“I wish Gabby hadn’t appeared in my life again.” Dealing with her, getting stuck between the position she wanted at work and a past relationship she wanted to forget, had thrown Jessa off stride and she never regained her balance. She’d been tripping and crashing and wallowing in self-doubt and a borderline case of self-loathing since she’d signed that damn affidavit.

Faith sighed. “She makes you feel bad about yourself. She always has.”

“So she’s the jerk.” Jessa really wanted Faith to agree.

“When one person in a duo thinks you’re great friends and the other doesn’t, it’s sort of incumbent on the one who doesn’t value the relationship to safeguard the person who thinks you’re friends. I don’t mean stay friends with someone you don’t like or don’t want to invest in, but to come up with an exit strategy that lets you both walk away as close to whole as possible.”

“And I didn’t do that.” She’d failed spectacularly in her handling of the Gabby issue. No question.

“You dealt with the problem by pretending she didn’t exist, which is human. Maybe not the best way but understandable. Who wants drama? Unfortunately, now you’re experiencing the fallout. She views you a certain way, and you hate it.”

As the enemy. Worse, as irredeemable. “All true.”

“Her life is on a downswing, and yours isn’t.”

And still Jessa felt nothing. “How does that help me?”

“Honestly, it’s time to break contact. It’s been years, so, maybe, forgive yourself and move on.” Faith picked up her chopsticks again. “If she needs help, let her find it somewhere else. You can’t solve Gabby Fielding’s problems.”

Chapter Fifty-Three
Gabby

Four hours. That’s how long it had been since the police started questioning Liam. He walked through the locked door separating the waiting room from the rest of the police station, then nothing. Hours and hours of nothing.

All she could do was stare at the entry pad and steel door, willing it to open and for him to come out. By the end of the second hour, her nerves had ramped up, and she fantasized about clawing and punching her way into the restricted area, but she stayed still. Didn’t draw attention.

When she looked up for what had to be the hundredth time, Liam stepped out. He would have rushed right past her if she hadn’t stood up and blocked his path. “Finally.”

“Gabby?”

They met in the middle of the busy room. He tugged her out of the fray when a man came in yelling. She couldn’t make out the words, but something about his neighbor. Officers listened and one escorted him away from the crowd of vending machine users and waiting visitors and into a back room.