Emily walked into the living room and smiled at the scene in front of her. Cole and Evan were sprawled on the floor watching a cartoon and lying between them frog style was Geordie. What made it so adorable was that both boys had one arm draped over the dog.

"Guys? Do you know where your father is?"

Evan glanced over his shoulder. "Daddy's at the clinic."

"Want us to show you where it is, Miss Emily?" Cole asked, looking like he really didn't want to. The cartoon was more interesting than acting as a tour guide.

"No thanks, Cole. I think I can find it," she said with a chuckle. "You two keep watching."

"Okay," they said in unison, turning their attention back to the show.

Geordie started to get up to join her, but Emily held up her hand to stop him. "Stay," she commanded. The boys were enjoying his company. He settled back down and like the boys, turned his head to the television like he was actually watching it.

Chuckling, Emily retreated to the hallway and sat down on the bench set near the front door to put on her boots. While she had been laid up with the flu, the boys kept Geordie busy and he soaked up all the attention. Geordie found out the little humans made great playmates. They had boundless energy like he did, playing and running around for hours on end until they collapsed from exhaustion. His mistress couldn't run like that, but that was okay with him. He preferred their lazy walks and cuddling with her in the evenings.

Standing up, she took her jacket off the peg and zipped it up to her chin. Then she donned her knit hat and gloves. Emily stepped through the door and paused on the porch, inhaling the crisp winter air and gazing at the white covered scenery. This was the first time since being laid low by the flu that she was outside. The first week in residence she spent in bed, only getting up to use the bathroom. Feeling stronger, she spent the second week down in the living room on the couch with a blanket draped over her legs and Evan entertaining her. They played board games, video games and watch cartoons while Cole was in school. As so as he got home, he joined in on the fun. Since he had a business to run, Greg would check in on her between clients.

Tightening her grip on her cane, Emily carefully negotiated the three porch steps and limped down the driveway to the clinic, eyes scanning for any ice patches. The cold and the week of bed rest caused her bad leg to stiffen up, forcing her to use the hated cane to get around for the time being. She already resumed doing her physical therapy exercises so the stiffness was only temporary…or so she hoped. She was surprised to find out Greg's vet clinic was located at the foot of the driveway. In the falling snow that night, she had totally missed it. So much for her great powers of observation, she thought ruefully.

Stepping inside, Emily learned from the sole employee manning the desk that Greg was out in the stables. The doors were open when she got there so she entered. Emily was about to call out Greg' name when something caught her attention. Standing patiently its head hanging over the nylon stall guard was an appaloosa gelding. His mane, tail and legs were midnight black except for the two white socks on his right front and hind left legs. His head was also black with an irregular shaped white star on his forehead. The rest of his body was snow white and splattered with large black spots. He was breathtaking and she found herself smitten with him.

"Why hello to you, Handsome," Emily said with an appreciative smile as she stepped up to him and ran her hand over the star and down to his velvety nose.

He nickered softly as he lipped her open hand making her chuckle. "I'm sorry I don't have a treat for you. I'll bring one next time," she promised. He bobbed his head in agreement.

"He's a big mooch," Greg said, poking his head out of one of the stalls.

Emily stifled a laugh. Greg was decked out in rubber boots, plastic apron, gloves up to his elbows and a clear face shield. "That's quite the outfit you have on."

He looked down at himself and grinned. "I'm treating a sick llama and they love to spit, especially when they're not feeling good."

"You have llamas here?"

"A few. They're quite effective in guarding flocks of sheep."

"I didn't know that."

"Now you do."

The horse nudged her in the arm. "I haven't forgotten you, handsome. Is he a black leopard?"

His eyes lit up in delight that she knew what patterns appaloosas came in. "He is. Do you like horses?"

Emily moved to scratching the gelding under the chin. "I do. I use to ride when I was a kid."

"Did you ride for pleasure or compete?"

