Carly stared back at her, hardly able to speak. It was going to be about the money, wasn’t it?

“When I got the laundry in your backpack—with your permission—I found quite a lot of money. All I want to know is that you have it legally and legitimately.”

Bingo. Carly sighed. The whole situation made her feel awkward. Nervous. “You mean did I steal it? No! I promise you. It…it’s what was left of my mom’s. She got it in cash and gave it to me shortly before she died. She didn’t want to risk my stepfather—Duncan—taking it out of her account.” Carly was almost embarrassed at what a skillful liar she’d become.

Tina nodded. “Okay, that sounds reasonable.”

Yep, skillful, and convincing, too. More than nervous, she felt guilty about lying to the woman who’d been so kind to her. So…motherly.

“Oh, good, here’s our lunch,” Tina said.

Carly couldn’t manage too many of the nachos and asked that the remainder be wrapped up. When they got back to the trailer, she put them in the refrigerator and grabbed her laptop from her room. “I’m going to sit outside for a while and catch up on email.” She helped Tina take the groceries to the main kitchen, then walked in the direction of a tree with branches that nearly reached the ground, a tree that would keep her hidden. A cottonwood, Tina had told her. Carly looked around and saw no one. Time for the next YouTube installment, a project she’d begun soon after starting her journey. She’d done it for various reasons, including the hope of memorializing this part of her life, sharing it with others—and the opportunity to make some much-needed money; she’d been more successful at that than she’d expected, thanks mainly to the fans she’d gained and their generous donations.

Accompanied by Bandit and Smoky, she moved carefully toward the paddock and, standing well back, made a video of the two horses there. “Hi, it’s Charlotte. Welcome to My 3 Dads. You might remember that I’m in Montana now—and I’m close to finding my father, but not there yet. Thank you for your interest in my journey and for all the financial help you’ve given me.” After making sure there was no one in the vicinity, she got some video of the landscape, careful not to show any discernible details. “This is where one of my Possible Dads happens to live. Nice, huh?”

She’d recently begun to sing on her YouTube videos and, standing a few feet from the paddock, launched into John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” Seemed like a good choice!