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toilet?”
    â€œHaven’t you ever heard of knocking?” Lori’s panicked tone shocked Cassidy into silence. The girl froze, her hand hovering over Tessa’s head.
    Lori squeezed her eyes shut so as not to let the perceptive seventeen-year-old see how anxious she’d become. She was ashamed, too; she had no business barking at the teenager like that. Cassidy had come a long way in the past several months, stepping out from behind the belligerent Gothic personality she’d donned like a shield, finally engaging with kids her own age. But the vestiges of that lonely young girl still hovered just beneath the surface. Lori had no trouble recognizing the look because she saw the same fears whenever she glanced at her own reflection in a mirror.
    â€œYou’re leaving.” The hint of despair in Cassidy’s voice cut through Lori, making her feel even more ashamed.
    â€œNo.” Lori quickly zipped up the bag and stowed it back under her bed before coming to her feet. “I was just looking for something.”
    Cassidy’s amber eyes were shiny as she stroked Tessa’s back. “Don’t lie. Your bag is packed.” The snarky teenager was back in full bloom. “You promised Mrs. Mac you’d stay. Hell, you promised
me
.”
    â€œI’m not leaving, Cass.” Lori placed a hand on the teenager’s tense shoulder and gently squeezed. “I was just looking for something I must have misplaced. That’s all.”
    Cassidy’s hard swallow reverberated beneath Lori’s palm. “But why haven’t you unpacked your stuff? You’ve been here for what, nearly five months now?” She shrugged off Lori’s hand and stalked over to the bureau tucked beneath the dormer window, where she pulled open a drawer, empty except for an old sheet of shelf paper. “If you’re staying, why not put your things away?”
    Because I’m not staying.
    That feeling of the need to flee continued to gnaw at Lori. She was becoming too attached to the inn and these people. The longer she stuck around, the more complacent she became. And she couldn’t afford to have her true identity discovered. Not here.
    Lori softened her voice and forced herself to relax in hopes of placating Cassidy. “I’m just neat that way. I like to know where my stuff is, okay?” It was as good an excuse as any.
    â€œIs it like one of those OCD things?”
    Yanking at Midas’ collar when the dog tried to crawl beneath the bed, Lori nodded, hoping that Cassidy would buy the excuse.
    â€œOr are you scared you’ll have to make a run for it in the middle of the night?”
    Cassidy hadn’t graduated at the top of her class for nothing. Lori avoided the girl’s glare. In all likelihood she would be found out and would have to make a run for it on short notice. But the last thing she needed was Cassidy’s attention and concern. If the teen was keeping a close eye on Lori, then so would everyone else. And that wouldn’t do. Taking a deep breath and saying a prayer that she appeared more assured than she felt, Lori looked the girl directly in the eye. “I promised I’d stay until Patricia is better and can run things on her own. From the looks of it, that won’t be until you leave for college. I won’t go back on my word.”
    â€œAre they dangerous?”
    â€œWho?”
    Cassidy took a few steps closer. The girl was taller than Lori’sfive feet six inches and was built with a much larger bone structure. She’d been working out the past few months to lose the pubescent pudginess she’d used as part of her camouflage, but Cassidy still wasn’t afraid to intimidate others with her size. “Whoever you’re running from. This isn’t like that movie where your ex-husband is going to come and burn the B and B down, is it? Do we need to tell the sheriff?”
    â€œThere’s nothing to tell the