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out the window at the snow outside. So pure and fluffy—yet so dang cold. The sun would rise in about an hour, and she should try to get some sleep.
    Glancing toward the living room, she gave a short laugh. “Kirk and Worf, get off the sofa.”
    The two battered but now healthy black labs didn’t even stop snoring. She’d rescued the dogs from an abusive situation a year ago, and they’d quickly taken over the house.
    “Whatever,” she muttered. There was no sense shoving them off as they’d just jump back on the second she went upstairs. “Do you want to go outside?”
    They didn’t even open an eye.
    She shrugged. Someone from their small community had probably let the dogs out earlier. “Fine. See you in the morning.”
    An ache set up in her back that traveled to her neck as she climbed the stairs toward her bedroom. Two bedrooms shared the second floor with a bathroom between them. Old, clean, and comfortable, the house had been Amber’s home for nearly twenty years, since they’d settled in the eco-village.
    But the farmhouse didn’t seem like a home without Grandma Hilde.
    Amber trudged into her bedroom, flipping on the light. Papers spread over the wedding-band quilt Hilde had sewn for Amber from her old baby blankets. With a sigh, Amber sat and shoved the college admission papers to the side.
    The community college had open enrollment, so even though she’d only earned the GED, she’d get in. But how would she fare in the classes?
    Sure, her grandma and their small community had homeschooled her, teaching her everything from math to germ warfare. But it still wasn’t a public education. Had she learned everything the other people had? At least since it was a community college, she’d be among other twenty-five-year-olds and not a bunch of teens.
    She blinked, wincing at the dust on the hand-carved dresser across the room. A member of her community had given the stunning piece to her on her sixteenth birthday, and even the dust didn’t take away from its beauty. The house definitely needed a good cleaning before Hilde came home.
    The old-fashioned green phone on her nightstand rang.
    She grabbed the receiver, her heart racing to life. “Hello?”
    “Hi, baby girl. I got your note,” her grandmother said.
    Tears sprang to Amber’s eyes. “You’re awake.” She’d known her grandma would wake up and had left a note that she was to call immediately, regardless of the time. “The doctors said your concussion was really bad.”
    “What do they know?” Hilde coughed. “Though, whatever they gave me, I’m groggy as heck. There’s something I know I need to tell you, but my brain won’t kick into gear. What happened, anyway?”
    “Jonsie went crazy and kicked you.” Amber shook her head. The mild old horse had never even snorted loudly before.
    “Oh no. Is he okay?”
    Amber smiled. Leave it to her grandma to be worried about the horse. “Jonsie is fine. After he kicked you, he smacked his nose into the wall and needed stitches. We think he must’ve been drugged.”
    “By Hanson,” Hilde breathed.
    “Probably. But we don’t have proof, and the sheriff is Hanson’s brother-in-law, so . . .”
    “I’ll figure out something when my brain starts working again. Darn drugs.” Hilde slurred the last part.
    “Okay—I’ll come down there right now.”
    Hilde sighed. “No, you get some rest. I’m really tired.”
    Amber nodded, relief making her voice husky. “Okay. I’ll come visit you in a few hours.”
    “Visit? Come get me in a few hours. I’m coming home. ’Night.”
    Amber hung up the phone and blinked away tears. Thank goodness. Hilde was the healthiest person she knew, never even getting a cold. As usual, she’d gone down to the community barn to feed the horses. When Jonsie had knocked her out, she’d looked so fragile and suddenly old, lying on the ground.
    Picard jumped on the bed, purring as he settled into Amber’s side. She leaned over and flipped off the light,