Page 82 of Cherry Tree Ranch

Mom wakes up and turns on her lamp. “Dahlia?”

I pace alongside the bed, trying to convince myself not to be so angry. I can’t control it. I kick the bedframe and stub my toe.

Emery finally wakes up. “What’s going on?”

Cash appears at the door and steps towards me, but Mom holds up her hand, telling him to give me space.

I look at the ceiling, my face hot with anger, tears pooling in my eyes. “Let me catch you up, Emery. There was supposed to be a little party with a few friends, which turned into a giant mess – because there was this little thing called a fire that killed all my cherry trees. And now Blue’s gone!”

“What?”

I collapse to the floor and bury my face in my arms, sobbing and screaming.

Emery meets me on the floor and runs her hand down my hair. “You can plant new trees,” she says. “I’ll help you. And I promise, as soon as the sun is up, we’ll find Blue, OK?”

It takes me a second to process her comment. I stop. She’s got to be joking. Silence fills the room.

“Are you kidding me?” My whole world turns crimson. “I can’t just plant new trees.”

“I … didn’t mean anything by it.” She sits back. “Dahlia, this isn’t the end.”

Fury reddens my gaze. Emery’s eyes widen. All I feel is anger. All I hear is my heart pounding in my ears.

I go to push her, but Cash’s arms are round me first. He scoops me off the floor and holds me tightly. I’d fight him if I had any more strength.

“Dahlia?” He says my name like it pains him to see me this way. “Can you talk to me?”

I gasp out a choking sob and point out the window with my bandaged hand. It’s not yet dawn, but the sky isn’t black any more. I try to get words out through my heaving chest. I push my face into Cash’s shoulder.

“Blue … I can’t find him.” Cash pulls my sticky hair away from my face with both his hands. I’ve soaked his shoulder with tears. “I went to check on him.” I shake my head. “I put on a headlamp and whistled.” My chest jerks with stilted breaths. “But he’s not out there. The trees are gone and so is Blue.”

Cash kisses my forehead. “I’ll help you look for him. Maybe he’s in the back corner and you couldn’t see him in the dark.”

“I don’t think so,” I sniffle. “Cash, what if the bees are gone too?”

Before we leave to look for Blue, Cash checks on the bees, and I hang back by the cottonwoods along the edge of the pond, trying to focus on one breath at a time.

He comes back and tells me they’re doing great. Only one hive, the one closest to the orchard, has bees huddled up inside. The smoke calms their alarm pheromones, and Cash said they looked a little sleepy.

As he tells me this, a jeep comes up the road, driving faster than anyone should on our dirt road. There’s an Uber sticker on the windshield, and Dad gets out on the passenger side. He walks straight towards us, clenching a bundle of papers.

“Dad?”

“Here.” He holds out the papers, which I take. At the top is written, Listing Agreement. “I have things in order for you to sell this place. I’m going to help get you out of this mess, ASAP.”

Cash crosses his arms, his fists clenched.

I’m in a mess for sure, but I’m not going to admit that to Dad. “What are you talking about?”

He glares at Cash. “I’d like to speak about this in private, son.”

I frown. “There’s nothing we need to talk about, especially in private,” I tell Dad, handing back the papers.

He looks at me. “Dahlia, I know about the debt.”

I stare, feeling even angrier than ever. “I see. Emery told you.”

My sister, who I will always love but do not always like, did it again. She promised me she wouldn’t tell Dad about the debt. She even “crossed her heart”.