Meanwhile, Peter stepped into Lou's room and gently knocked on the door that was already pretty wide open. "Hey."

Lou sat in her bed, surrounded by a bunch of Katie's things. She looked up when she heard his voice. "Peter," she breathed out.

Peter walked closer and moved to sit on the bed. He looked around the bed, and there were some of Katie's old toys, some of her clothes, and her diaries laid out on the mattress.

"Lou, what are you doing with all this stuff?" He asked, picking up an old journal. "I mean, what's the point?"

Lou simply stared in front of her for a moment, and then spoke. "If you really think about it, what's the point to any of this? What are we still doing here?"

Peter exhaled. "You can't mean that."

"I think that…you, of all people, would understand that I do mean what I'm saying."

Peter quieted a moment, running his thumb along the spine of the notebook. "You're right. It's taking everything I've got not to just drive my car into the lake, and drown the pain away."

Lou inhaled sharply, as if on impact. "Don't."

"If you can barely handle listening to me talk about this, then how do you think I'm handling it? Or Mitch? Or even Georgie—please tell me you haven't said anything to her."

Lou was quiet for a moment, and she seemed to be in her own thoughts, barely aware of what Peter was saying to her. "You know, a few days before the accident…I remember I was tucking her in for the night, and Katie mentioned how beautiful your laugh was."

Peter looked up, his eyes widening in surprise. "She did?"

Lou nodded. "Katie told me that she thought you had the most beautiful laugh out of everyone we knew, that she was looking forward to hearing it the next time you came to visit."

Peter felt a stabbing pain go through his chest, and his lungs were suddenly screaming for air. He inhaled deeply, moving to sit closer to Lou.

Lou looked at Peter, whose head hung low. She moved a hand to gently cup his face. "You know, she spoke about you everyday. Without fail."

"It feels like she spent most of her young life waiting for her father to come home and visit…"

Lou moved back, looking at him. "That's not true. She was a happy kid…you know, with a bright smile, and a promising future…"

Peter inhaled deeply when he sensed Lou's change in tone.

"We're never going to see her grow up and get married, or have kids of her own," Lou said, the realization hitting her. "I mean, maybe this was all the time we were meant to have with her, you know? Just a few short years."

"Maybe."

"I wish I had known that, from the very beginning—" Lou's voice broke, and she brought a hand over her mouth to muffle the sobs.

A wave of desperation overcame Peter and he was finally compelled to look up. He leaned in to hug Lou, pressing a hand to her back.

"I keep waiting for her to come back, but she doesn't. And she won't. I don't know how I'm supposed to—"

Peter held on tighter. "I know, me too."

Katie stormed into Georgie's room and angrily sat across from her sister on the bed.

"Oh no, what happened this time?" Georgie asked, knowing full well that Katie must have had a fight with Lou.

Katie groaned. "It's just that there's this dress that I wanted, like really wanted. And Mom just said no!"

Georgie laughed. "Oh."

"This isn't funny, okay?! I mean, you always seem to get whatever you ask for."

"Please, that's only because I don't ask for ridiculous things like you do."

"Ridiculous? It was just a dress! Honestly, sometimes it feels like Mom loves you more than she loves me."

Georgie raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious? You're the one she gave birth to, remember? I'm the adopted one."

"Oh my God, would you just let me complain for a second without throwing that in my face!?"

Georgie was taken aback. "Calm down. I was just pointing out the truth."

"No, you were throwing it in my face. Honestly, what is your problem? Did you not realize how much it pissed me off the last time?"

Georgie looked at her. "Is that why you didn't talk to me for a week?"

Katie breathed in deeply, trying to keep herself composed. "I can't believe how clueless you are sometimes."

Georgie exhaled, perplexed. "Okay, I'm sorry. I didn't realize…"

"Yeah, well, you should be."

Georgie looked at her sister. "Hey. I love you."

Katie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, okay. If that's the case, then let's go into town and get that dress."

