“No. I knew. I mean . . . not when we were little, but a few years ago. After I had Paige.” Meagan sniffled and looked down at the wadded piece of tissue in her hand. “I struggled. She was my first baby and I was supposed to be excited, but I wasn’t. I was angry. And sad. I thought I had done something wrong. Ate the wrong things. Didn’t exercise.”

Lane lowered her gaze to the white tiled floor. If she had spoken up about her own depression, maybe Meagan wouldn’t have suffered alone. Like Miguel. How many others kept their illness quiet out of fear or embarrassment?

“When I became pregnant with Owen, I tried to do things differently, but when he was born the same things happened. I shut down. Didn’t want to leave the house. I hid in my bedroom. That’s when Ian hired the nanny. He made me go to the doctor. They said I had postpartum depression. I never told anyone. Made Ian promise not to tell. I was ashamed.” A tear slipped down Meagan’s cheek. “I’m sorry, Lane.”

“It’s okay.” Lane hugged Meagan. “I’m okay.”

A female nurse passed them, pushing a patient in a wheelchair. She gave Lane a small nod. After a few more seconds, Lane disentangled herself from Meagan’s grip.

“I feel like people are staring at me.”

“People are talking about you.” Meagan dabbed at her eyes and waved her hand. “About Mathias. Your suicide attempt.”

Lane cringed. The reporter. She was worried people were staring at her because of her injuries, but maybe it was because of what they knew about her. About how Mathias died. At that moment, Lane’s mother and father rounded the corner into the hall. They paused at the nurse’s station when they saw Charlie and Noah.

“I’m sorry.” Lane swallowed. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you or the family.”

“Lane, you’re not embarrassing me.” Meagan took hold of her shoulders. “Honey, I’m proud of you. You were brave enough to speak out about your condition. Do you know what you’ve done? You’ve forced people to have a conversation.”

“I don’t understand.” She squished her eyebrows together. “Who’s having a conversation?”

“Everyone. Ms. Byrdie invited that reporter from the courthouse over and talked with her. Told her she suffered from depression after she and the sheriff found out they couldn’t have kids.”

“She did?”

“Ms. Byrdie said the biggest regret she had was not being brave”—Meagan squeezed her shoulders—“like you.”

“I wasn’t trying to be brave. I was trying to help Miguel.”