Summer was drawing to a close. There was less than a week left until school started up again.

Maddie groaned. Just the mere thought of school made her stomach turn. She knew that in school, she would have to see Trevor on a daily basis.

She hadn’t seen Trevor since the beginning of summer vacation. Not since that day in the park with Isaac.

Isaac. A part of Maddie ached. She missed the Hansons. Sure, she had received a few random postcards from the clan since they had left her home, but she still missed them. She actually missed them more than she missed her own parents. Go figure.

Maddie picked up the postcards from the Hansons and fingered through them, only half-listening to the video on VH1. Each of the cards had a similar message on them, and all of them ended in the same way: Love, Diana, Walker, Ike, Tay, Zac, Jessie, Avie, Mackie, and Zoë!

She looked up from the cards suddenly. What had that noise been? She strained her ears but heard nothing further. “Okay,” she muttered, “I’m losing my mind.”

A minute later, she heard another noise. Again, she listened for another one to follow, and again, she heard nothing. Maddie decided to investigate. She stood up from the couch and made her way into the kitchen. Once there, she poked her head through the doorway that led into the living room-dining room and looked around.

She grinned, realizing how stupid she must look. With a giggle, she began humming the “Mission: Impossible” theme. After a moment, she sighed. She was about to turn and go back to the back room when she noticed something.

The front doorknob was twisting.

Maddie’s heart pounded. Was it Trevor? No, it couldn’t be. The spare key wasn’t outside anymore. Maddie didn’t even have a spare key anymore . . .

Diana had it.

The front door pushed open. “Maddie!”

Jessica Hanson ran into the house. Maddie smiled broadly and met her halfway across the living room. She picked the younger blond girl up and spun her around in a circle.

“Surprise!” Jessie cried.

Maddie smiled. “You’ve got that right!” she said. “Where’s everybody else?”

“Mom and Dad are still at home. Zoë and Mack and Avie are sick,” she explained. “And Ike and Tay and Zac were behind me a minute ago . . .”

As she said it, her three older brothers walked into the house. Maddie put Jessica back on the ground and held her arms out to the guys.

Zac hugged her first. He had grown since the beginning of the summer. “Hey, Maddie,” he said. “Did you get the postcards?”

She smiled. “Yep. I was actually just looking at them a second ago.”

“That’s good,” he said.

Next, Tay came up and hugged her. “How are my cultures going?” he asked.

“I’m sorry, Tay, but I had to get rid of them. They all started having meetings the bathroom to discuss world domination,” she said seriously.

Taylor laughed. “It’s good to see you, too.”

“I’m thirsty,” Jessie announced.

Taylor stepped away from Maddie and nodded. “Me too,” he agreed.

“That makes three of us,” Zac said. “Maddie, do you still have the Pepsi in the basement?” he asked.

“Sure do,” Maddie told him. “Help yourselves.”

The three of them nodded and started for the basement stairs. Isaac, who had been hanging back by the front door, finally walked up to Maddie.

“Told you,” he said.

Maddie looked at him. “Told me what?” she asked.

Isaac took another step toward her. “That I’d keep in touch.” He looked at her and gave a small smile. “So, how goes the healing of the mind?”

She shrugged. “It’s progressive,” she told him. “And seeing you guys is speeding it up drastically.” She took in a deep breath. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too,” he said.

Isaac reached forward and touched Maddie’s fingertips. Instantly, their fingers were interlocked.

“Have Jessie’s nightmares stopped?” she asked.

He nodded. “She had the last one before leaving here. She’s fine now,” he informed her. “She sleeps with that dog you gave her every night.”

Maddie smiled. “The picture she gave me is in a frame on my wall.” She looked into Isaac’s eyes and added, “Right next to a poem I found on the vanity in the guest room. You wouldn’t happen to know who wrote it, would you?”

Isaac shrugged. “I don’t know. How does it go?”

She smiled. “Always running somewhere,” she began.

“Doesn’t mean that I don’t care,” Isaac said, quoting the next line.

Maddie squeezed his fingers. “And as far away as I may seem,” she whispered.

“I’ll always be there when you dream,” she and Isaac finished in unison.