She didn’t even have to think about it. “Go.”

“On my way,” he said into the phone. He pocketed it. “The clinic keys and keys to my house are in the top desk drawer. You can close the clinic. Put up a sign—closed for emergency. You can take the kids to my house—plenty of food and toys.”

“I don’t know where you live!”

“Well, everyone else does. Just ask someone.”

“I don’t have safety seats!”

“It’s three blocks, Peyton. We walk from my house to the beach all the time.” Then he dashed into the break room to tell his children goodbye. She heard him say, “When I get home, I want Peyton to tell me you’re the best children in the world.”

“Oh, God,” she whispered to herself. “This isn’t happening to me.”

Four

There were a few patients scheduled, and Peyton thought she might be just turning them away with the excuse that the doctor had an emergency, and since she was new, she didn’t want to presume to take over their treatment. But six people stopped by and didn’t expect to keep their appointments—they only wondered what she had heard about the accident. One of them was Carrie from the deli next door, and she was kind enough to give Peyton directions to Scott’s house.

She sat at the table in the break room for a little while, making sure the kids were comfortable with her before taking them home. “Well, I suppose we should lock up the clinic and head to your house. Want to show me the way?” she asked.

“Follow me,” Will said, backpack slung over one shoulder.

She shoved her directions into her pocket and, holding Jenny’s hand, followed. Will went up the walk to a small house with a nice little flower bed in the front. He waited by the door until she could unlock it for them. Then, inside they went, dropping backpacks in the foyer.

“First, we have a snack,” Will said.

“What kind of a snack?” Peyton asked.

Jenny went to the pantry and got out some Goldfish crackers. “We have our own dish,” she instructed. “Then we play. Then we have dinner. Then we have a bath. Then ice cream.”

“Wow, that sounds like a very busy schedule. And sounds like you’re almost ready to take care of yourselves. Want to show me the dish you want for the fishies?”

Jenny was happy to do that. She pulled the step stool over to the counter, climbed up and opened a cupboard that revealed some bright-colored plastic plates and bowls.

“Do you have kids?” Jenny asked.

“Nope. But I come from a very big family, and I have lots of brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews. Lots,” Peyton replied.

“Like five?”

Peyton laughed. “More like twenty-five.”

Jenny looked quite impressed.

The very first thing to put Peyton a little more at ease was Scott’s house. It was quite nice but very ordinary and on the small side. She looked around a little bit. There was nothing uppity or fancy here. There was a kitchen with nook, small dining room, living room, master with bath, second bath and two more bedrooms. Right away she was pretty sure Scott would never say the words, I have an image to maintain, Peyton.

“Where does the babysitter stay?” she asked Jenny.

“Gabby has the whole downstairs!” Jenny said.

“We’re not allowed down there—it’s hers!” Will said. “She has her own TV!”

“I suppose she should,” Peyton said. “She probably has things to watch that you wouldn’t like that much.”

“And she has a boyfriend! Charles. They kiss!” Jenny said.

Peyton laughed. “You might have a boyfriend someday, you know.”

“No, I don’t like boys. Except Daddy and Will. Sometimes Will.”

“And what does Daddy say about that? As if I don’t know.”

“He says, good.”

Will lost interest in the conversation when it veered into boys and kissing. He went to his backpack for his Kindle and held it up while he snacked, watching some downloaded movie or cartoon. During this time, Jenny informed Peyton that they could have pizza for dinner because that’s what they did when there was no cooking. Gabby had to visit her mother, so Daddy was cooking, but not too much. Peyton was shown where to find the frozen pizzas and ice cream. Peyton was fully capable of that but wondered if Scott might be home before then. While Jenny was conducting her kitchen tour, Will left the room. He returned quickly, his arms laden with blankets, some dragging along the floor.

“Excuse me, sir,” Peyton said. “What’s going on there?”

“It’s for a fort.”

“Where?”

“There,” he said, indicating the dining room table.

“Where did you get the blankets?” she asked.

“From the closet floor. They’re fort blankets, not bed blankets. They’re too dirty for the bed, Gabby said.”

“I see. So I guess Daddy allows this?”

“Sometimes he gets in it with us, if he doesn’t have a book or a phone call,” Will explained.

Peyton stepped closer to the dining room to watch the construction of the fort, which was accomplished with all the precision of experienced builders. Heavy books held the blankets on top of the table, chairs were turned around to make more space underneath, one blanket on the floor, a couple of pillows inside.

“And what do you do in there?” she asked.

Will shrugged and just pressed on. “Take stuff in there.”

“Sometimes we have ice cream in there,” Jenny added. “Or movies. And games and books and stuff. But not paints or clay or Play-Doh.”

“I can see how that would be a problem,” Peyton said. “I’ll be in the living room.”

The kids disappeared inside, and she was very grateful for that. She wanted to turn on the TV, see if there was any coverage of this wreck. It wouldn’t be good to turn on the news and have the kids hear anything shocking or scary since their father was there. But she wanted to know any available details. She was not optimistic there would be much news as this was a very small town, and it was an accident off the main roads.

But, ah! In the age of smartphones there was amateur footage already sent to news stations. And it looked god-awful. A blue school bus was on its side halfway off the road, back emergency door gaping open and lots of emergency vehicles all around. There were other vehicles scattered around, but she couldn’t tell if they’d been involved. A Coast Guard helicopter was taking off, presumably airlifting a patient or patients—USCG provided emergency services to the local area. The scene looked chaotic and terrifying, but the broadcaster said that even though there were thirty-seven children on board and many injuries, there was only one fatality, the bus driver.

The group had been en route to a church camp along the river; they’d come from the north part of the state. There were young camp counselors among the group, and one young lady with a bandage on her forehead was interviewed. “We were skidding and spinning and hitting other cars, and then all of a sudden the bus just flipped over. All the kids were tossed everywhere, and we landed on top of each other in a big pile. No one knows what happened.”

The newscaster said that while it was as yet unconfirmed, it was possible the accident was caused by the driver suffering a medical episode.