"Katie, come on. If Mom said no, then she probably has a reason for it. Just wait it out, I'm sure she'll get you something better."

"How are you so sure?"

Georgie shrugged a shoulder. "I just know Mom. She always wants the best of the best for both me and you. Don't doubt her."

Katie groaned. "I hate it when you sound all reasonable! I just want the stupid dress."

Georgie laughed. "Okay, fine. If it means that much to you, I'll go talk to Mom."

Katie's eyes twinkled. "Now?"

"Yes, now," Georgie sighed, getting up. She put on her slippers and then headed down the stairs and made her way into the living room.

And there was Lou, seated on the sofa. She had her laptop open and she was scrolling through the site. Georgie came and sat down beside her. "Hey, what are you doing?"

Lou glanced over at her, the muscles in her face were tense. She sighed, "Katie really wants this dress, and she…"

"Yeah, she told me," Georgie said mindlessly as she gazed at the computer screen.

"Her and I just had this huge fight—"

Georgie laughed a little. "Okay, first of all, that's just Katie. She's a kid, she wants to get her way. And second, I think what just happened was probably a small-scale fight. Don't take what she said to heart."

Lou smiled a little, shaking her head. "I guess so…"

"Is that the dress?" Georgie nodded to the one Lou had her cursor over.

"Yup. And I mean, it's not a bad dress, it's just that there's this new collection that's supposed to be released in a few days, and I don't want her to miss out on it."

Georgie nodded. There it was, the real reason Lou had said no. "Did you tell her that?"

"I didn't get a chance to. She stormed off before I could even get a word in."

"Okay, why don't you put this away for now, and you two can sort this out over dinner, or something."

"It's going to be a little difficult to get her to change her mind. You know how stubborn she is."

"Well, why don't we go out for dinner? That way, you two can sort this out under low pressure, and we can make a thing of it as well. We haven't really been outside together in a while."

Once Lou had closed the laptop and set it on the table in front of her, she turned to Georgie. "That's a great idea, actually. When do you want to head out?"

Georgie turned to look at the clock in the kitchen. It was nearing five p.m. "Let's go now, I guess. The drive into the city might take a while."

"Okay."

"I'll go tell Katie to get ready. We'll be out in a few."

"What if she says no?" Lou asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

"She won't, trust me," Georgie said, planting a kiss to Lou's temple before heading back up the stairs.

At the restaurant, the three of them were seated in a booth. Katie was seated on the inside, with Georgie beside her, and Lou sat across from them. They had just gotten their menus, and were deciding what to order.

Lou put her menu down, and glanced at Katie. Her daughter was slouched in her seat, blocking her face with the menu in her hand. "Honey, what are you thinking of getting?"

When Katie didn't answer for a few seconds, Georgie nudged her. "She's asking you."

"Oh," Katie said, straightening in her seat. "Um, I don't know. You always seem to know what's best for me, so why don't you just order?"

Georgie dropped her menu onto the table surface in front of her, perplexed. "Katie. What did I say to you before we got here?"

Katie's eyes darted toward her sister, and then she looked to Lou. Her mom had a hand to her lips, she seemed to be on the verge of breaking. Startled, Katie reached forward across the table and put a hand over Lou's. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry."

Lou inhaled deeply, bringing her hand down to rest on the table. She was blinking, trying to get rid of the tears in her eyes.

"Look, I actually don't know what to get. Just order for me, please," Katie spoke in a gentle tone.

"Yeah. For me as well," Georgie added as she closed her menu. "None of this makes any sense to me either," she said to Lou, hoping to make her feel better.

"Alright, I'll just get us all the same thing, then," Lou said, wiping her eyes. She smiled a little.

Georgie smiled, relieved. "Sounds good," she said, reaching into her pocket. Her phone had begun to ring. Taking it out of her pocket, she excused herself. "It's Quinn. I'll just be a minute."

When Georgie was out of earshot, Katie looked toward Lou. "Mommy."

Lou looked at her. "Yeah, honey?"

