Carly and Marcus had been searching the house while she was out. Judging by the car in the driveway, at least one of the officers was still present, so it wasnt a surprise when the kitchen door popped open behind her.

"Oh, hi, Matty," Carly said.

"Hey," Matty answered with a smile. She might have met Carly under bizarre criminal circumstances, but she liked the woman. Quick to assess both of the situations and just as quick to start dealing with them in an efficient and business-like way without being too uptight or tense, her easy-going and attentive manner conveyed a confidence that put Matty at ease.

"Are you close to being finished in there?" Matty asked.

Carly nodded. "I just put away the last of the files."

A gust of wind came up and blew Mattys hair into her face again. Carlys shorter hair stayed in place and Matty took a moment to envy the womans blonde curls. It wasnt that she disliked having long hair, but it could get a bit unruly, especially in the wind and in any weather that wasnt seventy degrees and sunny with no humidity.

"Want to join me for a glass of iced tea or something before you leave?" Matty offered, moving toward the door and out of the wind. "I dont know what is up with this weather, but this wind is going to make me crazy."

Carly laughed. "Thanks, but I need to get back to the station and keep an eye on things. Theres supposed to be a storm system moving in. I doubt theres much flooding up here since youre on a hill, but you may want to make sure you have batteries and flashlights and things like that."

"Is it going to be that bad?" Matty asked, her hand on the door. Shed noticed the change in the weather, of course, but being a city girl, and one who lived in DC where most of the power lines were below ground, losing power had never really been something shed worried about.

Carly shrugged. "Its hard to tell right now. Summer storms can grow or collapse pretty fast, so its always good to be ready just in case."

Matty thought that was good advice and made a mental note to do as Carly suggested. They said good-bye and she retreated into her house just as her phone rang. Glancing at the number she smiled, it had been a few days since she talked to her mom, it would be good to hear her voice, if not fend off questions about Dash. Actually, as she thought about it, between Brads death and the appearance of Dash in her life, Matty was kind of surprised her mother hadnt just shown up. Like a lot of mothers, there was nothing her mom wanted more, other than the happiness of her daughter, than grandchildren.

"Mama," she said as she entered the kitchen. She wasnt sure what she had expected after walking into a house that had just been subject to a thorough search, but it was in the exact same condition in which shed left it, which was kind of nice.

"Matty, how are you?" her mother responded.

"Im good. Its been an interesting trip, thats for sure," she answered and then filled her mother in on what had happened in the past few days, including the possibility that Brad had been murdered. She sat down at the desk in the office as she talked and watched the wind whip the trees back and forth outside. Her mother made occasional, appropriate sounds and when Matty was done talking, Carmen did exactly what her daughter had been expecting.

"Mija," she said, her voice serious and her accent touching every word. "I think I should come up there. Charlotte, well, she too is worried."

Matty sighed. "Im fine Mama, really. Ill call Charlotte next and touch base with her, too."

"Someone was killed not one hundred feet from where you are living, in the middle of nowhere. I dont like that you are alone."

"It was more like a quarter mile from where I am and Im not alone all that much." She caught herself too late; shed walked right in to her mothers trap.

"You are not alone much? Then you are spending time with that boy, Dash. If you are spending that much time with him, I think I must come up and meet him."

"Hes a man, Mama, not a boy," she responded.

"Mathilde."

Matty sighed again. "Now just isnt a good time." She did not want her mother showing up when Douglas was in town or Sandra likely on the warpath to declaring Matty a suspect. She hadnt heard anything from Ian, and Carly hadnt mentioned anything either, but she would be more surprised if Sandra hadnt accused her than if she had. And Carmen Viega was a very different woman now than she had been when Sandra Brooks ran her out of the house all those years ago.

"But this boy, he is special, no? Different?" her mother pressed.

For a beat, Matty thought about lying to her mother-saying no, Dash wasnt special. But as much as she didnt want to talk about it, she also didnt want to belittle her relationship with Dash. Not only did she not want to demean her relationship, there was also the fact that Dash was different and her mom, who loved her and had given her so much in life, deserved to know.

