Sadness fisted in Edna’s chest when she thought back to the small infants lying in dresser drawers by her mother’s fireplace. Both had been crying, and her breasts, so full of milk, had ached. That moment was rarely far from her thoughts. “It was the only way I knew how to protect you.”

“For what it’s worth, we were happy. But I guess there was enough of you in us that made following the rules hard.” Carlotta reached down and picked up the little dog, rubbing her gently between the ears. She handed a card to Edna with a PO box address on it. “I’ve left my camera for Ruth.”

“That’s very extravagant.”

“Not really. You’ll see that she gets it?”

“Yes.”

“Tell Ruth to write me. I’d like to hear from her.”

Edna flicked the edge of the card. Carlotta was right. Edna and her children weren’t afraid of breaking the rules to have a better life. And Ruth was going to be no different. “I’ll give her the card.”

“What about Beth Ann? Is she going to be all right?”

“She’s got her children, a good home, and money.”

“I feel like I’m abandoning her,” Carlotta said.

Edna’s spine stiffened. “You can’t help someone who does not want it. If she needs help, she knows where to find us.”

“It’s for the best?”

Edna heard the bitterness as she took a long look at her daughter’s face. “Yes, it is.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR IVY

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

IVY

Thursday, January 27, 2022, 9:00 a.m.

When Ivy walked out on the sleeping porch, she discovered the wreck was gone. The waves and winds had layered it with sand, swallowing up the timbers as if it had never been there. She was sorry to see it go, though it gave her some satisfaction to know the spirits once again rested. Maybe now the living could find peace as well.

Ivy drove to Dani’s house but didn’t find her car in the driveway and took a chance she was at her gallery down the road. She had promised Dalton when he’d kissed her this morning that she’d go see Dani. She hadn’t made any big promises but had decided a small one was easy enough.

The only car in the gallery parking lot was Dani’s SUV. Ivy parked beside it and walked up to the glass front door. She stared past the CLOSED sign to inside the shop but didn’t see Dani. She knocked.

Seconds later Dani peered out from a back room and approached the door slowly.

“I think we need to talk,” Ivy said.

“So that you can explain again why you let me down.”

“That’s a low blow,” Ivy said. “I never said anything to Dalton.”

“But he figured it out.”

“Because he’s not stupid!” Ivy shouted.