“To show you that no matter what you’ve done, you’re still her mother. A chance to love you.”

Melissa fought the tears. “But she’s not ready.”

“Are you sure?”

Melissa thought about the conversations she’d had with Courtney lately. She was growing up so fast and asking lots of questions about life, but Melissa wanted to protect her from all of that and she didn’t want Courtney to think less of her.

“I can’t tell her yet.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll know the right time. And it’s not now. Not yet.”

Shawn put a hand on her arm. “I trust you. You’ll know it when you’re talking one day and it eases out. Now, come over here, I want to show you something.”

She walked to the corner of the barn and when she turned, she realized Shawn wasn’t beside her. He jumped on his four-wheeler, started the engine, and with a teddy bear smile said, “Race you back to the house!”

“The only way you’ll beat me is to cheat!” she yelled as he zoomed away. She shook her head and realized she was laughing.

The next day, Melissa picked up the phone four times and put it down four times. It was only the law office, she wasn’t calling her son, but the feeling was the same. Her mouth was dry as she paced the room. Finally she dialed and let it ring, closing her eyes and holding her breath until she heard a voice.

“You’ve reached the law offices of Kirsh and Clark. Our offices are closed for the holidays and will reopen for regular hours on January 2. If this is an emergency, please call—”

Melissa hung up. She’d finally gotten up the nerve and they were closed. She made a mental note to call them after the first of the year.

CHAPTER 18

David sat down next to Nate just before the bell for history class. He gave Nate the stink eye.

“What’s that for? Did I do something wrong?”

“You said you were coming to my birthday party. What happened?”

Nate put a palm to his face. “Okay, look. I’ve got an answer for that. It’s not because I didn’t want to be there. You have to hear what happened.”

“I said you didn’t have to bring a present.”

“No, it’s not that. I swear. I was getting my camera ready to come over, you know, to take some shots of you blowing out the cake or whatever, and—”

The bell rang and their teacher, Mr. Russell, stood. He gave Nate a look.

“Okay, I’ll tell you after class. You really have to hear this.”

When class ended, David gathered his things and Nate shot out of his seat.

“Okay, so here’s why I wasn’t there.”

“I don’t want to hear it,” David said.