivia, who wipes her own tears. “We need to get these two fed. The wind is going to take them away.”

“God, she’s been cooking for a week. You would think it’s going to be your last meal,” he whispers in my ear, and I laugh and use my sleeve to wipe my nose.

“I’ll go set the table. You get the bags,” my mother says to my father, who just nods, but I shake my head.

“No can do,” Olivia says. “I got my bag.” She goes to the car and opens the trunk.

“She is going to kill herself,” my father says as we watch Olivia take out her massive luggage that took both me and her to lift. I try not to laugh at her when she drops it on her foot.