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mate, and then trying to pass her off as Galadriel by chopping off her ring and pinkie fingers, set my teeth on edge. I’d made a promise, and I intended on keeping it.
    “In the meantime,” Dad continued, “we’ve got our work cut out for us. And I could use a break from the politics in Natatoria, I bet you could, too.”
    I nodded. How people could be happy one minute with a decision, to turn around and be upset was beyond me.
    Dad’s bushy beard lifted with a smile. “Great. I could use all the help I can get.”
    “Of course,” I said with a smile. “I’ll be here… uhhh, I mean, in the afternoons, I can.”
    Dad’s eyes narrowed. “Ash already have you on wedding errands?”
    “No. It’s even better than that.” I laughed and shook my head. “I’m going to attend high school.”
    Dad deadpanned. “What?”
    “It’s only for four weeks until she graduates. She just wants things to transition smoother than they have with her parents, and a high school diploma won’t hurt when asking her dad for her hand.”
    “I see.” Dad’s head bobbed up and down. “You’re a good mate, you know that?”
    “I know.”
    “And humble.”
    “The humblest.”
    Dad chuckled and then lifted his chin to Badger, who paced around the back side of the property. He raised his hand to acknowledge me but kept shaking his head at the mess. How we’d clean this up and rebuild seemed daunting.
    Dad let out a long exhale. “Well, I need to get over to the office. Hopefully, my basswipe of a brother didn’t wreck the work truck. I know of a houseboat for sale at the pier, and we’ll park it at the dock for appearances sake, and then order the lumber.”
    Come to think of it, I’d need clothes for school, and if I had my Jeep, I’d pick up Ash and we’d go shopping.
    But most importantly, I’d prove to Ash I could fix this without always resorting to the song. I’d show her I could fix everything.

FIVE – ASH – May 15 – 4:35 p.m.
    Pushing another stuffed animal into the garbage bag from the shrine outside my parents’ house, I deleted yet another voice message from Georgia. I couldn’t believe she’d actually filled my voicemail; I wanted to scream.
    “Ugh,” I cried out as I spilled hot wax from a recently lit candle on my arm. Why did people light candles for me?
    A guy next to a work truck labeled Sierra Cable eyed me suspiciously, giving me the creeps. I cinched up the bag and walked over to the alcove next to the garage to toss everything away in the garbage, then stayed hidden while I dialed Georgia’s number.
    “This better be you,” Georgia said, voice quivering.
    “It is me.”
    “Holy mother of Jehoshaphat!” The phone jostled as if she’d dropped it.
    “Georgia?” I asked.
    “Where have you been?”
    I held the phone out from my ear, prepared for her piercing outcry, my left eye squinting. “On a mission trip.”
    “To Africa? Try again.”
    “No… Arivca.”
    Silence.
    “Georgia?”
    “You’ve been in a town called Arivca? I could have sworn — even your parents said Africa!”
    “I know,” I said softly.
    “You disappeared!”
    “Not really… there just wasn’t any cell service, or Internet, or TV. That’s the point of a mission… total O.T.G.”
    “O.T.G. What the heck does that mean?”
    “Off the grid.”
    “You’ve got to be freaking kidding me! Ashlyn!” she seethed. “You were totally the talk of the town. Talk of the nation.”
    I let out a long sigh, questioning why I was doing all of this. Talk of the nation was quite an exaggeration. Maybe I should have let Fin sing to her like he’d wanted.
    “Off the grid. It’s all part of the experience.”
    “What’s it called?”
    I crinkled my brow and walked out from the garbage can alcove, watching for the weird guy. He wasn’t by his truck any longer. “What’s what called?”
    “The place off the grid?”
    I swallowed, then pinched my eyes shut. “Why do you care?”
    “‘Cause I don’t believe