“Searching behavior,” she said softly.

“What?”

“Jeremy told me about a thing called ‘searching behavior.’ When people are grieving someone they lost, they’ll go on long walks or long drives. Even when someone’s died, they’ll search because they feel like they have to do something. He said a lot of the time, it’s guilt.” She ran her hands over the whole of the map, the size of a kitchen table for four. “That’s a lot of searching.”

“A lot of searching, a lot of guilt?” he asked her.

She wanted to say yes, but this time, she managed to keep her mouth shut.

“He should’ve been furious with me. I went missing for six months. Not six hours. Six months. I talked back to Mom, and he slapped me and ripped up my sketchbook. I got back from being lost, and he didn’t even yell at me. All he said was ‘You’re home. It’s over. Let’s pretend it never happened. Don’t look back.’ And he never hit me again.”

For the first time since she came into the kitchen, Rafe met her eyes.

Then he looked past her, over her shoulder. She turned around in her chair.

“Did I miss a meeting?” Jeremy stood in the doorway, arms crossed in front of his bare chest. He had on hiking pants but nothing else. His rust-colored hair was slicked back with water.

She looked at Rafe, who was looking at Jeremy. Staring, in fact. Well, even she could see Jeremy had very, very nice arms. The shoulders weren’t bad either, even she had to admit that.

“You got up early,” Emilie said into the awkward silence.

“I had bizarre dreams,” Jeremy said.

“Me too,” she said.

Rafe looked up at them both, brow furrowed.

“You too?” Emilie asked him.

Rafe nodded. “We were all in a ship. The front, whatever it’s called, was carved with a dragon.”

Emilie sat up straighter, now more awake than if she’d had a gallon of iced coffee.

“We were sailing toward the edge of the world.”

Jeremy said, “And we were going to fall off.”

It was quiet a moment, then Rafe said, “We wanted to fall off.”

Silence filled the kitchen. Emilie cuddled Fritz to her chest for comfort. Jeremy put his hands on her shoulders. Rafe rested his chin on his fist. His blue eyes were open wide in confusion and wonder.

In a church whisper, Emilie said, “Mom was in my dream. She kissed me goodbye and told me she was proud of me.”

“Mum was in mine. She said, ‘Have fun, my love, but watch your back.’ ”

They both looked at Rafe.

“Dad was there,” he said so softly it was almost like he was confessing to a crime.

“What did he say?” Jeremy asked.

“He said he’d never forgive me if I left Mom.”

Emilie was afraid to ask, but one of them had to say it. “What are you going to do?”

Rafe looked down at the table without answering, then met Jeremy’s eyes again and said, “We don’t need the maps, do we?”

“I never actually said we did. All we need is you.”

Something passed between them in the look they shared. Like they were daring each other to be the first to jump off a cliff.

“Okay,” Rafe said. “I guess Dad will just have to get over it.”

Chapter Fourteen

A HALF HOUR later, they all gathered on the front porch. Rafe’s mother seemed resigned to their leaving. She stood in her slippers and flannel bathrobe, a stern look on her face as she gave them their marching orders.

“All right, kiddos. I don’t like letting you go,” his mother said, “but I know you’ve got to do it. I know what it’s like to have someone I love in those woods. I know what it’s like to bring them home again. You promise me with all your heart you’ll be safe as you can.”

“Promise,” Jeremy said.

“I promise,” Emilie said.

Rafe nodded. “Of course, Mom.”

“Good,” she said and took a shuddering breath. “Now, presents. You got your new bow, baby, so this is for you, Red.” She pulled a plastic baggie from her robe pocket and gave it to Jeremy, who took it with a smile. “That’s an antique, but it would have gotten you two home in five hours back then.”

“Is that a Nokia?” Emilie asked, eyes wide with awe. “I’ve heard about those.”

“They’d survive the end of the world,” Jeremy said.

“Still works to call 911,” Bobbi said. “Fully charged and waterproof.”

Jeremy tucked it in his pocket.

“For Miss Emilie.” From her other pocket, she pulled out a pale leather sheath with a large knife in it. “That was Bill’s old hunting knife, good as new.” Emilie was almost shaking as she took the knife from Bobbi.

“Will I need this?” she asked.

“You better take it,” Bobbi said, “and hope you don’t need it. But you’ll be glad you’ve got it if you do.”

“Right. Thank you.”

Bobbi took another shuddering breath. Rafe couldn’t imagine what his mother was feeling now, allowing her son to walk back into the woods that had taken him from her before, and all to help a girl she barely knew.

“All right. You three hit the road, hit it hard, and come back to me before the rest of my hair goes gray.”

With that, they were dismissed. Bobbi walked them all to the car. Each of them got hugs and kisses on the cheek. The longest hug was for Rafe, who hated to let her go. But he knew if he didn’t, she never would. He pulled back and she released him.