“She’s lucky to have you.” She wiped the wrist that wasn’t in a cast across her running nose. “I’m sorry I’m being like this after everything you’ve done.”

“It’s okay.” He looked at the house. “Is there anyone here you know?”

“A friend. She and I roomed together for three years at Cornell.”

“Maybe she can help? She must know you use her address.”

“Yes.”

“Why? Why do you do that when you’ve never been here?”

She didn’t answer.

“Why didn’t you report the assault as soon as it happened? Why did you nearly die in a motel room rather than get help? I don’t understand any of this.”

“Neither do I.”

She truly didn’t. She’d felt like one of her paper notes in the river ever since she’d found out she was pregnant with twins. She’d let the current take her wherever it threw her.

“I don’t feel good.” She walked to the grass and sank down.

Keith crouched and put his hand on her forehead. “Your fever is spiking.”

The front door of the house opened, and a young man stepped onto the small cement porch. “Do you guys need help?” he asked. He must have been watching them from the window.

“Is Dani here?” Ellis asked.

“Yeah. Who should I say is asking?”

“Ellis.”

The man disappeared. Seconds later, Dani burst through the door, apparently straight from bed. She was barefoot, wearing loose shorts and a T-shirt, and her shoulder-length black hair was tousled.

“Ellis! What happened to you? Oh my god!”

Ellis stood with Keith’s help.

“I ran into a little trouble,” Ellis said.

“A little! Can I hug you? I don’t want to hurt you.”

Ellis opened her arms.

Dani held her softly. She smelled of things Ellis had forgotten. Floral shampoo, Dove soap, laundry detergent, food cooked over a stove.

“I’ve been so worried about you,” Dani said into her ear. “That day you called . . . it scared me. And then Jonah called . . .”

Ellis pushed out of her embrace. “When did he call?”

Dani glanced at Keith. “Last July.”

“What did he say?”

“He wanted to know if I knew where you were. I told him I didn’t.”

Dani was eyeing Keith, clearly wanting to know who he was.

“Dani, this is Keith Gephardt,” Ellis said. “Keith, this is Danielle Yoon.”

“Just Dani,” she said, holding out her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Dani glanced at Ellis, waiting for more explanation.

“Keith was nice enough to drive me here,” Ellis said.

Ellis detected a bit of amusement in Keith’s eyes.

“He’s a friend,” Ellis said. “And now we have to figure out how he’s getting back to Ohio.”

“I’ll drive a rental back,” he said. “I’ll take a cab to the nearest rental place.”

“I can take you,” Dani said.

“That’s not necessary,” he said.

“Maybe not,” she said, “but Sunday is laundry and cleaning day, and I’m the roommate who will make any excuse to get out of it.”

“You’ve been on the road all night,” Ellis said to him. “You need to rest first.”

“I do,” he admitted.

“We have a spare room you can use,” Dani said. “One of my roommates moved in with her boyfriend, but her bed is still here. I can put on clean sheets.”

“Give the bed to Ellis,” he said. “If you have a couch I can sleep on for a few hours, that will be fine.”

“Good. Now I have a reason not to vacuum the living room,” Dani said. “Are you guys hungry?”

Ellis shook her head, and Keith’s silence probably meant he was.

“Do you eat bacon and eggs?” she asked him.

“I do. But I don’t want to be a bother.”

“You can bother as much as you want. You brought Ellis.” She wrapped her arm around Ellis’s shoulders and kissed her cheek. “Come inside. Ellis can put a clothespin on her nose while I cook the bacon.”

Keith asked for a bathroom, and Dani sent him to the nearest, warning, “I take no responsibility for the state of this bathroom. It’s Brad’s.”

Brad walked out of the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal. “He doesn’t care, Dani. He’s a dude.” He held out his hand to Keith and introduced himself. He tried not to stare at Ellis’s bruised face when he shook her hand.

“You should see the other guy,” Ellis said.

“I hope you deep-sixed him,” Brad said.

Keith cast a shrewd look at Ellis before he entered the bathroom.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Ellis asked Dani.

Dani took her to her bedroom and closed the door. “Did a man really do that to you?”

“The official story is I don’t remember,” Ellis said.

“What are you talking about?”

“Nothing.” Ellis lowered her voice. “Do me a favor. Don’t say anything else about my family in front of Keith.”