‘I understand that most teenagers believe their high school love is the everlasting one,’ Elizabeth said as if Alyssa’s thoughts had been spoken aloud. ‘And maybe Hayden and I wouldn’t have gone the distance, but there’s no way he would’ve missed the birth of his own child. Not after what he’d seen his own sister go through when her fiancé abandoned her before her first baby was born.’ Elizabeth stood and moved across the room to a built-in bookshelf where she reached up and pulled down a yearbook, flipping it open and removing a loose photograph. She turned it over and read aloud:

“Beck, here’s to our forever future – together. Everything is going to turn out exactly right, just you wait and see. My love for you will stay true to the day I die.” Running her fingers over the words, she whispered, ‘That doesn’t exactly sound like someone who’s about to take off because he’s afraid of settling down.’

Alyssa shifted, and the high-pitched squeak of the sofa’s legs against the tiled floor as it moved startled Elizabeth. It was like watching a curtain go up at the beginning of a play. ‘Are you still in contact with your family?’

A flash of pure hatred stole across Elizabeth’s face. ‘No. Aside from calling me some pretty nasty names when they learned I was pregnant, they also spewed some pretty hateful comments about my unborn child. When my father yanked his belt from his pants so that he could “beat the devil out of me,” I ran to my room, barricaded my door, grabbed my suitcase, and snuck out my bedroom window.’

Alyssa couldn’t say she blamed her.

‘I haven’t seen them since, though I did call them after Brandon was born in case there was any part of them that had thawed, that might’ve wanted to know their grandson. It was instantly clear their opinions about either of us hadn’t budged a bit, so that conversation lasted less than thirty seconds.’

Alyssa couldn’t imagine not wanting to know one’s grandchild. Even though she and her own mother-in-law had once had a tumultuous relationship in which Mabel consistently insulted and undermined everything Alyssa said, the woman was convinced Holly and Isaac hung the moon and scattered the stars, and she would – and did – bend over backwards to be there for them.

‘What about Hayden’s family? Do you keep in touch with them? Do they have a relationship with Brandon?’ Even as Alyssa asked, she wondered if it was because she was drawn into the saga of this woman’s past or if there was some instinct holding her captive, telling her if she waited long enough, she’d have what she came for.