“Uh-huh,” Amy mumbled, deciding her clifftop rescue kind of paled in comparison. She was mighty impressed by how Chloe could pull off such a feat.

Ryan, however, didn’t seem at all entertained by what was going on and had turned a shade of ghostly pale. He let go of both Amy’s and Chloe’s hands.

“Enough,” he said, stumbling away. “I don’t know what kind of game you two are playing at, but this really isn’t funny. Someone needs to start talking, right now.”

Chloe reached over and took back Ryan’s hand, then turned him around and pointed her finger down the beach, at a woman standing in the distance.

“There, look,” she said, “can you see her?”

“Who is it?” Ryan asked, glancing at the mysterious woman.

“That’s my mother.”

“Your mother?”

“She’s been waiting to speak with you.”

Ryan shifted his bewildered gaze straight to Amy. “You know what’s going on, don’t you?” He studied her closely. “I know you do. I can see it on your face.”

“I do,” she admitted.

“Will you please just tell me?”

“I’m sorry, I can’t.” Amy stood on her tiptoes, squeezed his hand, and whispered in his ear, “You need to listen to Chloe. Go and talk to her mother. This’ll all make sense soon. I promise.”

Ryan stood still for a moment, then turned and looked back at the woman, who had her hand up in the air, waving for him to join her by the water’s edge.

“All right, I’ll talk to her. But, for the record, I’m only doing it because I’m finding all of this extremely strange and I’d really like to know what’s going on.”

After he shoved his hands in his pockets and set off, Chloe leaned over to Amy.

“Well done,” she whispered. “I knew you could do it.”

But Amy wasn’t so quick to agree. Declaring this a success was a little premature, she thought, particularly when Ryan had yet to realize the woman he was walking toward was his mother. All Amy could think about were the emotions she had experienced when she had confronted her own mother—the confusion, the disbelief, the heart-pounding shock. She had been so scared she had even tried to run. She hoped Ryan wouldn’t react the same way—or worse, reject the news of his fate entirely—because if he did, what would that mean for his snow globe?

“Isn’t there still a chance this could all go wrong?” Amy asked. “What if he freaks out? Will all of this have been for nothing?”

“Don’t worry, we’re out of danger now. Ryan’s already been given back his memories—all that’s left is for Mom to explain to him what they mean. Time didn’t reset. The town’s still here, we’re still here, and that’s the important bit.”