Katie sighed. "I don't want the stupid dress, okay? I'm really sorry for today. It's just that I saw it, and my friends were talking about it the other day, and…I just got caught up. But I don't want it, and I definitely don't need it."

"I can still get it for you. But I just wanted to wait a little, you know, until the new lineup was released. I didn't want you to miss out on that. We can wait it out for a couple of days, and once they're released, we can even go into town—"

Katie shook her head. "No. I don't want anything. Not this one, and not the ones that are coming."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I am. And I'm sorry, too."

Lou shook her head. "It's alright, you don't have to—"

"No, I do…Georgie even said that you were just looking out for me, but I was so quick to get mad. I'm sorry for what I said, both just now and back at the house."

Lou smiled, a weight lifting off her chest. "You do know how much I love you, right?"

Katie nodded wordlessly. After a moment, she stood and sat down beside Lou. She wrapped her arms around her mom and leaned in for a hug.

Lou returned the gesture and kissed Katie's hair. "I love you, baby. So much."

"I love you, too."

Georgie was standing near the exit as she spoke to Quinn on the phone. When she turned, she met her mother's gaze from across the room. When she took in the scene of Katie cuddled up in Lou's arms, her heart began to gush.

Lou mouthed a thank you to Georgie, who simply gestured a kiss back to her mother.

When they arrived home, Katie ran off into the barn to see her horse, so it was just Lou and Georgie in the house.

"That went way better than I expected," Georgie began, taking her coat off.

"Yeah, it did…"

"Are you okay? I mean, I know she came off a little harsh in the beginning, but—"

Lou waved her worry away. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. I wanted to thank you, though. You're really good with her, and she listens to you."

"I don't know about that. We have our fair share of name-calling and hair-pulling."

Lou looked at Georgie, her eyes widening in surprise.

Georgie put a hand up. "I'm kidding, I promise."

A smile made its way onto Lou's face, and she laughed. "The two of you really know how to keep me on my toes."

Georgie walked over to Lou, embracing her. "I was kidding, don't worry."

Lou hugged her back, and sighed. "Thank you, you're the best. I don't know that I could've had a better daughter than you."

"Eh, I'm alright," Georgie mumbled, hugging Lou tighter. After a moment, she moved back and placed a hand to Lou's cheek. "You're okay, right? You've been a little out of sorts today."

"No, honey, you're imagining it."

"Is everything okay with you and Mitch? I haven't seen him all day."

Lou shook her head. "No, really, I'm good. You made me feel so much better today, I really don't know what I'd do without you. The both of you."

Georgie bit down on her lip to try to keep it from quivering. She nodded. "Okay, I'm going to choose to believe you."

Lou smiled. "Good."

When Mitch returned home later that night, Lou was the first to greet him. "Hey, there you are. I was about to call you."

Mitch silently took off his coat and hung it up on the rack. He stepped into the kitchen and wordlessly brought Lou into an embrace. He leaned into her, breathing her in. "I missed you today," he said after a few moments.

"Are you okay? You seem so worn down," said Lou, bringing a hand to his face as she moved away from the hug.

Mitch sighed. "Garland."

It was a simple answer, but Lou understood. "I thought you would've left hours ago. It's so late now," she said, looking at the clock. It was almost nine.

"If the meeting had ended then, I would've been home right away."

Lou nodded, sighing in relief. "I thought you were purposefully avoiding me."

"Now why would you say something like that?"

"After what the doctor told us, I thought that—"

"No. No, that's not what today was about. But I admit, I did have some time to think about it."

"Mitch, I feel as if I've let you down. The fact that I can't give this one thing to you—"

"No, listen to me. You haven't let me down, okay? You could never. And you've given me everything I've ever wanted. I have a beautiful wife, two wonderful daughters…you can't even begin to imagine how lucky I am to be here, to be yours."

Lou's eyes filled with tears. "So, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that…instead of pining over what could have been, what we could have had…let's just be thankful that we're all together, that we're all happy and healthy. We have everything we're ever going to need."

