“Tell as much of the truth as you can, but say nothing of Ben or Eli,” Bobbie said. “It’ll get you killed.”

“Grace?” Rose said, and I shifted my gaze back to her eyes.

I cleared my throat. “Sorry. I came straight home from your house this afternoon.” Truth.

“And you haven’t left since?” Rose asked.

“No.” Lie.

Rose was taking me in carefully. “You’ve been here? In your room?”

“Shift the conversation to your guilt regarding Levi and Stephen,” Bobbie said. “Speak some truth.”

I spoke quickly, allowing guilt to swallow me. “I did exactly as you asked after letting you down at the house,” I said. “Please . . .” I could feel my lower lip quiver. “I know it was wrong of me to leave the boys alone, but I didn’t think to take them up to Evelyn’s room. She was so distraught. I wanted to take care of her as best I could.”

Rose blinked. For a moment, no one said anything. They were likely trying to follow my logic. But Rose knew what I was talking about.

“She hasn’t left her room all evening, Rose,” my mother said, answering Rose’s original question for me. “Jamie and I have both been here.”

Rose kept her gaze on me as my mother spoke. I could practically feel the heat rising from her shoulders. She took a step toward me. I wanted to flee, but I remained on the bed. She was only two feet from me now, drilling me with her glare.

“Would you lie to me, Grace?”

“No,” I answered, my voice barely above a whisper.

“But you have lied to me before.”

“Careful, Grace,” Bobbie interjected. “She’s trying to trap you.”

“Yes,” I said. “And I’m horrified by it.”

“You aren’t hiding anything from me now?” Rose pushed. “Not a single detail?”

“What do you mean?” I tried to appear confused. “No. I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

Rose hesitated. “Lies always come to the surface, Grace. Promise me I won’t discover any more of yours.”

“Never,” I said. And I meant it. Eli was now my secret and my secret alone.

We stood there, holding one another in locked gazes, as the rest of the room stilled. Then the intensity in her eyes eased a tad, and she broke the hold with a nod.

“Good,” she said.

“What’s this all about?” Jamie asked from the door, arms crossed. Bobbie was gone.

Rose took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Ben Weathers died earlier this evening, and the boy traveling with him is missing,” she said.

My mother gasped, snatching her hand to her mouth. “No!”

“I’m afraid so.”

For a long moment, my mother stared at Rose, unbelieving. I watched as she surrendered to the simple truth. Her husband had come back from the dead only to be snatched away again before she could make sense of his return.