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Back Where I Left Her Save as PDF
Chapters (47)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise
  3. About the Author
  4. Dedication
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  47. Booklist

“I always cut through that park when I take the bus. So, I don’t know. Maybe the last time you tracked me was yesterday, and it froze there or something. I don’t own the app. I don’t know everything about it.”

It was a phrase Whitney used to use all the time when Amelia was younger. Amelia was the queen of questions and sometimes it was wearying.

“Mom, why is the TV station doing this?”

“I don’t know. I don’t work for channel ten.”

“Right,” Whitney responded now. Her eye twitched and she closed it for a second until the sensation vanished. “But why weren’t you at school?”

“I told you last night I wasn’t feeling well.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t ask to stay home. Mrs. Pruitt said I called you out, but that’s not true.”

“Wait.” Amelia held up her hand. “Mrs. Pruitt? You went to my school? Oh, my God, Mom. Why?”

“No.” Whitney held her ground. She was the mom here. She had every right to check on her daughter at school. Amelia was the one who screwed up. Not her. “You’re not turning this around on me. You skipped school and I wanna know why.”

“I didn’t skip school. I told you. I don’t feel well,” Amelia said. “I called myself out, okay? I didn’t want to bother you. You’ve been really stressed.”

It was true. Whitney had been stressed. But no, that wasn’t a good excuse for lying. “Next time, you need to get permission before you can stay home. And no more calling yourself out, okay?”

“Fine.” Amelia kicked off her flip-flops near the door.

“Where were you today? How come you’re not in bed if you’re sick?”

“I was earlier, but then I decided to go down to the pool for a little while. Lay out. Figured some vitamin D would do me good.” She smiled. “And it did.”

Whitney nodded, believing her easily. She always liked the feeling of the sun on her skin when she was sick too. When Amelia passed by on her way to her room, she expected to get a whiff of chlorine, outside air. Instead, Amelia smelled like something Whitney couldn’t place. Kind of like a spice she recognized. Cinnamon? Cloves?

Whatever it was, it was foreign. Unfamiliar. Weird that it was coming from her daughter.

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