"But Mitch, you always spoke about—"

"I know. But we have Georgie and Katie. I consider them my daughters, you know that. We have everything we'll ever need to be happy."

Lou nodded, trying her best not to begin to cry again. "I know you're trying to be positive, but I just feel like you'll end up hating me."

Mitch exhaled heavily. "I could never hate you. I love you too much for that."

Lou was silent.

"I'm such an idiot, I should've called to let you know that I would be late. I didn't even think…"

Lou shook her head. "It's fine, I'm fine."

"Are you sure about that?" Mitch asked her, placing a hand to her cheek. "Your eyes tell a different story."

"Mitch! There you are, finally," Georgie exclaimed as she entered the kitchen. When she came over to hug her stepfather, she said, "I'm sorry, I didn't hear your truck come in. I would've been down sooner."

Mitch smiled brightly. "Oh, no worries. Your mom and I were just catching up."

Georgie moved back and looked at the two of them. She was trying to read them, to see if things really were okay with them.

Katie suddenly bolted into the room as well. "Mitch!" She screamed in delight, happy to see him home. She grabbed his hand and walked over to the living room.

"What's goin' on?" Mitch asked.

"You promised we would have a family game night."

"Oh, that's right…I did," Mitch said, remembering. He turned to look at Lou, raising both his eyebrows. "Well?"

"I'll go make some coffee," Lou said, smiling.

Georgie turned at the sound of her mother's voice. It didn't hold the same burden and heaviness it did before. "I'll help."

Jade had been waiting patiently for Georgie when she finally climbed into her friend's truck.

"Hey, sorry about that. I couldn't find my debit card for some reason, so I was just rummaging around."

"It's not a problem, but is everything alright? What's the deal with Edmonton?"

"Yeah, it is. There's this dress that Mom was looking at for Katie…it was meant for her birthday," Georgie said, moving to buckle her seatbelt. "And it was sold out online, and so I called the shop that designs it. They said they were sold out at the Calgary location as well, so I got them to place a hold on the dress in Edmonton."

"Okay…" Jade said thoughtfully. "Sounds good."

"And I didn't want to wait until next week for it to arrive. I don't even think there's time to wait that long, to be honest. I need to go get it now."

"Yeah, that's perfectly fine."

"I know it's a bit of a long drive, are you okay with that?"

"It's totally fine. Really." Jade smiled, moving to buckle her seatbelt as well. "Do you have an address for the store?"

"Yeah, I do. I'll set up the GPS."

"Great, let's go."

As they drove into Hudson, Georgie finally seemed to relax and lean her head back on the head rest.

"So? How is everything?" Jade asked.

Georgie nodded. "Yeah, everything's alright. At least, I think it will be from now on."

Jade turned to look at Georgie a second. "Oh, yeah? How's that?"

Georgie inhaled a little. "My mom heard what I said that night at the hospital. I mean, I don't know how much of it she heard, but enough…it's the reason she's in there now."

"Wait, what did you say to her?"

"Well, nothing. At least not to Lou. It was whatever I said to you when my parents were out in the hall."

Jade exhaled. "Oh, no. It kind of makes sense now."

"What?"

"Well, once you'd gone to sleep that night, your mom—"

"What? What'd she say?" Georgie was suddenly on edge.

"She said you'd been acting different, like you were afraid of looking her in the eye."

"Oh."

"I promised her I would talk to you, and I didn't."

"Why didn't you?"

"Part of the reason I stayed with you those first few nights was because I wanted to keep an eye on you. And you seemed to be getting better, even. So I didn't want to say anything that would mess that up."

"Yeah, I should've known not to say something that stupid…" Georgie trailed off, getting lost in thought. "Anyways, um…can we talk about something else?"

"Well…" Jade thought a moment. "I don't really know what else to talk about."

"Come on, what's new with you?" Georgie asked her friend. She desperately needed something else to think about, to have something to distract her from her consuming thoughts.

