Scarlet nodded emphatically. “Oh my God, she was. Crazy about you, too. You being there was so comforting to her.”

Joey nodded. Even in the dim light, I could see his eyes fill with tears.

Scarlet yawned. “Wow. Crazy how we all ended up here,” she said. She lied on the couch, and used her bent arm as a pillow.

Joey and I stood; that was our cue. Joey walked a few steps toward the laundry room, and then stopped and turned. “I don’t sleep much. You’re welcome to hang out downstairs with me, if you want.”

I knew I shouldn’t. I looked to Scarlet for judgment or guidance, but her eyes were already closed. “Okay,” I said, following him downstairs. I’d been up and down that stairway so many times since my father had bought that ranch, but this time was different. My blood rose to the surface of my cheeks, and burned hotter with every step. When we walked into the vast space of the finished basement, Joey raised his arms.

“Welcome to my place.”

I smiled. “Technically, it’s my place.”

Joey sat on the floor, and I sat on the loveseat. I glanced to each side of me, amused that Scarlet had to guess if he would fit. His legs from thighs down would have hung off the end.

We spent hours talking about how long my father had owned the ranch, how Ashley and I spent our summers there, and the stupid predicaments we would get into, like the time she lost her shoe in the mud because we snuck out in the middle of the night to meet Bryce and his friends so they could drive us to the Diversion Dam for Matt Painter’s kegger.

It felt good to laugh and remember things that didn’t mean anything at the time. Any good memories were everything now.

Joey’s eyes began to redden and droop, and I was finally feeling the effects of exhaustion myself, so I stood and headed for the stairs. Something stopped me, and I turned.

“Joey?”

“Yeah?”

“Why did it make you so happy to know that Scarlet did Dana’s exam? Wasn’t she really sick then?”

Joey nodded. “Yeah, but . . . I don’t know. Talking to someone else who knew Dana when she was alive makes her real, you know? It’s easy to forget that our lives before weren’t a dream. This isn’t the reality, how we’re meant to live, or who we are. The people we were seven days ago . . . that is who we are, and Scarlet remembering Dana when she was alive makes that true.”

I shook my head. I still didn’t understand.

Joey shrugged. “It feels good to know she lives in someone else’s memory, too.”

I offered a small smile, and shoved my hands in the pockets of my hoodie. “Goodnight.”

Nathan

My eyes peeled open, and it took a moment for me to recall where I was and why. Simultaneously, I remembered that Zoe was supposed to be asleep next to me, and realized that her side of the bed was empty. In a panic, I scrambled over the bed and ran through the French doors to the living room. Zoe was sitting at the head of the dining room table, chomping away on Frosted Mini-Wheats and chatting Scarlet’s ear off.

Scarlet was sitting in the chair next to Zoe, her chin resting in her hand, listening intently to every word my daughter uttered. Zoe and Scarlet mirrored each other’s happiness in that moment, and I got a little choked up at the sight of them. Zoe’s sweet smile had returned, and Scarlet’s fiery red hair glowed in the morning sun that poured through cracks in the wooden slats on the window. I wasn’t sure I’d seen anything more beautiful.

Once Scarlet caught a glimpse of me, she pushed away from the table and went outside. Zoe took another bite, and I winked at her before joining Scarlet on the porch. She was staring down the dirt road, longing for her daughters, I imagined.

“My daughter Halle isn’t much older than Zoe,” she said, covering her mouth with a few of her fingers. Her pink nail polish was nearly completely chipped away, but her fingers were still elegant.

“How old is the other one? You have two, right?”

Scarlet cast a curious glance in my direction.

“The picture on the wall.”

“Just the two,” she said with a guarded smile. “Jenna is thirteen.” I laughed once, and Scarlet nodded. “Boy, is she ever.”

“I can’t imagine.”

“You will,” she said. Her smile faded. “They were supposed to meet me here if something happened. They were with their father when . . . I couldn’t get to them.”

“They know their way?”

She nodded. “Halle made up a song. She makes up a song for everything. It used to drive me crazy. I try to remember some of them, but I can’t,” she whispered the last bit. “Having all of Halle’s artwork from school all over my Suburban was maddening. I remember getting on to her for it so many times. I wish to God I had just one piece of that now. That picture is all I have of them.”

Her blue eyes glistened, and I fought the urge to wrap my arms around her. Before that thought was complete, her soft, red hair was under my chin, and her hands were interlocked at the small of my back. It took me a moment to realize what was happening, but then I rested my cheek against her hair and squeezed her tight. She wept quietly in my arms, and I waited patiently until she stopped shaking.

She let go first, and wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry. That was probably a weird thing to do.”

“Nothing is weird anymore,” I said with a half-smile.

She laughed, for maybe the first time since this all started. It sounded like music and sunshine. “That’s true.” Her eyes wandered back to the crest of the hill, and we waited in silence for a while until Zoe called for me. I left her alone to tend to my daughter. After an hour, Zoe tugged on my slacks.

“Is she going to stay out there all day?”

“I don’t know,” I said. Scarlet hadn’t moved. She watched the road like she was expecting her children to come over the hill at any moment.

Minutes later, Scarlet tore herself away and came back in, immediately checking the nails in the slats, and then finding things to organize or clean.

Miranda and Bryce emerged from their bedroom. Miranda’s eyes were swollen. It looked like she’d been crying again. Bryce was holding her hand, and squeezed it once before letting go to make them some breakfast.

“We should be careful what we consume,” Joey said. “We’ll probably have to go back to Shallot eventually for supplies.”