Whether she wanted to or not, Sherry had to know everything. A real partner would have known. “I’m a complete orphan.” She swallowed against the lump in her throat. “About half a year after my mother’s death, my father put a bullet in his head.” Madison was grateful that her voice held when she added, “He just aimed the gun at his head and pulled the trigger.” With her hand, she re-enacted it.

“Oh God. That…that’s horrible.”

The memory of her grandmother coldly telling her what had happened and then just walking away, leaving her crying alone in her room, sucked the air out of her lungs, but she forced herself to continue. “My mother had internal bleeding when she was pregnant with my little brother. But they didn’t know. When her contractions started, they thought everything was normal. They took their time to prepare her for a C-section. Too much time. When they finally realized what was happening, it was too late.”

Sherry seemed to hold her breath.

“Both died. My brother hadn’t gotten enough air while my mother was bleeding to death, so he didn’t make it either.” Madison wiped a tear from her cheek and turned away from Sherry, not wanting to show her any weakness.

She had said enough. More than enough.

Sherry covered Madison’s hand with her warm one. “I can’t even imagine how that must have been for you.”

The touch felt too intimate. But as much as she wanted to, she couldn’t draw away. Instead she heard herself say, “While being pregnant with me, she had obviously had…I don’t know, ripped something. My father told me after my mother’s death over and over again that it had been my fault.”

Sherry reached out with her other hand for Madison as if wanting to embrace her, but she withdrew before making contact. “You know that isn’t true, right?”

Madison shrugged. A tiny part of her was disappointed Sherry hadn’t hugged her. Don’t be ridiculous. She’s a stranger and you don’t need her or anybody else. “My father died after lying for ten days in a coma.” She freed her hand of Sherry’s touch and switched off the light. Without Sherry’s warm hand on top of hers, her skin felt uncomfortably cold. “Let’s sleep.” She slid down and turned away from Sherry.

Instead of doing the same, Sherry asked, “And then you went to live with your grandmother?”

It seemed Sherry didn’t want to let her off the hook. “Yeah.” Again her mouth seemed to have a life of its own when she added, “I think she blames me for the death of my mother and my baby brother, as well as my father’s suicide.”

“You can’t honestly think that.”