Mike froze. Toby instinctively stepped backward, away from all of them, only to butt up against the picnic table.

She looked like a wild woman, clothes caked with grime, red hair flying. “How could you do something so awful?” she screeched as she dashed toward him across the yard. “Don’t you dare do anything like this again!” Before any of them could stop her, she grabbed him by the arms and started to shake him. “Do you have any idea what could have happened to you? Any idea at all?” Her fingers dug into his flesh; his head jerked.

All of them lunged for her, but before they could touch her, she wrenched Toby tight against her. “Anything could have happened to you. Anything!” She started to cry. “You scared me so bad. You shouldn’t have left. I know I yelled at you. I was out of control. I’m sorry. But you shouldn’t have run away.”

She pushed him back a few inches, cradled his cheeks in her hand, and turned his face up, her voice choked with emotion. “Promise me you won’t ever run away from me again. If we have a problem, we’ll talk about it, okay? Promise me.”

Toby stared at her mutely, his eyes huge.

She rubbed her thumbs across his grimy cheekbones. “Do you hear me?”

“I promise.” A big tear spilled over his bottom lid. “But we lost everything,” he whispered. “Because of me.”

“We didn’t lose you, and that’s what’s most important.” She pressed her lips to his forehead. “We’ll figure something out about the rest.”

All the fight left him. He wilted against her. His arms snaked around her waist. She hugged him tightly and buried her lips in the top of his head. He’d finally found safe harbor, and his small body began to shake as he tried to hold back his sobs. Bree crooned something only he could hear.

Mike stood apart from the rest of them, an outsider once again. Toby hadn’t looked at him once since Bree had arrived.

“Let’s go home,” Lucy heard Bree whisper to Toby. “I’ll make us some pancakes. We’ll sleep late tomorrow. How about that?”

His words came out on a hiccup. “Your pancakes aren’t too good.”

“I know.”

“I don’t care,” he said. “They’re good enough for me.”

She kissed the top of his head. Their arms around each other, they walked toward the woods. Just before they stepped into the trees, Bree stopped. She looked back at Mike. Lucy saw her begin to lift her hand only to let it fall back to her side. Another long moment passed, and then she and Toby disappeared.