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He sighed and crossed his arms as he observed the little girl in the bed.

“You and Dean Powell seem awfully close,” he said, raising an eyebrow.

I didn’t have anything to say to that, so I just gave him a look.

“What did you tell the hospital about Emma?” I asked, meaning guardianship.

“I sorted it out, don’t worry,” he said cooly. “I’ll bring the papers by in a couple of days for you to sign.”

I nodded, still unsure how I was going to work any of this out. Dean’s classes resumed on Monday, and I would have to decide if I could transfer. I had to be able to transfer. If I couldn’t, I couldn’t stay. There was no way to just not finish college after all the hard work I’d already put in. It wasn’t me. If I had three people other than myself to take care of, I would definitely need at least an undergraduate degree, if not more.

Jed’s phone rang and he left the room to take it.

“I’ll be in touch,” he said, gripping my shoulder lightly before he left.

A few hours later, I woke to a small voice calling my name.

“Elle,” Emma rasped. “Elle wake up!”

She coughed and my head shot up. It was resting on Emma’s bed, and she was grasping for the water cup by her bed. Her arms weren’t long enough, and she was too tangled in the web of wires.

I helped her sip the cup, and she smiled at me. I felt her forehead, and it wasn’t burning up like it had been all day.

“How are you feeling?” I asked, running my fingers through her hair.

“Better,” she said. “Where’s Dean?”

I couldn’t help but smile. After all of this, that was what she was concerned about.

“He’s at home. Once you’re better he’s going to come back for us, so hurry up!” I joked.

She shut her eyes and squeezed them as she made a little noise.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting better,” she said, still determined.

“Get some more sleep,” I told her. “I’ll talk to the doctor about how much better you are and see if we can go home.”

“To Dean?” she asked excitedly, her eyes wide.

“To Dean,” I said, mimicking her expression.

She nodded and turned over.

The doctor let Emma go home once she was sure that her fever was down and she was fully hydrated.

“I’m better!” Emma announced, holding out her arms for me to pick her up.

“That you are, little one.”

I signed Emma’s discharge papers and carried her out to the lobby where I waited to see Dean’s car. The second I saw the black Range Rover pull up, I dashed outside with Emma in my arms. Dean got out of the car and helped me fasten her into her seatbelt.

She was elated to see Dean, and I felt a stab of jealousy. Would she always love him more than she loved me?

As if reading my mind when we got in the front seat, Dean leaned over and whispered in my ear.

“She’s known me longer.”

I gave him a small smile as we drove home.

Emma was in bed, Dean and Jenny had gone home, and Callie and Chase were upstairs. There was no way I could go sit in on classes tomorrow. Callie still had one more day of her suspension, so she could technically watch Emma, but I felt like an irresponsible guardian leaving them alone while Emma was sick.

I dialed Kenzie’s number.

“Lauren! I’m so excited for tomorrow!” she answered.

I sighed.

“Kenz, I can’t. I’m so sorry. Emma’s sick.”

“I know, Dean filled me in,” she said. “But that’s not going to stop you.”

“I really can’t leave her.”

“You’re going, Lauren Lindsay, and that’s final. If you don’t go tomorrow, you know you’re never going to go, and that isn’t going to work out. I don’t have classes tomorrow because I’m on the Tuesday and Thursday schedule. I’m coming over to watch Emma, and you’re going to school with Dean.”

She wasn’t going to let me out of this one.

“Kenzie−” I started.

“Nope. You’re going. See you at ten.”

She hung up, and I knew there was no point in calling her back to argue.

I groaned and looked at my texts. There was one from Dean, telling me he would pick me up at ten. Great, he and Kenzie had already coordinated almost like they knew I would call and cancel.

I had another text from an unknown number. When I opened it, my heart leapt. I immediately pressed the call button.

“Hey sis, I got a new phone,” Tucker’s voice answered on the first ring. “Long time no chat.”

“Seriously,” I said, sinking back to sit on the couch.

“How have you been?”

