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hadn’t bothered to save their mother when the accident happened. He certainly wasn’t going to resurrect her now.

T HE SKY HAD CLEARED to a deep, cobalt blue, and the air was getting warmer. Kara peeled off her jacket. Dad had already hauled the luggage up the hill in the small trailer attached to the tractor .
    She tied the jacket around her waist and followed.
    The main lodge was actually smaller than their ranch house in Lariat. She climbed the five steps to the wooden deck and ran her hand across the smoothly varnished log railing. They had restored the wood last summer, sealing it against the rain and snow. From what she could see, their hard work had paid off.
    The screen door squeaked as she pushed it open and stepped into the entryway. Dad had told Greg not to oil it. “It doesn’t hurt to know when someone’s coming or going.”
    A musty smell of stale air and wood smoke made her sneeze. She stood still, allowing her eyes to adjust to the dim interior. The first thing they needed to do was open all the windows. She could hear Dad around back, already taking down the heavy shutters.
    On her right was the recreation room. At the far end, a brown Naugahyde sofa and two padded wooden chairs clustered around a huge, rock fireplace. Books, puzzles, and games were stacked on the built-in shelves along one wall, and a pool table, covered with a plastic tarp, stood in the middle of the room.
    Straight in front of her the stairway climbed to what had once been a bunkhouse. They had cleaned it up and turned it into a kind of master suite. Mom and Dad were supposed to live up there. Now Dad said the large bedroom and sitting room would be fine for the new cook, a woman named Anne.
    â€œWhy should she get the biggest room?” Kara had asked. Dad had mumbled something about not needing it now, and the look on his face made her want to cry. She decided not to push it.
    Off the rec room, down a short hallway, were three small bedrooms and Dad’s tiny office. He called it his hole in the wall. After moving in a desk and chair, there was hardly room to turn around, but he’d managed to squeeze in a small cot. The bedroom he was supposed to share with Ryan was right next door, but Kara doubted if he’d use it much.
    When Greg stayed over, he’d share Colin’s space across from Dad. Kara had chosen the small room at the end of the hall.
    Instead of going to inspect her bedroom, Kara turned left into the dining area and wound her way around the oilcloth-covered tables to the kitchen.
    She stopped in the doorway and almost doubled over with the pain of memory. The floor was littered with newspaper, and half-empty packing cartons cluttered the counters. Open cupboard doors, scattered dishes, pots and pans—it all remained exactly as they’d left it when Sheriff Lassen brought the news. “I’m sorry, but she’s gone. There was nothing we could do.”
    Don’t think about it! Kara spun around and headed back to the deck. Their lunch was in one of the backpacks. “I’lldeal with the kitchen later,” she promised herself. Right now Dad and Ryan were probably starved.
    She set out the lunch things at the picnic table. Bologna sandwiches, apples, carrot sticks, and individual cartons of juice. Cooking wouldn’t take much imagination for the next couple of days. They still had to bring in supplies.
    â€œLook, Dad. Awesome!” Ryan pointed to a herd of at least fifty elk grazing in a meadow across the river.
    â€œAwesome is right. Let’s hope they hang around ’til fall.”
    Kara winced. Dad and Greg had talked about guiding hunting trips from Eagle Lodge this fall instead of out of Lariat like they usually did. That meant Dad would be away for weeks at a time.
    She knew the trips added to the family income. But she hated running the ranch house alone. Especially on top of school. And taking care of Ryan.
    She decided to change the subject.