Joanna closed her eyes. Was she stupid to have hope? Was she stupid to love the woman standing outside the car even after all she had done? With a heavy sigh, Joanna opened her eyes and slowly climbed from the limo. Closing the door, she turned to face Addison, but immediately lost her train of thought when she saw Addison’s appearance. Beads of perspiration were rolling down her face, and the knees of her trousers and front of her shirt were stained with grass. Narrowing her eyes, Joanna leaned slightly to the right to look past Addison. She could see a faint track of bent grass not yet having time to find the sun again, and the path ran from the front of the house to where Addison now stood.

Joanna scowled as she focused on Addison. “What’s this all about?”

Addison drew in a breath, filling her lungs to their maximum before she let the air out slowly and with it, her ego, her pride, and her past. “I was a fool.”

“Why, because I lived?”

“No, because Millie died.”

“What?”

“When I got off that plane, and David didn’t know where you were, I went crazy. I called Fran and Millie and Evelyn, and none of them would tell me anything. Three people I thought were my friends turned their backs on me, and all I saw was red.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Joanna said, folding her arms.

Addison knew she deserved every ounce of contempt Joanna could throw her way. She was more than willing to take it, but while repentant, she forced herself to look Joanna in the eye. She needed for Joanna to see that the words she was about to speak were heartfelt, and she prayed that in the misted-over crystalline blue of her eyes, Joanna would see just that.

“For four days I drank myself stupid and then Evelyn walked into the library and told me that Millie had...Millie had passed in her sleep, and all of a sudden everything came crashing down around me. Millie was gone. The woman who had been my right and left hand for years was gone. The woman who had never uttered a harsh word about anyone was gone. She’ll never know that I loved her. She’ll never know how I adored that pinched, peeved look she’d get when I’d do something she didn’t like, and she’ll never know that sometimes, sometimes I’d do something just...just to see that look. And she’ll never know how it made me smile on the inside because I never realized just how precious time was until now.”

Joanna had her own secret smile forming, but while Addison’s words seemed sincere, Joanna’s heart had yet to melt completely. There was more she needed to hear, so she casually looked at her watch. “Speaking of time, I have someplace to be, so if you’re through—”