“Okay.” Whitney patted her friend’s arm. “I’ll be right back.”

Whitney took an empty plastic cup from Millie’s room, got a soda from the vending machine. In a nearby bathroom, she filled the cup with the brown liquid. Then she reached into her pocket and pulled out the bottle of codeine, Whitney’s name prominent on the white sticker. A little over a year ago, she’d had a root canal and her dentist had prescribed this. She only took one. It made her throw up. But she was terrible about cleaning out her purse, and this bottle had been sitting at the bottom of it ever since.

With the blunt side of a lipstick, she crushed the pills, thinking about how she was doing Millie a favor. Her friend had suffered so much. Her life was tragic, really. And there didn’t seem to be any hope of it getting better. Now, with the loss of her daughter, Whitney was positive Millie would spiral even further downward. She’d never been able to save Millie before. Maybe now she could. Maybe this was the only way. She dumped the powdered pills inside the soda, then used a lip liner to stir.

“Here you go.” Upon returning to Millie’s room, Whitney handed her the drink.

Millie sipped it greedily.

“Look, I’m so sorry. I wish I could stay, but I...I have to go.” Whitney’s gaze flickered to the hallway.

“No, I understand.”

“I’m so, so sorry.”

Millie started crying again, and Whitney scurried out of her room, never looking back.

Whitney shook the memory away. It didn’t even feel true anymore. After all these years, all that was left were her memories. Her version.

It was her story now, and she was sticking to it.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Writing a book during a pandemic is especially challenging. While working on Where I Left Her, I dealt with self-doubt, crippling writer’s block, and a fair amount of anxiety. If it weren’t for the following people, this book never would’ve seen the light of day.

First, as always, my incredible literary agent, Ellen Coughtrey. Thank you for spending hours on the phone, taking apart my messy rough draft and helping me shape it into something we both could be proud of. You always have a knack for identifying the issues on the page, and drawing out the story I had initially wanted to write. To Will Roberts, Rebecca Gardner, Anna Worrall, Caspian Dennis and the entire team at Gernert, you are all so efficient, kind and helpful. I’m grateful to work with each and every one of you.