Zoey closed her eyes, her chest pressing on her heart like a vise. This was everything she’d feared and then some. She’d broken her daughter’s trust.

“I’ve already explained why I didn’t tell you. I had no idea if Mike and I were going anywhere as an actual couple. I didn’t want to upset you if it turned out not to be serious.” They’d become very serious. In love serious. But that was all on hold now.

She walked over to Hazel, brushing her hair away from her face and staring straight into her eyes. Hazel’s body was as taut as an overstretched guitar string, ready to snap at any moment. But she held her ground.

“Sometimes,” Zoey said softly, “we can think we’re doing the right thing and be completely wrong. I wanted to protect you, and I ended up hurting you. I know it probably won’t happen today, but I hope you’ll forgive me.”

Hazel’s mouth was a thin, tight line. She shook her head, dropping her gaze to the floor.

“I don’t even know who you are, Mom. All that talk about honesty when you were...” She took a ragged breath. “You’re no better than Sienna’s mom.” She held up her hand between them. “I can’t look at you right now. I’m going to my room.”

Hazel started to turn away, then stopped, giving Zoey a hard look.

“As soon as Dad and Genna are back, I am going to move in with them.”

“We’ll talk about that later,” Zoey replied. There was no way it was going to happen, but Hazel was in no mood to hear it. She left Zoey standing in the kitchen, feeling like a complete failure in every way possible.

She sat at the table, turning her empty coffee mug back and forth. She couldn’t imagine how to bring Mike into Hazel’s life now. It made her heart heavy with sorrow...for everyone. She knew it would hurt him terribly. But her daughter came first. He’d always known that. Her phone jumped and buzzed on the table, making her flinch. She checked the caller ID. Vickie. She thought about ignoring it, but that wouldn’t solve anything. Her godmother would just show up at the door if she didn’t take the call.

“Hi, Vickie. Not a great time—”

“So it’s true? Hazel saw you and Mike...?”

Zoey glanced at the wall clock. It had been less than two hours since Mike and Mary left.

“How the hell do you know that already?”

“Mike went to Maura’s. She just called me.” Vickie’s voice was soft. Worried. “What happened?”

Zoey gave her the highlights of the story, sparing a few of the details. She told Vickie about Hazel’s reaction, from the hysterics to the icy anger.