She took the salve from him and picked up her cell phone on the way out of the bathroom. She crossed the hall and closed the bedroom door behind her. There was a twin bed on one side of the room and a dresser on the other, much as in the room where she slept at home.

Home!

The word stuck in her mind. Now that she’d told her father she was quitting her teaching job, Blossom would be home, and was, both in word and in her heart. She peeled her wet underpants down and removed her bra, held the towel up in front of her as she tossed them out into the hall, and grabbed the shirt off the doorknob. Then she applied the ointment to all the bites on her legs and slipped her arms into the red-and-black-plaid button-up shirt. The sleeves were way too long, so she rolled them up to her elbows. She was grateful that the shirt had a long tail and went down to her knees, but she still felt naked with no underwear under the garment.

She opened the door a crack and peeked out to see that her bra and panties were gone. In the distance she could hear the dryer already running. She eased the door open just a little more and stepped out into the hallway.

“Hey, want a beer?” Jackson came out of the bathroom.

“I’d love one, and thank you again for rescuing me,” she said.

“No problem. I’m glad I decided to take a walk through the woods rather than going to the falls tonight.” He draped an arm around her shoulders. “You must have thought I was assaulting you, but your shirt and shorts were covered in those evil little devils, so I had to get them off you in a hurry.”

“Sorry that I pounded on your chest.” She smiled up at him.

“I deserved it for not trying to explain, but all I could think about was getting you to a shower and getting you treated so you wouldn’t be miserable for days on end. Have a seat and I’ll get the beers.” He pointed to the sofa in the living room.

She sat down on one end of the well-worn, outdated sofa and scanned the room. Television straight ahead, a scarred coffee table in front of the sofa, and Nanny Lucy’s old hope chest over there in the corner.

Jackson returned from the kitchen with two open beers and handed one to her. She pulled the tail of the shirt down over her knees. She could wear a bikini—much to her mother’s horror—and not blink an eye, but sitting there with a shirt that covered all of her body except her head and calves made her feel naked.

It’s because I don’t have my undergarments, she thought.