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Lindsey rolled her eyes. “I’d take a mall over a river any day.”
    Annie perched on the edge of the sofa near where Lindsey sat on the floor. “Then why did you come to visit my father? There aren’t any malls in Indigo Springs.”
    Lindsey stuffed the magazines back in the rack. “I didn’t know that. I thought there were malls everywhere.”
    “Is something wrong at home?” Annie seemed to be deciding what to say. “You can tell me if you don’t feel…safe.”
    Lindsey had sat through films in health class about the different types of abuse. She knew what Annie was really asking. Wow. Was she way off!
    “There’s nothing like that going on,” Lindsey said.
    Annie seemed to relax. “Something must have happened to make you leave home. Your parents will be calling back soon. It would help if I knew what it was.”
    Lindsey stood up. “I just needed to get away, that’s all.”
    “Away from what?” Annie asked.
    Lindsey waved a hand. “Away from everything.”
    Now that Annie was on board, Lindsey wasn’t going to say anything that would get her sent back to Pittsburgh. She was staying put if she could help it.
    Anywhere was better than home.

CHAPTER THREE

    W ELL , that hadn’t gone well.
    Annie watched helplessly as Lindsey retreated into the bedroom she was using. The girl had changed out of her jeans into a pair of gray jersey knit shorts with Princess printed across the bottom.
    Princess. Yeah, Annie was way out of her league when it came to Lindsey.
    She’d half feared that Lindsey would change her mind about staying and say she wanted to go home, but the girl had surprised her. Not that the visit would be a done deal until she talked to Lindsey’s parents.
    Annie had left a second message for them and could barely concentrate while she waited for the phone to ring. Sometime between inviting Lindsey to stay and now, Annie had allowed herself to hope for time to get to know the girl.
    No. Not hope. That was too mild a word.
    She craved more time with Lindsey—and she was desperately afraid she wouldn’t get it.
    The phone rang, making Annie jump. She hurried into the kitchen and picked up the receiver of the wall-mounted phone. “Hello.”
    “Annie, it’s Ryan.”
    Annie’s brain froze, her throat closed up and her legs almost gave out. She could only think of one reason for him to call.
    He knew.
    She put a hand on the counter to steady herself. Her heart pounded like a jackhammer. She braced herself, struggling to decide whether she would admit the truth.
    “I’m calling to see how Lindsey’s feeling,” Ryan said.
    How Lindsey was feeling? His words didn’t compute. She’d expected him to say he’d guessed Lindsey was the baby they’d given up for adoption.
    “Annie? Are you still there?”
    “Yes,” she choked out, feeling overwhelming relief. “I’m here.”
    Her voice sounded raspy and unfamiliar with none of the maturity she’d strived so hard to develop over the years.
    “How is Lindsey?” he asked.
    A few more seconds passed. She closed her eyes briefly. She was handling the call poorly, arousing suspicion where there might not be any. She fought to regain her equilibrium. “Fine. She’s fine.”
    “Good to hear. Just make sure she doesn’t skip meals and she shouldn’t have the problem again.”
    “Okay. Sure.” She still sounded unsophisticated and unsure of herself, which was unacceptable. Especially with Ryan Whitmore on the other end of the line. Get off the phone, her brain screamed. The less you talk to him, the better. “Thanks for calling.”
    “Wait!” Ryan’s appeal was loud enough that she heard him even though she was just about to hang up. She reluctantly held the phone back up to her ear.
    “You’re guiding the ten o’clock white-water trip tomorrow morning, right?” he asked.
    “I’m planning to,” she said slowly, afraid of what he would say next.
    “Good, because I’m thinking about taking it.”
    She grimaced at the prospect of