Someone was tapping on her face. McKenna put her hands up to ward them off. They gently stroked her hair. She smiled, her eyes still closed. "I love you, Dane," she whispered.

"Kenna, honey, wake up."

Her eyes flew open. 

Her dad smiled. "There you are. And I love you, too, sweetheart."

"Dad?"

"What happened, Kenna?"

Oh, thank God. He misunderstood her, thought she said, 'I love you, Dad.'

McKenna struggled to sit up. She was lying on a picnic table, a folded blanket under her head. "I don't know. I felt light-headed for a minute. I guess I passed out."

"I guess you did."

"Maybe we should take her home," her mother appeared over her father's shoulder.

"No!" McKenna cried. "I'm fine. I don't want to go home!"

"She's fine," he agreed. "Besides, you just took her to the doctor, and she said everything looks good. There won't be anyone in until Monday, and I can't see wasting our weekend for another visit that we don't need."

He turned to his daughter. "Kenna, honey, I want you to have some coffee and a bit of breakfast. That will help you to feel better. Then your mom and I want to have a talk with you. Okay?"

No! she wanted to scream. She didn't want to have a talk. She was so tired. She wanted to crawl inside her tent and sleep until Dane came to wake her. 

The coffee helped. She was on her second cup when her mother put a breakfast plate in front of her.

"Smells good, Mom. I didn't think I was hungry, but now I'm famished." She was famished. She ate most of the food on her plate and drank two more cups of coffee. Once she finished, she pushed the plate away and sat back. She was ready for the talk. About as ready as she was ever going to be.

She sat facing her mother and father. They studied her, and it made her uncomfortable. She had to say something. "So?" she asked. "What did you want to talk about?"

Her father spoke first. "We have something to tell you, Kenna. Something that we have kept from you all of your life."

"We didn't want to," her mother interrupted, "but we, or I,thought it best. I fought your father every step of the way."

Her father took a deep breath. "Now I wonder if we did the right thing."

Her mother placed a hand on his arm. "Conner, do you want me to?"

He shook his head. "No, absolutely not. It was all my fault. I should be the one to tell her."

"Tell me what?" McKenna grew impatient. She needed to sleep. She didn't know how much longer she could keep her eyes open.

"I was going to tell you something the last time we were here. Do you remember?"

She nodded. “You told me that Mom had to be present any time you shared memories with me."

"Yes, that's right. Well, what we've been afraid to tell you is about something that happened here, at the lake, when you were just a toddler." Conner began.

"You were only three years old," her mother interrupted again.

"Yes," he agreed, then told her about the boating accident.

"I fell in the lake?" McKenna lowered her head and stared at her hands.

"You did."

“That’s all you wanted to tell me?” She raised her eyes and kept her face guarded.”That I fell in the lake? That’s no big deal, you guys. How did I get out?”

"I jumped in after you," he continued. “I must have searched, God, I don't know how long. I kept diving down looking for you. It was dark out. The water was murky, even with a flashlight. I couldn't find you."

McKenna felt sorry for him. She wanted to stop him and tell them she already knew.

"I managed to get back in the boat and row to shore. I called 911, and paramedics came with frogmen and the equipment to drag the lake. McKenna, they dragged that lake for more than four hours, and you were nowhere to be found."

Her father heaved a heavy sigh. "They gave you up for dead. They assumed that you'd been caught on a branch and dragged down. I was so angry. How could they give up like that? How could they just walk away and go home to their families when my baby was missing?" His face grew red with anger, and Sarah once again placed a hand on his arm.

"Don't, Connor," she said softly.

He nodded. "I'm okay," he said, holding a hand up. "I just need to finish this now." He turned back to McKenna. "Well, we found you the next day on the little beach by the old cemetery. Do you know where I'm talking about?"

"On the other side of the lake,” she said. “How did I get there?”

"We don't know. We just kept praying for a miracle hoping we'd find you. I can't believe we did."

"Is that why I'm afraid of water?" McKenna asked.

"Probably," he said. "Even though you were so young, I'm sure it affected you."

"Is that why you and mom have hated each other for so long?"

Her parents glanced at each other.

"Sarah," he said softly. She looked up at him. "Should I go on?"

"Finish it," she answered. "We agreed, so finish it."

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