"Hes a man, Mama, not a boy," Matty repeated, more to tease her mom than anything else.

"Mathilde."

Matty bit back a laugh at her mothers predictable response. She could almost see Carmen sitting at the kitchen table, coffee in hand, rolling her eyes at her daughter.

"Yes, Mama, he is special. And yes, prepare yourself, because I would like you to meet him. But now really isnt a good time. Both Douglas and Sandra are in town, and to be honest, I dont want to deal with having all of you in the same town at the same time." Matty decided not to mention that little issue of a possible murder accusation.

Her mother made a small sound on the other end of the line that gave Matty next to no indication of what she was thinking. "Its very quick, no?" she said.

Matty was relieved that Carmen hadnt picked up the conversation thread about Douglas and Sandra, but the concern in her voice as she asked about Dash gave Matty pause. It didnt sound disapproving, but she didnt really sound excited either. And then it came to her and Matty felt like shed been smacked in the face with the true sentiment behind her mothers concern. Carmen herself had been swept up by Douglas Brooks all those years ago. And though Matty knew her mother didnt regret having had her, she was not oblivious to the destruction and pain her parents brief relationship had caused in the lives of many people. That it had turned out okay in the long run for most of them was good, but there were years her mother had suffered for what had happened in that whirlwind moment.

"Mama, Im not getting swept up in this relationship," Matty said in all seriousness. She wanted her mom to know she wasnt throwing caution to the wind. "Dash and I arent doing anything dumb and were taking things as they come. Yes, its moving faster than any of my past relationships, and yes, Dash is different than the others, but Im not going to lose my head over this. You dont need to worry about that."

Her mother was silent for a moment, then Matty heard her let out a little laugh. "No, Mija, you mistake my hesitance. You are not the girl I was when I met Douglas," she said, reading her daughters mind. "You are thirty-two, educated, successful. You have a career of your own, money of your own, friends, and a very different kind of life. I was twenty-one when I met your father and a new emigrant. I spoke little English, was poor, and had no support other than a distant cousin in Connecticut. No friends, no family, no money," she repeated. "You are a very different woman, Mathilde. I do not worry about you getting 'swept up, as you say. Truly, what I worry about is that you wont let yourself get caught up in something, or someone."

Okay, that wasnt what Matty had expected. "Mama?"

Her mother sighed. "Our life in your early years wasnt easy, Mathilde. It was the best I could do-"

"And you did a great job," Matty interjected.

She could hear the smile in her moms voice. "Thank you, Mija. But it was not easy and you did not learn to trust because there were so few to trust. And you did not learn to see the joy because there was so little of it where we lived. We couldnt care about people, because if we did, it was used against us. We had to be cautious in everything. We had to doubt and we had to protect ourselves-physically and emotionally-to survive. That is what you learned when you were little."

"Mama?"

"You are a remarkable young woman and I know I dont have to tell you how much I love you, but things that are sometimes easy for other people do not come easy for you because of how you grew up. I lived there with you in the Bronx, but my childhood, when I was a girl, I was very happy. I grew up with a loving family, a big family. There was much laughter, and while there was not much money, there was much love. When I left for the states, they cried and did not want me to leave. And then when I got pregnant, I could not afford to go back. But I tell you this, because even though I lived in the same world as you when we were in New York, my memories of my childhood, of how people could and should be with each other, were still strong. I knew there was a different way of life because I had lived it. I couldnt provide that for you, Mathilde, and I know it has impacted you-in ways that I see and, Im sure, in ways that I dont."

For a moment, Matty was speechless. Her mother very rarely spoke of her family in Puerto Rico. By the time theyd had money to go back and visit, her mothers parents had both died and each of her siblings had moved away-her brother to Los Angeles and her sister to South America. Matty had met them each once, but just as her mothers poverty had kept her from her family in the early days, her subsequent wealth had had almost the same effect later on. Her brother and sister had both seemed uncomfortable during their individual visits to the DC mansion and neither had expressed any interest in building a relationship with Matty afterward. She knew her mom kept in touch with each of them, regularly, but it was only over the phone or e-mail, never in person.