"Competed. I started with show jumping then switched to eventing as a teenager."

Greg' admiration for Emily went up another notch. Not only was she beautiful and smart, but also she was a horse lover and someone who obviously loved a challenge. Eventing wasn't easy; it took a lot of time and dedication to master all three disciplines. He stopped on the other side of the gelding and patted its neck.

"If you don't mind me asking, were you any good?"

She looked down and blushed slightly, not one who normally boasted about her accomplishments. "I placed," she said modestly. "I was lucky Bogart excelled at show jumping and cross country because dressage wasn't our strongest suit."

He chuckled. "Didn't like sitting so still in the saddle? You preferred flying over the course at a gallop and hurtling over obstacles?"

"Yeah. He was a great horse," Emily said wistfully, thinking back to those childhood days. Like school and reading, riding had been an escape from her troubled home life. "I miss it."

He stopped on the other side of the gelding and petted his neck fondly. "Renegade here isn't ready for riding yet. That won't happen for a couple of months."

"Why not?"

"When he was rescued from a farm in the next county, he was nothing but skin and bones. He's filled out nicely, but he still has a way to go."

"You poor boy," Emily cooed to the horse. "Are you going to keep him or find him a new home?"

"I would love to keep him, but I already have a horse and two ponies for me and the boys. Would you be interested?"

Emily laughed. "Maybe if he was a miniature horse because as of right now, he's not going to fit in the backseat of my car."

"Most definitely not. But in the meantime, do you still know your way around a grooming caddy?" he asked.

"I do. Why?" Emily asked with a frown.

"Well I was thinking that if you felt up to it you could groom the horses while I finish up with Larry the Llama and muck out the stalls. It would save me a lot of time." Greg looked hopeful.

"Sure," she immediately agreed with a nod.

"Great," he said with a grin, thrilled that she was going to stick around and help. "The caddy is right over there on the hay bales."

"Got it."

Greg picked up the shovel and hefted it over one shoulder. "Have fun."

"I will." Emily waited for him to disappear into the stall before selecting the currycomb and started to groom Renegade.

Between the two of them it took less than two hours to take care for the llama, two appaloosas and two bay ponies. As she was grooming Pippin Emily had asked why the ponies weren't appys like the rest, Greg explained that he didn't need to hear the boys constantly bickering over which one had more spots. She laughed at that since she has learned over the passing days that bickering was one of their favorite pastimes. They stepped out into the afternoon sun and headed back to the house to make lunch. Greg discretely shortened his stride to match her limping one.

"Thanks for the help," Greg said, breaking the silence.

"You're welcome. I had fun," Emily said with a small smile. "It's been awhile since I groomed a horse. Let alone four of them."

"I'm glad. You did a good job."

She nodded at the compliment and the two fell quiet again. Emily took a few more steps before stopping and turning to him. "Greg, there was a reason I came out to the clinic looking for you." She took a deep breath. "I feel like I have imposed on your hospitality long enough. Could you drop me off in town at the motel? I'll stay there until my car is fixed."

He stumbled to a halted. "You're not imposing at all. The boys and I are enjoying your company."

"And so do I," she admitted. "But I can't keep accepting your charity and that also goes for the repairs to my car."

Greg stared off into the distance. He didn't want Emily to leave. There was something unique about her, besides her gorgeous dark brown eyes, and he wanted to get to know her better. He hadn't been this intrigued by a woman since the day he had met his late wife. There had to be a way to get her to stay, but at the moment he couldn't come up with a good one.

"Okay," he agreed with great reluctance, "but I can't do it until the clinic is closed."

"That works fine for me. That will give me time to pack, clean the room and pry Geordie away from the boys."

"You don't have to clean the room."

"Yes, I do. I need to return it to you in the same condition I found it in."

Greg saw the stubborn set of her jaw and knew it was useless to continue arguing with her. "The boys are going to miss you," he said instead.

