She’d been so careful, but this was a small town. What if the news got around? What would Cord and the guys—and Tina and Shallie—think? Not to mention that she’d lied to Tina about the money… Would they understand why she was doing this? And earning money at it, via ads and the contributions to PayPal, since her YouTube channel was continuing to grow in popularity. She been cashing out some of the money deposited in her bank account, stopping at banks and ATMs along the way.

The other day, sitting under that spreading tree, she’d spent some time thinking about why she was doing this. She’d decided from the start that it was a way to commemorate her journey. But now it occurred to her that she was commemorating her mother, as well. And she was connecting with others, communicating with them, even if it was just through the internet. She’d also started to see her YouTube channel as a chance to perform. Which brought her back to last evening.

On the drive home, Tina had said she was “a performer at heart.” It seemed that way to Carly, too.

She knew it was very old-fashioned and even risky to insist on turning a chunk of her payments into cash and carrying it around. That was, she figured, partly due to her mom’s tendencies when it had come to money; she’d preferred to have it in her wallet rather than in the bank—not that she’d had much in either place. Carly gathered this went back to her early days and her uncertain income working in low-end motels and bars… And she and her husband, Duncan, hadn’t really shared their money with each other; they’d covered whatever expenses they’d individually agreed to cover and no more.

Still lying in bed, Carly felt herself grow tense. A tension that came from thinking about the past and worrying about the present. She stretched, but that didn’t relax her or wake her sufficiently to get up. Reaching for her cell phone, she saw it was already nine thirty.

Should she get out of here? Leave Painted Pony Creek? Then what about finding her father? And her friendships with Tina and Shallie, which had come to mean a great deal to her in such a short time? Her relationships with Cord and the guys were something she’d miss, too.

No, she had to see this through. But if she stayed—and she would stay—she knew she’d better keep a low profile from now on.

She forced herself to sit up, begin another day.

CHAPTER EIGHT

MONDAY MORNING. TIME to get up. Or maybe not… Shallie wasn’t quite ready to join the world downstairs. Or the one outside.

She decided to call Emma in Seattle, catch up on the latest news.