But now, aside from her mothers insight into her family, Matty was struck by how accurately her mother had, to put it bluntly, hit the nail on the head. Carmen had just hit upon the very issues Matty had been struggling with ever since shed met Dash, issues shed even discussed with him. All along, Matty had assumed that her mother was like her-that she struggled with the same questions. But shed been wrong. The way theyd lived in the Bronx was all Matty had known at the time, but for her mother it was just a role shed had to play to survive; it hadnt become a part of her the way it had become a part of Matty.

Quietly, Matty responded. "Youre right, Mama. It did impact me in ways that I am just beginning to realize-just beginning to deal with and confront."

"And this boy-this man," her mother corrected herself with a small laugh, "he is helping you, no?"

Matty thought about Dash. About his quiet way. About his insistence that she not back down from her own fears and his confidence that she could overcome them. She thought about the way he pushed her just enough to challenge her but then backed off to let her think things through. And she thought about the way he quietly listened to her stories, especially those about her childhood, and didnt judge or overreact. He didnt want to fix her, but he wasnt going to let her hide from, or behind, her past either.

"Yes, Mama, he is helping," she said softly.

Her mother let out a long breath. "Then I am glad and I will be happy to meet him. Perhaps after Brads funeral?" she suggested.

Matty nodded to herself. "Yes, Mama, I think that would be a good time to come up."

Feeling drained and exhausted when she ended the call, Matty stared absently at the floor for a long moment. It hadnt been too long of a talk, but it had packed a lot of emotional punch and left her with a lot to think about. She had never given much thought to her mothers life before shed come to the US because the move itself, in both good and bad ways, defined so much of Carmen. Her mothers comments had not only opened Mattys eyes to the fact that Carmens childhood experience was different than her own, they had echoed so much of what she was already feeling, or becoming aware of, through her relationship with Dash. She had internalized so much of what she had experienced in her youth in a way that, until recently, she hadnt even acknowledged. And it wasnt that she thought her life would take a one-eighty if she really tried to understand her childhood, but maybe understanding it could help her live the kind of life that seemed so easy for Dash-the kind of life she was beginning to think she might want.

She put on a kettle of water, mulling over the scary reality of what it would mean to talk about her childhood and acknowledge the ways it had affected her in adulthood when she was startled by the jumping and barking of the dogs. Theyd been lying peacefully about the kitchen just moments before, and with the wind, she hadnt heard the car that was now obviously pulling into her drive.

Glancing at her watch, she frowned. She knew it wasnt Dash because his afternoon appointments didnt end until five. But thinking it might be Carly coming back to pick something up, she walked to the door and peered out.

To her dismay, Douglas was climbing out of his luxury sedan, his shoulders slumped and his movements sluggish. His face still carried the look of shock shed noticed a few days before, but now it was tinged with a deep, unfathomable sorrow.

He closed the car door and made his way to where Matty stood in the kitchen doorway. She hesitated when he stepped up onto the patio, then moved aside and opened the door, silently inviting him in.

"Thank you," he said quietly as he came inside. Perhaps sensing the grief that enveloped her father, the dogs stayed quiet and nearly still. The kettle whistled and Matty returned to the stove to shut the burner off. Pulling out a mug for herself, she gestured to Douglas, asking if he would like to join her. He shook his head then cast a look around the kitchen as if he wasnt sure what to do next.

"Have a seat," she said. He sat down at the kitchen island and watched as she made her cup of tea.

She sat on a stool across from him. "How are you?" she asked gently.

Douglas tilted his head, his eyes still downcast, but didnt give her more of an answer than that.

"Did you meet with the police this morning?"

