“We’re almost to Aunt Cindy’s house. Do you think you can make it, buddy?”

Liv had just hit Main Street in Adair, Nebraska. It hadn’t changed. As promised, it was a main strip with a hardware store, a diner, an old-time movie theater, a drugstore. Adair wasn’t a depressed farming community like many in the Heartland. Most of the town worked at Adair Irrigation, the country’s largest manufacturer of water management systems. A factory town surrounded by cornfields.

They’d left Adair under the cloud of Danny’s conviction. It had been a quiet ostracism, fueled more by whispers than overt scorn. But then Netflix released the documentary, and the whole country seemed to turn on Adair, revitalizing and intensifying the town’s contempt for the Pines. The last thing Liv wanted was to stop anywhere she’d be recognized. But based on Tommy’s red face and squirming, she had no choice. She knew Parker’s Grocery had a public restroom, so she veered into the lot.

“I’m stopping, jelly bean. Hang on.” The store had a new sign but was otherwise the same as when Liv was a girl. Her father would take her to Parker’s every Saturday to buy candy, at least until the cavities sprouted and her mom put an end to it.

Holding Tommy’s hand, she walked quickly inside. Liv’s stomach clenched when she saw the woman behind the register. Danielle Parker hadn’t changed much either. Still heavyset with eyes that were too close together, and a perpetual scowl. Liv walked head down to the back of the store to the public restrooms, Tommy trying to keep up with her long strides. She clasped the restroom door handle, but it was locked. Of course it was.

“Wait here, sweetie. I need to get the key.”

“Quickly, pleaassse,” he said, nearly bursting.

Liv went back to the counter. “Hello,” she said, forcing a smile. “Could we have the key to the restroom, please? My son is about to have an—”

“Bathroom is for payin’ customers only.”

Liv paused a beat. She looked Danielle in those narrow eyes. With no time for a standoff, Liv jammed her hand into a large plastic container near the register, removed a fistful of hard candy, and dropped the colorful assortment on the counter.

“Five-dollar minimum,” Danielle said.

Liv was about to lose it, but she looked back and saw Tommy doing a pee dance. “How much is the whole container?” Liv asked, gesturing to the plastic jug of candy.

Danielle made a face like she was doing a complicated math problem in her head. “Twenty bucks,” she said.

Liv dug into her handbag and smacked a twenty down. “Can I have the key please?”

Taking her sweet time, the clerk retrieved a key that was connected by a string to a large plastic slab, and slid it across the counter.