“Tell us about this boyfriend!” I said, wiggling my eyebrows, trying to seem like we were teenagers gossiping, not that I was wondering about Alice’s secret past and if said boyfriend was actually Father Matthew at church, as Juniper Shores Socialite had predicted. But I didn’t want them to know how closely I followed her page.

Alice smiled at me, but I could see the sadness behind her eyes. “There might have been something once, but he’s gone. Moved away.”

“Because someone broke his heart,” Grace said matter-of-factly.

I wondered about the hole Alice had dug herself into. She was responsible for all of these people’s fates. How could she even be free to date? What if she decided to remarry? I planned on this being a very temporary situation for us, so I wasn’t worried for myself. I just couldn’t imagine what pressure she must feel and how her own life must be tarnished in the pursuit of taking care of everyone else.

Iris bounded down the stairs in a flowing spaghetti-strap maxi dress that was a little too big. But she wore it well. She wore everything well, that awkward stage of two years ago fully behind her. Her hair was in a messy ponytail, and in the light streaming through the windows, she was both her future and her past. A little girl collecting seashells on the beach and a grown woman about to be out on her own. I didn’t want this hardship for her. I wanted her to stay as young and carefree as possible for as long as possible. And I knew that this situation would steal some of that from her. I put the last plate down, walked to the foot of the stairs, and wrapped her in a hug, kissing her cheek. She smelled like a mixture of the sunscreen she wore every day and some sort of earthy-yet-expensive lotion that I was certain came out of our new shared bathroom. It smelled like Alice, like this house, like peace.

“You okay?” I asked.

Before she could answer, a teenage boy who I assumed must be Merit trotted down the stairs behind us, rushing by and grabbing a grape out of the bowl on the counter. He popped it in his mouth, turned, and smiled a smile that I knew had left a trail of longing girls in its wake. “Hey,” he said, obviously to my daughter, not even noticing me.

Oh, crap, I thought. I had unwittingly put my daughter under the same roof as the high school heartthrob. I knew all about Merit from Juniper Shores Socialite, damn her. She talked about my husband and my family, but even still, the gossip she spewed was too delicious to look away. I wondered who she was.