His eyes came up and another look of sorrow crossed through them. "Yes, we did. Sandra went home, back to Connecticut, after we talked to them. Since they arent," his voice cracked and he paused for a moment to clear it. "Since they arent releasing Brads body until they are done with the investigation, she wanted to be home, near her friends."

"And you?"

Douglass eyes drifted away. "Our social circle is hers. It should come as no surprise to you, Matty, that I dont have many friends of my own. Besides, I wasnt quite ready to leave yet. It doesnt, it just doesnt feel right," he added.

Matty had nothing to say to that, so she simply sat and sipped her tea in silence. Douglas sat across from her, tracing patterns on the countertop, his eyes fixed there.

After several minutes, Douglas cleared his throat. "I dont," he paused again then looked up. "I know its too late, Matty. I know I cant change the past and probably not even the future. Im not a very good person. Im weak and Ive led a passive life, letting everyone-letting Sandra-make all the decisions, define who I am and what I am. Its been so long since I made a decision for myself, Im not even sure I know how anymore. And even if I did, I suspect no one would take me seriously since Ive never done it before."

Matty set her mug down and watched Douglas as he looked away, hiding the glimpse of shame shed caught in his eyes.

Keeping his eyes averted, he continued. "At this point in my life, theres only one good thing thats left." Douglas turned his eyes back to hers, "You. And I know I have no right to even claim that," he added.

He didnt, but Matty was never one to kick a man when he was down. Besides, despite who he was, despite everything that she and her mother had gone through because of his cowardice and weakness, she wasnt unmoved by the despair she heard in his voice. It was as if he believed hed had no will or ability to change anything; that everything in his life, all his past sins, even those of omission, were so overwhelming that he didnt deserve anything other than what life threw at him. It didnt escape Mattys notice that this attitude, too, was a sign of weakness, but given that hed just lost his son, she didnt feel the need to point it out.

She took another sip of tea and listened to the wind gust against the house. "Where are you staying?" she asked.

Douglas looked about to say something else, then answered her question, "The Tavern. Its downtown."

Matty nodded. "And how long do you think youll stay?"

He managed a small shrug, "I dont know. As long as they are still investigating? Until I feel like I can leave," he added.

She had nothing to say to that so they lapsed back into silence. After several more minutes passed, Douglas put his hands on the table and pushed himself up. Matty, following his lead, rose as well.

"I guess I should be going," he said.

"Is there anything here youd like to take with you? Really, Douglas, Ill take good care of everything, I dont want you to think otherwise, but if there is something you want, Id like for you to have it."

For a long moment he just looked at her with his sad, blue eyes. "Maybe a picture, if he has any?" he finally said.

She thought for a moment and then remembered an album shed seen downstairs. Excusing herself, she jogged downstairs and quickly located what she was looking for. It was the one shed found several days ago that was filled with images of Brad, Douglas, and Sandra over a period that looked to cover Brads high school and maybe early college years. Returning to the kitchen, she handed the album over to Douglas.

"I found this the other day. I think youll like it," she said. He took the album and flipped it open to the first page. She watched as his eyes filled. Blinking back the moisture, he closed it and, with a cracking voice, thanked her. She nodded and walked him to the door.

He was about halfway to his car when she called out. "Douglas?" He paused and turned. "Theres a storm coming," she shouted over the wind. "Be safe."

Again, he looked at her for a long moment, before nodding. "You, too, Mathilde. You, too," he replied. Then, through the gusts, he made his way to his car and drove off.

Feeling inexplicably sad after the visit, Matty reentered the kitchen and knelt down to give Bob a good rub, hoping that seeing his happy face would make her feel better. And for a moment, it did. But still, the rest of the afternoon was somber as she alternately worked on her book, picked up a bit, and mulled over what to make for dinner. The house was silent except for her movements, the occasional sounds of the dogs moving about, and the frequent gusts of wind. She found herself gratefully sinking into the peace, using it to soothe and calm the emotions that had been drummed up by her conversations with her mother and Douglas.

