I don’t need words. Diesel is all about life’s simple pleasures. I glance down at my watch again. It’s four forty-one now, and we are both safe, the most important thing.

“Rawf!” He sure seems to agree.

“That makes twice we saved his life … together,” Morgan says.

“Rawf!”

“Thanks, Morgan!” Trust, trust. Not his thoughts, just some memory of what Diesel once told me.

Diesel licks Morgan’s face and then turns toward me.

Come on, Diesel. Tell me just one more thing. Did you plan it like this? Almost drown yourself to make Dad look like a hero?

He doesn’t think anything loud enough for me to hear, but I have a feeling about all that’s happened, and I trust that feeling.

Acknowledgements

Starting with David Bennett, who always loved this story, through to my current, wonderful agent Amy Thompson, I’m grateful for all the attention and support along the way.

To Scott Fraser, Kathryn Lane, and Jenny McWha, thank you for choosing to accompany me on the publishing journey again; to Laura Boyle, for another beautiful cover; and to Susan Fitzgerald, for working to fix the little nits with me.

To the larger creative community of CANSCAIP (Canadian Society of Children’s Authors and Performers) thank you for giving me such a feeling of connection and belonging. Finally, thank you to my many writing friends who critique and applaud all my work: Lynda Simmons, Rachael Preston, Jennifer Mook-Sang, Jennifer Maruno, Claudia White, Anitha Rao-Robinson, Lyn Leitch, Natalie Hyde, Deborah Serravalle, Gillian Chan, Sharon E. McKay, Lana Button, Lucy Falcone, and Karen Bass. I’m so happy to know you “have my back.”

About the Author

Sylvia McNicoll is an acclaimed arts educator and author of over thirty-five novels, many published internationally. She won the Ontario Library Association Silver Birch and the Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award in 1996 for Bringing Up Beauty, her dog guide–raising story. In 2013, her young adult novel Crush.Candy.Corpse. was shortlisted for the Crime Writers of Canada Best Crime Juvenile/YA Book, the OLA Red Maple, the Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice, and the Saskatchewan Snow Willow, and it continues to be considered the definitive book on Alzheimer’s for teens. She is also the author of Last Chance for Paris, Best Friends Through Eternity, Revenge on the Fly, Body Swap, and the Great Mistake Mystery series. Sylvia currently lives with her husband and Jackapoo, Mortie, in Burlington, Ontario.