“Wait.” Her mother held her at arm’s length. “Has something terrible happened to Charlie?” Her smile had vanished, a twist of worry on her face.

“No . . . I mean. Not since . . . Effie, you do know he was mauled, years ago—”

“Of course I do. But he’s okay now?”

If Echo ignored his broken heart, the way he struggled every day with pain. And she wouldn’t mention the drinking. “He’s fine.”

“Then . . . what are you doing here?”

That’s about what she expected. “Nice, Mom—” Shoot. She hadn’t meant for the word to leak out. It wasn’t even a habit. Just, maybe, a dark, forbidden want.

“Oh, Echo. I didn’t mean it like that.” Effie sighed. “I’m glad to see you. You’re so . . . you’re so grown up. Look at you. A woman. Are you married? Do you have kids? What . . . are you hurt?”

“No. To everything.” Echo stepped back, her heartbeat loud in her ears. “I . . . Dodge and I found a woman in the woods. Hypothermia. We brought her here.”

“Dodge. Kingston, right? That boy next door?”

“Yes . . .” She couldn’t call her Mom, not again. “The boy next door.”

“You and he . . . are you—”

“We were searching for Peyton Samson. She’s gone missing.”

“Peyton? Oh, poor Alena and Gordon.”

“She just went missing a few days ago. How do you even know them?”

“The Good News radio.” Her mother frowned. “Echo. Are you okay?”

Not even a little. “Yes. I guess so.” She should go. Dodge was waiting downstairs, and maybe she’d gotten what she wanted. Her mother, alive and clearly well. Echo wasn’t even sure Effie had missed her.

She looked at Effie. She’d started calling her mother by her first name after she left. As if it might hurt less to take away the connection.

Right.

And suddenly, she just had to know. “Why, Effie? Why did you leave? I went to school, came home, and you were gone. Not even a note—”

“I left supper.”

“Oh, please.”

She sighed. Folded her arms. “I got accepted for a year of residency here, at Alaska Regional, and . . . I needed to take it.”

“And Dad?” And me? But she didn’t say that.

“He said he understood. That it was okay if I was gone for a year, and he wanted to tell you, so I let him. I wanted to come home, but we were so busy, and it was just exhausting and . . . I sent you a birthday present.”

Echo blinked at her. “I have no memory of that.”

“I guess I deserve that.”

Echo should leave. Run. Because with every word, her soul felt freshly skewered. Talk about open wounds. “And after your residency?”

“I got the chance to go to Annette Island in Southern Alaska and work alongside the Native doctors there, helping the women for three-plus years. It was a chance to really make a difference, Echo.”

“I saw the award.”