"And I'm going to miss them," Emily admitted. "It's been a while since I've hung out with small children."

During the past two weeks, Emily didn't talk about herself and the life she was living before being stranded here. But every now and then she would let a tidbit slip, like right now. Greg was curious to know more about it, but he respected her right to privacy and refrained from pressing further.

"I hope they weren't overwhelming, especially when they were hatching one of their unsuccessful schemes?"

"Not at all. I found it quite interesting to see what they came up with."

"Then there's still hope for them?" he asked with a smirk.

"I would say so," Emily agreed as they stepped inside to break the news to the boys.

Just as Greg promised, he drove Emily and Geordie into town and to a bed and breakfast that accepted dogs. The boys didn't want her to leave and did their best to convince her to stay. As tempting as it was, Emily stuck to her guns. The only concession was that she wouldn't leave until after dinner so that the boys could give her a proper goodbye. Greg insisted on carrying her bags to the front door where Emily thanked him again for everything he had done for her. He, in turn, gave her one of his business cards with his personal numbers jotted on the back, telling her to call if she ever needed anything. With the card still in hand, she stood on the porch and watched him drive away. Too bad she wasn't ready for any kind of relationship because Greg was a nice guy with those warm blue eyes.

A phone call in the morning revealed that her car wouldn't be ready for another two weeks so Emily and Geordie spent the time exploring Camden from end to end. It was a quaint and quiet little town. If you wanted a rural place to settle down, this was the perfect spot. It wasn't so small that you would miss it if you blinked or sneezed. It has a healthy population of ten thousand and a thriving downtown. Unlike many small towns that were on the verge of dying, there were very few empty storefronts. Even though the woods were like her second home, deep down Emily was still a city girl.

There was one business that Emily returned to time after time. It was a rundown used bookstore simply called Caron's books. Its proprietor was a rotund man in his late seventies with a mane of thick white hair and his equally rotund cat. They went by the names of Charles and Sid. Charles was gruff and a man of few words, but once he discovered she was fluent in French, he was a chatterbox. It turned out he was a native of France and lived through the Nazi occupation of France as a child before immigrating to America after the war.

Emily spent hours wandering among the stacks. Books were shelved with no rhyme or reason so it felt like she was on a treasure hunt. She took up the challenge and found some nice hidden gems. Charles let her bring Geordie in and they quickly found out that he was afraid of cats. All Sid had to do was to puff out his hair and hiss once to send the dog scrambling for protection behind Emily's legs. From this place of safety Geordie would bark at the fat cat as Sid ignored him and groomed his tail.

The two weeks flew by and the next thing she knew, her car was ready to go. And so was Emily. She enjoyed her time in Camden, even the time spent laid up by the flu, but it was time for her to move on. She climbed into her car that looked like it never had an encounter with a deer and drove back to the B&B. There she loaded her bags and Geordie and headed off on her next adventure.

Emily couldn't pinpoint why or what exactly it was that was bothering her, but she was not having an easy time. She felt emotional and overwhelmed for no reason at all. Nothing was helping. Not the journaling, not the dog, not even thinking happy thoughts. And she didn't know why, which was, perhaps, the biggest problem.

She just… She didn't know what to do about it. How was she supposed to solve a problem when she didn't know what the problem was?

It was the middle of the night, she was tired, she was frustrated, and all she wanted to do was sleep. But she couldn't. Sleep was the furthest thing from possible at that moment, but all she wanted.

"Ugh," she cried out, frustrated and throwing her pillow to the floor, making Geordie jump. She sat up with a pout and looked at him. "I'm sorry, G-Man," she said.

He just hopped off the bed and plopped down on the far end of her room and went back to sleep.

"Yeah, I'd want away from me too," she muttered.

She got up and paced the room. She tried watching TV and listening to music. But nothing helped.

Finally, it got too much. She gave in. She looked for her phone and called the number that she swore she never would.

"Hello?" The groggy voice answered.

