Hold Her Heart (Words of the Heart) by Holly Jacobs

rushed into the room. He took one look at Piper and simply picked up the phone and called the doctor.
    “We’re going to meet him at the hospital,” he said when he’d hung up.
    “I don’t want—”
    I took Piper’s hand and squeezed it. “We’ll have time. Go see the doctor.”
    Then an idea occurred to me. “Why don’t I take Fiona? I mean, I understand if you’d prefer she go with someone else. You hardly know me.”
    “She’s your sister,” Piper said. In her expression I could see how formidable she must have been before she got sick. “Of course you can take her for the day.”
    I wanted to argue against this basic trust she put in me. I knew I was trustworthy, but how could she?
    “I checked you out, remember?” Ned said, answering my unasked question.
    I nodded. “She mentioned wanting to see some birds on the peninsula. I thought we’d make a day of it.”
    “Thank you. I wish I could be there,” Piper said. “I want—”
    “We’ll have days,” I promised her again. “Many days. A lifetime of days,” I said, willing it to be true.
    She nodded, accepting my words as truth, even though neither of us could know if they were.
    “I love you,” she said, as Ned led her from the kitchen.

Chapter Four
    Susan walked down the beach, leaving the lifeguards and swimmers behind her. Slowly the sand gave way to rocky sand and finally to just rocks. And the sounds of radios and children screaming gave way to the sounds of the waves and an occasional seagull.
    She turned the bend, sat on a giant boulder, and stared out at the lake, her feet resting on a huge piece of driftwood.
    THE GREAT LAKE. She thought the words in all caps because from where she sat, Lake Erie felt as big as an ocean. And because it seemed so big, she felt dwarfed by it. Small. And suddenly so did all her problems.
    They felt smaller and more manageable.
    All she had to do was sit here, alone at the water’s edge, and watch the waves and the seagulls. She didn’t have to worry about—
    “Hi, Susan.”
    She turned, and he smiled at her as he sat down next to her. So much for not worrying.
    —Susan’s Summer , by Pip
     
    We saw Ned and Piper out to the car, and then Fiona and I cleaned up the breakfast dishes. Her optimism seemed to deflate as her mother left.
    “It’s happened before. Lots of times,” she said. “She gets sick so easy. But she always gets better.”
    I could almost hear her think until one day when she won’t . I could almost hear it because I felt the same way.
    I went next door and Logan was up. “I wondered where you went to,” he said with a smile that slipped as he studied me. “What happened?”
    “Piper’s sick. Ned’s taking her to the hospital to meet the doctor, so I’m taking Fiona to the peninsula for the day. Want to come?”
    I glossed over Piper being sick because I didn’t want Logan to worry. He hadn’t seen her, but I had. And I was worried enough for the both of us.
    He gave me a look. An intense sort of look.
    It was as if he could see what I was thinking. It was as if he could see the whirling emotions that I couldn’t seem to slow or even begin to sort out. But he looked as if he could. So he didn’t press and ask me more about Piper. He simply said, “My shift doesn’t start until seven tonight, so sure, if you don’t mind me intruding.”
    “You wouldn’t be. Fiona seems happy to get to know me, but still, I’m a stranger. I think she’ll be more comfortable having someone familiar along.”
    Logan snorted. “Fiona has never met a stranger, and even if she had, you wouldn’t be one. You’ve been part of her life for as long as she can remember. Not just the birthday parties. I babysat for her sometimes, and she says her prayers every night. You’re always in them. It sounds like a simple thing but it’s not. Every night, she thought about you and hoped you were happy. That’s pretty powerful. So, no, you’re not a stranger to Fiona. But, yes, I’d love