There was a brief awkward silence as we both remembered the recent tension between us over the adoption day photo. Andie put her hand on my arm. ‘I get it. It sucks. But Gram is always a good buffer at least. If anyone tries talking she’ll just shove an extra meatball in their face,’ Andie said, laughing while we continued up the walkway. I snorted in response. ‘I should warn you though, since you’ve been dodging your mom’s calls she’s been calling me to try to find out what’s up with you.’

‘What?’ I exclaimed, stopping in my tracks and grabbing onto Andie’s arm to bring her to a halt. ‘Why didn’t you tell me when she called? You didn’t tell her about what’s been going on with Cris and the FBI, did you?’

‘What? No, of course not. Come on Lizzie. I didn’t tell you because things have been a little weird between us and you’ve been obsessed with finding your bio-family and getting to know them, but I would never tell your mom anything behind your back,’ Andie said.

‘Obsessed?’ I interjected, a mix of hurt and anger simmering dangerously close to the surface.

‘You know what I mean,’ Andie said quickly, shifting her weight uncomfortably. ‘You didn’t even tell me that that you were going to see Cris and Rosie again until after you got back from your last visit.’ I could feel heat rising in my cheeks. ‘I understand, Lizzie. I do,’ Andie continued, talking faster. ‘It’s huge. And it’s my fault things have been weird lately. I just meant I haven’t really had a chance to tell you about her calling, and besides, there’s not much to tell. All I told your mom was that you’ve been super busy.’

I relaxed a little, letting my shoulders slouch back down. I hadn’t realized I’d tensed them up so high. ‘That’s all you said? Just that I was busy?’

‘Yeah, I mumbled something about work and may have mentioned you had a date or two just to throw her a bone.’ I rolled my eyes but Andie ignored me and continued, ‘But hey, are you going to tell your parents about Cris or the FBI? Seems pretty major.’

I paused for a moment, thinking. ‘I’ll tell them about Cris and Rosie but I don’t want to worry them with the FBI stuff. I mean, I really don’t think it’s him but if there’s a chance it is, I don’t know … you know my mom, she would freak out and probably try to make me move home.’