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floor.”
    Super. After she mentioned Jesse and wet towels, my mind went to him all wet and soapy in the shower.
    “Are you surprised?” Rose asked, looking from his photo to me.
    “Maybe a little,” I said, at the point where I was ready to forfeit the bath and just head straight to bed. I needed to put the day on pause before it got any more trippy.
    “Well, now you know.” Rose patted my arm before heading back into the hall. I followed her because if I stared at that picture for another second, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to look away. “Jesse’s a hard worker, a good son, and an even better person. If you ever need something, Jesse will be the first in line to help you out.”
    I felt a twinge of pain hearing the way Rose talked about her son and watching the affection on her face. No one had ever talked about me that way, like I was so close to perfect the imperfections were washed away.
    I followed Rose up the staircase to the second floor. The hall walls were painted a Tuscan gold, and on the outside of each door, a letter made out of heated and formed horseshoes swung from a piece of rope. An L and an H hung from the first doors we passed. Then a C.
    I swallowed and felt my stomach coil as we approached the next door. I blew out a rush of air when Rose stopped. No letter swung from it. So I had Clementine beside me and Lily across the hall and down. My room was the last room at the end of the hall. Wherever Jesse’s room was, I could sleep easy knowing it wasn’t anywhere near mine.
    I wasn’t sure whether to be happy or disappointed.
    Rose opened the door. “This will be your room for the summer. It’s not much, but if you think of anything else you need, just let me or Neil know—”
    “It’s great,” I interrupted, stepping inside the room. “Really. It’s great. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I came here today. I was half expecting I’d be sleeping out in the barn.”
    “Why ever would you think that?” she asked, lingering in the doorway. “You’re our guest here. We’re happy to have you, Rowen, and I don’t know how you big city people do it, but we certainly don’t put our guests out in the barn.” A smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. “At least not on the first stay.”
    “I might be a guest to you, but my mom thinks of me more as an inmate out here— fulfilling a sentence.”
    “Oh, honey,” Rose said through a sigh. “I know your mom would rather die than show her emotions most days, but I’m as certain as I love my own children that she loves hers, too.” She drew me into a tight hug. I was thankful she couldn’t see my face because I knew my eyes were a little glassy. I felt the familiar burn. I might not have cried in years, but I still remembered how it felt.
    I wasn’t sure if I was approaching the cry zone because we were talking about my mom and her inability to show any positive emotion, or because in a half hour, Rose had shown me more affection and maternal concern than my mother had in five years. Whatever the reason, I wasn’t ready to break my dry spell.
    Guessing I needed or wanted to be alone, Rose gave me one final squeeze before heading for the door. “Neil and I are down on the first floor if you need anything, but I guarantee if you knocked on any of my daughter’s doors, they would cut off their ponytail for an excuse to chat with you. So don’t hesitate to ask one of us if you need something. Okay?” She started to close the door but stopped and waited for my reply.
    “Okay.” I nodded, wondering if when I woke up, the Walker family I’d met today would still be the same. Despite resembling something all too idealistic for my pessimistic outlook, I found myself almost hoping nothing would change. “Thanks again for having me.”
    “Thank you for having us,” she said with a wink before closing the door noiselessly.
    I exhaled. I’d done it. I’d made it across Oregon, some of Washington and Idaho, and into Montana. I’d