"Allison? Dr. Fielding?"

"Emily?" she asked, and that was when Emily realized how desperate her voice must've sounded because, all of a sudden, Allison was alert, all remnants of sleep missing from her voice. "Are you ok?"

"Yes. No… I… I'm having a bad day… night." She looked at the clock before settling on, "morning."

"What's going on?"

"I don't know. I just want to sleep. Please help me sleep."

"Emily. Where are you right now?"

"A hotel in Mankota, Minnesota."

"Are you alone?"

"I have Geordie with me."

"Geordie?"

"My dog."

"Any people?"

"Are you worried about me? Should I be worried?"

"Take a breath, Emily."

She tried. It wasn't helping. She tried explaining that to Allison. Nothing was helping, and she wasn't sure what was wrong.

"Did something happen today?"

"No," was all Emily could say. Nothing happened.

All she did was take Geordie to a local park that she saw when she was driving to the hotel. He needed some exercise, and she needed some air, so it was perfect. After, though, everything went to hell.

"Talk me through what you did at the park. Start from how you got there," Allison directed.

So, Emily did. She explained that it wasn't far from where they were staying. She put Geordie on his leash, grabbed them a bottle of water, and went on a nice little walk. When they got to the park, they found a nice spot to sit down at and people watch. Geordie had his toy alligator, so they played a bit, too.

"There was a family there, with a dog. Playing."

Allison wanted to directly question why that particular detail was of relevance. She was sure there were a few families there, but she wanted Emily to work it out on her own, just using her as a sounding board.

"Tell me about the family."

"There were three kids. Three happy, healthy kids playing with their dog."

Allison listened as Emily went into a few details about their presumed ages and looks. She went on to talk about other things, following the original task, but she always circled back to the family. Allison needed Emily to be aware of that.

"Emily, you keep going back to the kids and the family. Why is this family so important to you?

"I don't know," Emily admitted.

"Think about it."

She did, but she didn't want to admit that they were the cause of her little… breakdown.

"I guess… I guess they remind me of them."

"Of who?"

"Of the kids that got killed on the case… The ones that I could have saved."

"Emily, you know that what happened was not your fault."

"I know…" She was trying to know that anyway. "But they were just kids. They're never going to play with a dog or be a family again. They're just… They're gone."

Hearing Emily get worked up again, going back to old patterns the more she talked, Allison tried to calm her down. They went through a mantra together to try to help Emily, even if just temporarily, feel like it wasn't her fault. What happened was terrible, but thinking about the what ifs and blame aside for the man who actually killed them was useless.

"Are you feeling okay, now?"

"Better, I guess."

"It's late, Emily, and I think you could use some sleep."

"Yes," she agreed.

"I'm glad you called me," Allison said. "You can always call if you need to."

"Thank you. And thanks for your help."

"Let me help a little more. I don't think you'll fall asleep on your own. Can you put me on speaker?"

"Sure," Emily said, pressing a button on the phone.

"Okay. I'm going to take you through some breathing exercises. I'll talk to you, just leave me on speaker, and don't worry about anything. Okay?"

"Okay."

Allison guided Emily through deep breathing and relaxation techniques that they had previously went over. There would be plenty to talk about the next time Emily called or, if she didn't, when Allison called her back to check in. For now, it was just about helping Emily relax.

"Deep breath. In through your mouth. Now hold." Allison counted down. "Exhale through your nose." Again, a count down. "Good."

They repeated it a few times before Emily's breathing became slow and her response nonexistent.

"Emily?" Allison tested.

No answer.

"Emily?" she tried again for good measure.

Still nothing.

Allison smiled, hung up the phone, and thought that Emily was stronger and in a better place than she knew. She was going to be just fine.

And Emily, though she wasn't as sure about that, at least slept peacefully the rest of the morning, well into the later hours until Geordie let her know that he needed a bathroom break, maybe some food, too, and she needed to help him out with that.