AMELIA STARED DOWN at the gravestone. Weird how an entire life could be relegated to nothing more than a slab of concrete, a name crudely etched into it. Birth and death dates below. A few kind words—“Devoted wife and mother.” Like that was all that mattered. Like that was all Millie did that deserved recognition.

She’d been a living, breathing person. Had been on this earth for twenty-plus years, and this was all she’d left.

Cemeteries had always freaked Amelia out. The thought of ending up here, buried deep in the soil with the worms and insects, made her skin crawl. She shivered, ran her hands up her arms. Sniffed.

Lauren threw her a sympathetic look, draped an arm over her shoulder. She felt bad then. Lauren had misread her reaction, clearly thinking she was sad. And she was kind of. This place made her feel that way, but it had nothing to do with Millie. Not personally, anyway. As much as Lauren believed Millie was Amelia’s mom, to Amelia she was nothing more than a stranger. A woman she’d never met.

It was creepy that this was the way they were being introduced.

Hello, slab of concrete. I might be your daughter. Nice to meet you.

If anyone had told her two months ago that this was where her friendship with Lauren would lead, she wouldn’t have believed them. Meeting Lauren had felt random. Not calculated. They’d met in the most natural way. A party at Michael’s.

Lauren had come with Craig, one of Michael’s friends. Amelia had been relieved when she arrived. Up until that point, she’d been the only girl there. She’d been sitting on a bench outside by herself, nursing a beer and texting Becca.

Come over. I’m bored.

Becca’s response came almost immediately: Where are you?

Michael’s. He’s having a party.

The seconds ticked by. Amelia waiting on the little dots. Finally, after at least a minute, they appeared. She took a sip of her beer. It was warm. Bitter. The dots disappeared. Amelia shifted on the bench. Crossed and uncrossed her legs.

Why was Becca taking so long to respond? It was so unlike her.

Finally, the dots returned. Amelia exhaled.

Sorry. Can’t. Busy tonight.

Her mouth was paper dry. She took another sip of the too-warm beer. Ever since she’d introduced Becca to Michael, she’d been weird. It pissed Amelia off. How many times had she tagged along with Becca to meet some guy or another? But it shouldn’t come as a shock. Becca was only happy when the world revolved around her.

“Oh, thank God.” A raspy, female voice interrupted her thoughts. “I thought I was the only girl here.”