As evening fell, Matty found herself at the desk in the office, staring out the big, picture window, thinking of nothing in particular-especially not her latest book, which sat almost complete on the laptop in front of her. She was watching one of the cows make its way toward the barn when she noticed the unusual color of the sky.

She frowned. It looked green.

Glancing at the clock, she noted that it was close to five-Dash would be coming back soon, but it was too early to be quite so dark. Her frown deepened as she continued to stare at the sky, not quite sure what to make of it. She was fascinated by the color, a hue shed never seen before that looked slightly sinister.

Lost in thought, Matty jumped when, simultaneously, the dogs started barking and a radio came on. Shaken by the sudden onslaught of noise, she was momentarily confused. Why was the radio on? And where was it?

Hoping that it was Dash the dogs were barking at, she rose hesitantly from her seat, a little freaked out by the radio going on by itself. She followed the sound and realized it was coming from the kitchen. Pausing at the kitchen door, she tentatively looked around the room, wondering if whoever had come after Brad-if someone had come after Brad-might be back.

The kitchen appeared empty and she was about to step in when the radio, what it was actually reporting, registered in her brain. At the same time, the patio door slammed open and Dash came charging in. His eyes scanned the room until they landed on her, still standing in the office doorway trying to grasp the situation.

"Matty! We need to get down to the basement. Theres a tornado alert in the county and one has already touched down just north of Riverside," he exclaimed, coming toward her. She felt like she was in an alternate world, the reality of what was going on just skirting the edges of her comprehension. Shed read about tornados, donated quite a bit to the recovery after theyd hit Joplin, Missouri, but shed never been anywhere where they actually occurred.

"Matty, come on," Dash said, grabbing her arm and dragging her to the stairs. That brought her out of her fog.

"The dogs, Dash?" she asked, suddenly frantic.

"Are they all in the house?"

She nodded.

"Then call them and theyll come with us." He was pulling her closer to the stairs.

"But the cats?"

"Trust me, the cats will take care of themselves, so will the cows. Theyll go where they feel the safest."

"What about the chickens and the rabbits? We cant just leave them out there, Dash," she pleaded, knowing in her heart that it was ridiculous to care about them so much when the situation could turn deadly at any given moment. But still, she couldnt bring herself to be so callous as to disregard them; thered been enough bystanders in her life, enough people whod sat by and watched terrible things happen, that it was hard for her to consider leaving behind animals she had promised Brad shed take care of.

"Matty," Dash said, his tone of voice trying to reason with her.

And then something unexpected happened. Maybe it was the stress of the past few days or the emotional conversations with her mom and Douglas, but her eyes welled up. Dash froze.

She bit her lower lip. "Im sorry, Dash. Just ignore me-its been a long day. Lets get down to the basement room. Well be safe there and theres even a bed and a bathroom if we need to stay the night." She took a step toward the stairs and Dash stopped her.

"Find some cardboard or tape and cover the windows. Ive only seen them from the field, but if I remember correctly, they arent very big so it should be a quick job. Then find a place to put the rabbits. There are too many chickens for me to carry, but I can bring the rabbits back for you."

A single tear fell. "I swear this isnt normal for me, Dash, and I dont want you to risk your life for the rabbits-"

He cut her off with a quick kiss then turned and started jogging away. "If there is a bathroom downstairs, the tub or if there is an enclosed shower, would make a good spot for the rabbits," he called back. And then he was gone.

Matty stood for a moment before a gust of wind hit the house, rousing her into action. She hurried down the stairs and tackled first things first. She found some duct tape, emptied a few of the boxes that held Brads files and used the cardboard to tape over the windows. It wouldnt totally protect them from flying glass, but it would help. She was just tearing up some paper shed grabbed from the storage area and dumping it in the tub when she heard Dash coming down the stairs followed by a clattering of doggy toenails.

Within seconds, he appeared in the doorway. It must have started raining because he was soaking wet. His shirt was plastered to his body, his hair flat against his head, and his jeans, darkened with water, clung to his thighs. And in his arms were two wet bunnies.