“Oh you know,” I said casually. “Just getting crushed by avalanches. The usual.”

“I heard. I tried to fly out there, but Jed said he had it handled.”

“He did have it handled,” I said. “Don’t worry about me over here.”

“I am worried about you though. Jed told me that you’re adopting Linda’s kids?”

“It’s a long story.”

“I’m proud of you, L. That takes a lot of guts.”

I sighed.

“I’m not sure I can even do it,” I said honestly.

“You can,” he said confidently. “They’re lucky to have you.”

“I guess.”

He paused.

“Hey, I’ve gotta go. Mom’s calling me.”

“She’s calling you?” I was shocked. She never, ever contacted me. But then again, she always liked Tucker better.

“Yeah,” he said quickly. “I’ll call you back soon. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Then he was gone.

I felt hurt that my mom was calling him, and that to him it was no big deal. Like she did it all the time. What was so wrong with me? Tucker and I were twins. She was supposed to love us equally.

I marched into my room and turned off the light as I cried myself to sleep.

THE NEXT MORNING, I woke Chase up and drove him to school early. My plan was to get back in bed for a couple of hours before Kenzie and Dean showed up, but I was too nervous so I cleaned the house from top to bottom and even alphabetized Chase’s games and Emma’s movies.

Kenzie knocked on the door at exactly ten o’clock, just as Dean pulled up in the driveway.

“Emma’s upstairs,” I told her as she hugged me quickly.

“Don’t be nervous,” she said. “Everything is going to be fine. I’ll text you every half hour with Emma updates, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Wow,” she said, placing a hand on my forehead. “That was easy. Are you sick or something?”

I shrugged.

“I don’t know.”

I was still upset over my mom last night.

Dean walked up the front steps and looked at me expectantly.

“Are you ready?”

“I guess,” I said softly. He looked between me and Kenzie.

She shrugged, and he took my hand.

“Are you nervous?” he asked as he squeezed my hand reassuringly.

“I don’t know,” I told him truthfully. He looked concerned, but I took a few steps toward the door. It was better to just get this over with.

We got in the car and Dean didn’t say anything for a few minutes because I’m sure he didn’t know what to do. I was being weird, but I couldn’t help it.

“So my nutrition class starts at eleven,” he said, filling the silence. “We’ll have plenty of time for you to go down to administration and talk to them about a transfer application.”

“Okay,” was all I said numbly, staring ahead of me.

“You don’t have anything to be nervous about,” he said, running his hand over mine.

I wanted to believe that.

“Okay.”

We walked into the administration building and he led me to the front desk.

“What can I help you with?” An older woman in glasses asked me.

Dean nudged me forward, and I knew I had to stop moping.

“Hi,” I said, pushing a piece of hair behind my ear. “I’m interested in transferring.”

“Where from?” she asked.

I told her, and her eyes brightened.

“Most of our transfer students come from there,” she said. “As long as your grades are up to admittance standards, everything should go smoothly.”

She leaned down and pulled a packet out of her desk drawer.

“Here’s a transfer packet. It’s very straightforward. When it’s all filled out, you just need to drop it off right over there.”

She pointed at another window.

“Can I take it home with me and look it over?” I asked, clutching the envelope.

“Sure,” she said sweetly. “But make sure you get it filled out soon, the deadline for fall transfers is in a couple of weeks.”

I nodded but felt slightly rushed. A couple of weeks? That was no time at all to decide. It seemed like my life was being forced on me one quick decision and a time, and none of them were easy.

“Thank you,” I told the woman, and gave her a curt smile. She winked at me and looked at Dean, who took my hand again. When he smiled at her I thought she was going to have to press her Life Alert button.

“You know, you look like the man on my favorite TV show,” she said, taking her glasses off to clean them. “The rich one who’s always shooting arrows and saving the city.”

“Thank you,” Dean said, but it sounded more like a question because he had no idea what she was talking about, and to be honest, neither did I.

I put the packet in my purse and took a deep breath as we walked away.