* * *
Sara ran toward Ethan and Amy as they came into view. When Jase had phoned her to tell her his father had found her daughter, her legs had almost buckled. Now she rushed toward them, eager to see Amy and make sure she was okay. However, the sight of them made her stop. Ethan looked like a grandfather, holding his granddaughter’s hand. He had his head bent low and was speaking to her. Sara wondered what he was saying.
Moving again, Sara reached Amy and hugged her tight. “I lost you and couldn’t find you! Where did you go?”
“Kitty ran off and I went, too.”
Sara crouched before Amy. “Honey, look at me.”
Amy did.
“Don’t ever go outside without my permission...or without me. It’s a great big world and I don’t want you to get lost. If Mr. Cramer hadn’t found you, it would have gotten dark and you would have been out here all alone. Promise me you won’t do that again.”
Amy’s eyes grew really big and her lower lip quivered. “Are you mad?”
Sara gave her another hug. “No, I’m not mad. I was just very, very worried. Can you promise you won’t go out without me?”
“I promise,” she said solemnly.
Standing, Sara faced Ethan. “Thank you. I don’t know how to express how much your search meant.”
Ethan’s expression was gentle. “I understand how a parent feels when a child is lost. When Jase was thirteen, he disappeared and we couldn’t find him.”
Jase’s voice came from behind her. “I don’t remember that.”
“We found you reading a book in the springhouse.”
Sara saw a shadow pass over Jase’s face as he must have suddenly remembered exactly why he’d been in the springhouse. “I wasn’t trying to run away.”
“No, maybe not, but you were trying to find a place where you felt you belonged.”
Jase’s face showed surprise at his father’s perception. He went silent until he glanced at Amy. “You had quite an adventure. I think we have sweet rolls at the house. Interested?”
Amy looked up at Sara for permission.
“That sounds good,” Sara agreed. “We’ll get a bath, and then we’ll have a snack.” She noticed all the volunteers had left, returning to whatever they were doing before Jase’s call had summoned them. Liam, too. She’d make a point of thanking everyone personally.
An hour later, Amy smelled of strawberry shampoo when Jase arrived with the sweet rolls. Amy grinned at him, oblivious of the chaos she’d caused as her fingers became sticky with icing, and grape filling smudged her upper lip.
“You’ll need another bath,” Jase teased her. Then he said to Sara, “Watching her enjoy a sweet roll has got to be one of your best visual memories. I should have brought my camera.”
Sara thought about the other photos he’d taken. She’d framed them, placing them around the cottage. He’d given her more that he’d taken at the wine and music festival.
“Speaking of memories,” she said, “I can’t quite imagine you running away and holing up in the springhouse with a book.”
“I’d forgotten about that one. I’m surprised my dad remembered it.”
“I’ll bet he remembers more than you give him credit for.”
“I was pretty defensive back then. Sullen, too.”
“I can understand that.”
“I don’t think my dad could. He expected me to be thankful for being adopted and just fit in somehow. I wish it had been that easy.”
“But you did fit in eventually.”
“I did. But by then it was as if he and I had this great divide between us. We’ve never been able to bridge it.”
“I hope that never happens between me and Amy.”
“It won’t. You’ll make sure it doesn’t.”
“Even when the teenage hormones surge?”
“You’ll need a gatekeeper to turn the boys away.”
She could imagine Jase being that gatekeeper.
Seeing Amy was finished with her sweet roll, Sara said, “Let’s get you washed up again and into bed.”
“Can Jase say prayers with me?”
Saying prayers was different from reading a story and she didn’t know how Jase would feel about that. When she glanced at him, she saw he looked surprised.
“You don’t have to,” she assured him quickly.
Instead of answering Sara, he focused on Amy. “I hope you’re good at saying prayers because I’m not. Maybe you can show me how.”
“Okay,” Amy said as if it were no big deal.
So that’s how, ten minutes later, they were gathered in Amy’s room, Jase sitting on her bed with her. “How does this go?” Jase asked.