“Thanks, Nat.” Picking up the plate, she stood. “I’m gonna take this into Amelia’s room, look around.” Ever since she’d seen that picture, she’d been curious about what else Amelia had in there that she’d never noticed before.

Things the cops wouldn’t have known to look for. Spots filled Whitney’s vision as she walked down the hallway. A headache pricked behind her eyes. She really did need to eat. Stepping into Amelia’s room, she reached for one half of the sandwich. It tasted like sandpaper and she struggled to chew and swallow. She was sure that under any other circumstance she’d enjoy it. But at this moment, nothing would taste good. After forcing down a few more bites, she set the plate down on Amelia’s dresser. Then Whitney picked up the photograph from earlier, studying it. It still didn’t make any sense. Where did Amelia even find it?

The picture did nothing but remind her of a past she’d tried for years to forget. Shuddering, she put it facedown on the dresser. Choking down another bite of her sandwich, she leaned her back against the dresser, her gaze scouring the room.

When it landed on the bed, comforter messy on top, a memory popped into her mind.

“Mom, can I ask you a hypothical question?” an eleven-year-old Amelia asked, eyes wide and bright.

“Do you mean a hypothetical question?” Whitney laughed.

“Yeah.” She nodded. “Anyway, can I ask one?”

“Sure.”

“What if hypothically—”

“Hypothetically,” Whitney interjected.

“Hypothetically,” she parroted, “I had a boyfriend.”

“What? At eleven?”

“It’s just hypothetical.”

Whitney smiled. Amelia had gotten it right that time. “Right. Sure it is,” Whitney said with sarcasm. Did Amelia think she was born yesterday?

“It is,” Amelia insisted, and her tone bordered on whiny.

“Okay, well, then hypothetically, I’d have to forbid you from seeing this boy because you’re not old enough to date. The rule is sixteen, remember?”

She nodded, her face serious.

“Amelia? Do you have a boyfriend?”

“No. It was hypothetical.”

“But what made you think of it?”

“Oh, just ’cause a friend of mine at school has a secret admirer and it made me curious what would happen if I did.”

It actually sounded plausible. Too bad she was biting the inside of her cheek so hard she was probably drawing blood.

Later that night, when Whitney went in her room to say good-night, she caught Amelia stuffing a piece of paper under her mattress. Whitney pretended not to notice, and Amelia must have thought she’d been sly enough to get away with it. While she was at school the next day, Whitney found several notes tucked under her mattress from a secret admirer.