“The curtain goes up one week from tomorrow,” Willa tells us after warm-ups. We’re working the scene where Orion calls Eden back to him. It’s the first time they meet after she dies. And it’s always been my favorite scene in the play. “So we’re going to keep forging ahead. Courage, my lovelies. Putting on a play is a kind of birth. And there is always pain in creation.”

As tired as everyone is, there’s still this tingle of excitement that buzzes through the room whenever Willa speaks. She looks at me and smiles, and I instantly feel better. Because it’s like the whole world has turned to liquid and I can’t find a foothold anywhere. But Willa still feels solid. She’s my touchstone. The shoreline. And I have this rush of gratitude at having found her again. If I can’t have my mother back in the flesh, at least maybe I can have a mother figure in Willa.

And maybe that’s enough.

Maybe it has to be.

But that thought is followed by this cold dread when I think about Brody. And what I still believe he did. I’ve been going back and forth for the last few days, trying to decide if I’m going to tell Willa what I remember. Like I told Cole. And I’m running out of time to make a decision. I still don’t have any real proof.

And I’m terrified to lose her.

Cole is convinced that it must have been George who grabbed me by the wrist and threw me from that cliff. That he was pining away over my mother. Like Glory said. That he killed her because he couldn’t have her. And he tried to kill me, too. But then, when I didn’t die on cue, he decided to play the hero to make himself look innocent. So he brought me up from the beach that morning. Half-drowned.

We’ve whispered over all the possible scenarios as we sat huddled on the steps together these last few nights. But I’m still not sure. Wandering eyes and those creepy gifts of lavender don’t make George a murderer. Brody’s the only one with real motive.

Those are his initials in the notebook.

It’s his backyard where the land drops away to the sea.

He’s the one who had everything to lose. Cole said that himself.

Val nudges me, and I look around.

“Avril,” Willa says. She’s waiting for me, and I realize I’ve been staring off into space. “Let’s take it from the top of the scene.”