"Nothing much, to be honest with you. I mean, I've been done with school for a while now, and all I do is go around from rodeo to rodeo, winning buckles, losing some…"

Georgie looked at Jade a moment. "Why do you sound so down? You love the rodeo."

It took Jade a moment to register what Georgie had said. "Oh, yeah, I do. It's just that…it's become this routine, you know? And on top of that, I don't really have anyone to share my time with. I feel alone sometimes."

"Then maybe rodeo's not the problem. Your heart is looking for someone, that's all."

Jade laughed a little. "Yeah, but this isn't me. I have never needed, or wanted a guy. It's just not me."

Georgie paused a moment. "What happened with Trace? Did you guys lose touch?"

"Oh no, we're in touch. Yeah, he texts me everyday. The days we don't talk, I just feel like something is missing from my life."

Georgie's eyebrows rode up. "Oh?"

"No, it's not like that—"

"Then what's it like? Explain it to me."

Jade shook her head. "I don't know, Georgie. We haven't actually spoken face-to-face in so long. We're supposed to meet next week when he gets back from south of the border, so I guess I'll know more then." Jade laughed a little. "So?"

"So…?"

"Have you spoken to McGregor?"

Georgie's face fell. "No. I haven't even told him about Katie…"

"Oh, well…what's taking him so long to get back home to you?"

"His dad is sick, well, and he's stayed back to help take care of him."

"Oh, no…I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, and the whole reason I haven't told him anything is I'm afraid he'll drop everything and rush over here."

"I get that, but…you could do well with him being around."

Georgie nodded. "I do miss him. He left so unexpectedly, too. He called from the airport, saying he was headed back home, that his mom had called him in a panic. I even rushed my car to the stupid airport to try and see him one last time, but by the time I got there, his plane had taken off."

Jade sighed. "I'm sure he'll come back soon."

"I hope so," said Georgie, quieting.

A couple of minutes later, Georgie sat up in her seat. "Hey, could you make a turn here?"

Jade turned to look at Georgie as the car slowed. "Here…?" Jade asked hesitantly as she proceeded to make a turn.

"Yeah," Georgie answered quietly.

"What's here?"

"This is where the crash happened," Georgie said in a low voice.

"Oh my God, Georgie…"

"It hasn't even been that long since that day…and yet there's no sign that somebody even died here…they left behind nothing…"

Jade was deathly quiet. She was fighting a battle of her own, trying desperately to not start crying. The tears were stinging, threatening to fall.

"I miss her so much, I don't know how many more days I'll survive."

Jade clicked her tongue. "Georgie, come on. You're going to be just fine, okay?"

Georgie sighed.

The two of them didn't speak for a few moments, but then Jade began. "If you don't mind me asking…how did it happen?"

Georgie inhaled sharply, almost involuntarily. "I was about to make a turn here, right onto this road, and the other car drove into ours…they weren't even supposed to be on this side, their lane was to the left…"

Jade didn't say anything.

"I know. The way that it happened…it sounds almost underwhelming. It was over as soon as it had started. But the impact of the crash…it was too much for her to handle."

"There was nothing you could have done, Georgie."

"Except that she was in the passenger seat that day. When she shouldn't have been. When she climbed in, I should've told her no. My mom would never have allowed it…"

"Georgie, I mean, even if she'd been in the back…"

"I'm sure it would've made a difference."

Jade nodded. "It may have. But Georgie, it may not have. You can't obsess over this, it's going to completely mess you up. How are you going to complete the semester?"

"I already dropped all of my classes, so…"

"Oh. Okay, well…have you told anyone about this yet?"

"No. I'll tell them when the time is right."

"Alright."

"I just know I wouldn't have been able to write those exams…"

"Georgie, I get it. You don't need to explain yourself to me."

A slight smile appeared on Georgie's face. "Thanks."

Jade smiled back. "So? Do you need a minute or should we get going?"

Georgie looked out the window, taking in the scene that constantly showed up in her nightmares, everyday, without fail. "Let's just get out of here."

A/N: Thoughts? xx