“You scared me! Don’t ever do that to me again. If you’re anxious about something, tell me.” She held the girl tightly, and then realized she was probably being completely inappropriate. They weren’t related. They’d only known each other for a short time and for most of that time they’d been polite, friendly even, but not tactile. Embarrassed, she tried to let her go but Ashley clung and hugged her back. Feeling those arms tighten around her brought a lump to her throat.

They held each other, and for a moment neither of them spoke.

“You’re making me cry.” Ashley’s voice was muffled against Joanna’s shoulder and Joanna gave the girl another hug and then eased away.

“You’re making me cry, too.”

Instead of taking the chair opposite, she crouched down. She was conscious of Nate hovering in the background, but he was no longer her focus. He was her past, and right now she was only interested in the present, and the future.

Ashley featured in both.

“So was it my cooking?”

Ashley scrubbed tears from her face with the flat of her hand. “What?”

“The reason you left. My cooking.”

Ashley almost smiled but it was a poor effort. “Did you read it? What that woman wrote? It’s bad. They wrote awful things about my mom, and they implied I was in the car because I was trying to blackmail him, and that the accident might have been my fault. It’s horrible. I didn’t mean to scare you by leaving but once they find out I’m with you it’s going to make things a thousand times worse. They’re going to come after you, too, and I know you hate that.” Fresh tears bloomed and spilled. “I can’t believe I’m crying. I can’t believe I’m being this pathetic and emotional.”

“You’re pregnant—”

“Yeah, let’s pretend it’s that.” Ashley sniffed. “It’s kind of you to come after me, but it’s going to be easier for you if I leave. Maybe we can stay in touch. If you’d like to. I could get a burner phone or something so they can’t track me. Can they do that? Does that happen in real life? What even is a burner phone? I don’t know. Can you order one online? Do you search ‘burner phone’?”

Joanna felt a pressure in her chest as emotions overwhelmed her.

She’d gone from being numb to suddenly feeling everything. Why? Who was responsible for that? Ashley? Nate?