And her boyfriend, Allison thought as she turned the car around and headed back to the main road. Brianna had made a youthful mistake and been unlucky enough to get caught. The consequences could change the course of her life. But all Allison could do was get the girl a good lawyer and hope for the best. Burke had suggested she contact Gentry and Smith about the divorce—something she had no intention of doing. But maybe they could help Brianna. She would call them in the morning.

Brianna was crying again, weeping quietly in the shadowed passenger seat. With nothing left to say to her, Allison drove on toward Peaceful Lane and home.

* * *

Back in her childhood room, Brianna wheeled her suitcase into a corner, fished her phone out of her purse, and collapsed on the bed. She had cried her eyes out in Allison’s car. But she was still hurting. How could she have been so careless—and so unlucky?

One of her friends had brought a couple six-packs of beer to the party. Laughing and talking with her old schoolmates, Brianna had lost track of how much beer she’d drunk, but she certainly hadn’t been impaired. Certainly she could drive home.

Blast that crappy Crown Victoria. Its broken taillight had turned a simple lapse in judgment into the worst mistake of her life!

Lying back on the bed, she used her phone to call the one person she needed most.

“Brianna?” Liam sounded muzzy from sleep. She pictured his tawny hair tangled on the pillow, his blue eyes barely open beneath thick, golden lashes. What she wouldn’t give to lose herself in his arms and drown her senses in his warmth and in the clean, leather aroma of his skin. The longing stabbed her, triggering a fresh surge of tears.

“Brianna, are you all right?”

“I’m . . . fine,” she muttered.

“You’re not fine. I can tell you’re crying,” he said. “What’s wrong? Is it your dad?”

“My dad’s in the hospital, getting better. It’s just—” She broke down. “Oh, Liam, I’ve made such a mess of things!”

Little by little she told him what was going on, leaving out nothing. She and Liam had no secrets from each other.

She finished and waited for his response. For the space of a breath he was silent. Was he going to berate her, or worse, hang up and never speak to her again?