BooksBarbecue
Back Safe in My Arms Save as PDF
Chapters (51)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise for Sara Shepard
  3. Also by Sara Shepard
  4. Dedication
  5. PART ONE
  6. —
  7. One
  8. Two
  9. Three
  10. Four
  11. Five
  12. Six
  13. Seven
  14. Eight
  15. Nine
  16. Ten
  17. Eleven
  18. Twelve
  19. Thirteen
  20. PART TWO
  21. Piper
  22. Fourteen
  23. Fifteen
  24. Sixteen
  25. Seventeen
  26. Piper
  27. Eighteen
  28. Piper
  29. Nineteen
  30. Twenty
  31. Twenty-One
  32. Twenty-Two
  33. Twenty-Three
  34. Piper
  35. Twenty-Four
  36. Twenty-Five
  37. Piper
  38. Twenty-Six
  39. Twenty-Seven
  40. Twenty-Eight
  41. Twenty-Nine
  42. Thirty
  43. Thirty-One
  44. Thirty-Two
  45. Thirty-Three
  46. Piper
  47. Thirty-Four
  48. Epilogue
  49. Acknowledgments
  50. About the Author
  51. What’s next onyour reading list?

You tell him yes. What else can you do? If you kick up a fuss, he might go to the press. The parents. Your world will crumble.

You quickly get off the phone after that. Doesn’t he realize what good subjects these parents are, how invested they’ve become? But he’s already made up his mind. With another puzzled, uncomfortable look, your chance is gone. And all it’s done is open up new, terrible possibilities. Who told him? Your paranoia may have been right all along.

And then a thought comes to you, there in the middle of the parking lot. A dark, ugly, festering thought. You push it away, certain it can’t be right, but then you realize, maybe it can.

You can’t confirm your fears right away. One of the moms who got a note wants to meet. You have to play it cool, play your cards, and then get her the fuck out. After that, you have a staff meeting with Carson, who notices something’s off with you but can’t guess what it is. Finally, right before you work the drop-off, you have a few moments to yourself. You lock yourself in your office. You click on the folder on your computer where you keep digitally scanned files on your parents’ applications. You find the one you’re looking for and leaf through it. Now you know why you feel like there’s been something niggling at the back of your brain. You curse yourself for not being more careful, but you’d just thought—there’s no way.

His name is the same. It’s a common name . . . but not that common. You start to google him, connecting his address. Google comes up with an image. A face. You draw in a breath, because you’ve been so stupid. When you see this face staring back at you, you know how badly you’ve fucked up.

Maybe he’s been watching you all along.

Twenty-Four

The North Ridge Wellness Facility, according to the website, didn’t require a patient to bring much. Clothes were provided. Toiletries. Reading materials, appropriate footwear—all of it was there and waiting. Yet Lauren dropped a large suitcase on the bed regardless. She couldn’t pack nothing.

Lauren turned to her breast pump, which was sitting on the floor. As much as she wanted to give up breastfeeding—and this was a great excuse—it felt like the only tie to Matthew she had left. She stuffed it and its clean parts into the carrying case and put it into the suitcase. She added a photo of Matthew she kept on the bedside table; she’d need it to look at if she wanted to produce any milk.