found in her life to that point. And if her family didn’t quite understand, that had to be okay. Just like they might not understand how monumental it felt to finally be on the verge of something most people her age managed years before, having a place of her own, however small and humble. In a family the size and intensity of the MacKeages, solitude always seemed both impossible and undesirable. But these days, for so many reasons, a new wind was blowing in Katy’s life. It was time to find her own spot in the world.
And then came the news story four months ago about a rescue squad being formed in a small mountain town a hundred crooked miles to the north. Once again, she’d quietly left home, then called her parents from Colorado to tell them she was taking a wilderness rescue course for her new job on Spellbound Falls Fire & Rescue. It was also why she’d waited until there had been two thousand miles between them before mentioning she’d even applied for the position, much less gotten it.
But good grief, this was the twenty-first century, not the twelfth. If she’d been born in her father’s original time, she’d be considered a hopeless spinster at twenty-eight—assuming she hadn’t been married off at fifteen and already anticipating the arrival of her first grandchild.
No, she definitely would have been a spinster, likely shunned for her . . . gift.
How in heck had her mother not gone insane?
The major reason Katy had decided to become a paramedic was to help her understand what she was seeing whenever she inexplicably found herself rooting around inside someone else’s body in her mind’s eye. Unfortunately, every anatomy class in the world wouldn’t help her make sense of the pulsing colors and conflicting emotions that assaulted her every time she went hurtling through bone and cartilage and various organs.
Well, except for three weeks ago, when she sure as hell hadn’t had any trouble recognizing Brandon Fontanne’s loathing.
Darkness threatened to overtake her, and Katy shuddered. She pushed it back as best she could but didn’t feel confident she could keep it at bay.
“You don’t gotta be afraid,” a soft voice whispered. A small hand touched her arm, and Katy’s eyes snapped open. The young boy, Shiloh, sat looking up at her with shining, alert eyes. “That loud thump was just the landing gear going up inside the belly of the plane, so the wheels won’t drag in the wind and slow us down.”
Oh, good Lord, she’d forgotten where she was. “How old are you, Shiloh?” Katy asked. Talking had to be better than remembering.
His small shoulders went back. “I’m almost nine, and in September, I’ll be in the third grade.”
Nine? The kid barely looked seven. But then what did she know, having been born into a family of giants? Well, except for her mother, who topped out at five-foot-three.
“Mom named me after my grandfather, ’cause she said that, even though he was born too early just like I was, he still managed to grow up big and strong and live to be ninety-four.” Shiloh leaned over to glance up the aisle then looked back at her with a heavy sigh. “But I’m still waiting for the growing big part to kick in, ’cause even though I was the oldest kid in my class, people kept thinking I was too young to even be in school.”
Poor little guy.
“Well, you’ve definitely started the strong part of growing up,” she said, giving his forearm a quick squeeze. “And I predict you’re going to be six feet tall by the time you’re done growing. So, Shiloh . . .” She nodded at his catalog. “How many chickens are you planning to get?”
He stared at her for several heartbeats, his big brown eyes both hopeful and skeptical as he apparently tried to decide if he believed her about being six feet tall. Finally, he said, “I might only be able to get six pullets. But I’m really hoping to get four dozen so I can sell their eggs to the resort where we’re gonna live. Mom said she’s gotta ask the top boss lady if I can have any chickens, ’cause I don’t want to keep them penned up if I don’t have to.” He gave another glance up the aisle then shot her a grin. “And if Mom lets me go with her when she asks, I can tell the boss lady that she wouldn’t have to spray chemicals