“She’s playing with Emmie in the lobby. Lira is watching her.” Emmie was another student in Roni’s class, and Lira was her mother. “How are you doing?”

Roni breathed a sigh of relief and feigned her best upbeat attitude. “I’m great. How are you?”

Gemma’s green eyes turned serious and compassionate. “I’m well, but are you sure you’re okay? I don’t mean to be nosy, but Quincy came over Saturday night, and he was really upset. He and Tru talked for half the night. He came back over Sunday and spent all day with the kids, which is how I know he’s hurting. They’re like his little doses of happiness.”

Roni’s shoulders sank. She hated that he was as tortured as she was. “The truth is, I’m not okay, Gemma. I’m sad and confused, and…”

“I understand. Quincy doesn’t know I’m talking with you, but I wanted to because, well, we all really enjoyed getting to know you Friday night, and I’ve sort of been through what you’re going through. When Truman and I first met, he told me that he’d killed the man who was attacking their mother. I didn’t find out the truth until much later. I don’t know how Quincy survived with all the guilt he’d been carrying, much less how he found the courage to confess to me and the police. He didn’t even know me. But he told me everything, and Truman was furious at him for confessing.”

“Because he wanted to protect Quincy?”

“Always. The same way Quincy, who was no longer a scared, confused kid, wanted to protect Truman, and me and the kids.”

Tears threatened, but Roni fought against them. “Is it wrong that I hate their mother?”

“No. In fact, you’re in good company with those feelings.” Gemma softened her tone and said, “I’m not here to try to convince you to give Quincy a chance. This is your life, Roni, and it’s a huge decision to be with someone who has a history like Quincy’s. But I thought you might need to hear from someone who was there for some of it. I didn’t know what to make of Truman when I met him, much less Quincy. I came from an affluent family who snubbed anyone who was below their economic status. But I have never been loved as wholly as I am by Truman, and I’ve never been loved by family as deeply as I am by Quincy. I was there when he hit rock bottom. We found him unconscious on the lawn, and to be honest, it terrified me. I wasn’t sure I could be involved with someone whose brother was an addict. It’s a world I didn’t understand. But I thank God every day that my love for Tru and the kids was stronger than my fear of what having Quincy in our lives could have meant if he hadn’t gotten clean. Then Quincy went to rehab, and that was hard. There was a lot of pent-up anger and guilt between them, but Quincy never faltered. He was determined to get clean. He surprised us all when he confessed and again when he put himself back into rehab to finish his ninety-day program because it proved that his strength and conviction to leave that life behind was that much more powerful than the allure of drugs. He’s a good man who did terrible things to himself, and those things hurt others, but he’s in a better place now.”