“Aww, look at that sweet little girl. I swear she’s grown already since I saw her two days ago, Piper.” Bas bent to smile at Grace, and she garbled something back. “I’ll go get Zander.”

“We’d be grateful,” Piper said.

They stood to one side when Bas left, where no one could overhear them, and waited.

“Grace is going to be spoilt by everyone in this town,” Dylan said.

“Yesterday, Miss Marla and Miss Sarah came by with two dozen knitted dolls that Mandy once played with.”

“There you go then.”

Zander shuffled out the door a few minutes later dressed in his greasy overalls.

Piper studied him, tried to see if he was capable of helping his girlfriend get high.

“Hi.” He smiled, then bent to greet Grace.

She didn’t think he was bad, just rude, and maybe awkward socially, but then she’d been wrong about people before.

“What’s up? You been to see Ava? I’m going over soon. Weird, her just collapsing like that.”

“Just left her,” Dylan said. “Has she been sick at all lately, Zander? You notice anything strange, or off about her?”

Not by a flicker of an eyelash did his expression change. Piper knew this because she was watching him closely.

“Off how?”

“I’m not sure, I just wondered if she’d done this kind of thing before.”

Dylan’s expression gave nothing away either. Both men were impassive. Piper guessed this was just how he looked when he was doing his job.

“Nope. She’s never passed out when she’s been with me. I mean, she keeps herself healthy, and eats all that green shit. There was that stuff before I met her, but she told me that was done with now.”

“What stuff?”

Zander shrugged, and Piper thought it showed awesome restraint that Dylan didn’t grab him and shake hard. She certainly wanted to.

“It’s not my business to tell you, you need to ask her.”

“Look, Zander, I’m trying to help my sister here, so anything you tell me to support that I’d appreciate it.”

Zander was clearly uncomfortable now, and wishing he’d kept his mouth shut, Piper thought.

“Not sure of the details, only that she was doing drugs at law school in San Francisco.”

“Drugs?” Dylan said softly.

Zander looked cornered. “Hey man, don’t go telling her I said that. She trusts me, I don’t want to break that.”

“Are you telling me she was doing drugs while at GGU?” Dylan’s voice could have cut glass.

Piper took Grace out of her stroller and handed her to Dylan, who took her without hesitation. The little girl rested against his chest.

“She made me promise not to tell because she was done with that stuff. I believed her.”

Piper watched as Dylan ran a hand over Grace’s hair gently. Back and forth, slowly, while he thought through what he’d just learned.