As soon as her roommate left for the swimming pool, Avery had called her bestie from high school. She’d gone off to college in California, but her mother was one of the town’s biggest gossips. If anyone could verify what had happened it would be Simone. Unfortunately, her phone call with Simone hadn’t gone the way she’d hoped it would. Her bestie had not only verified that what her mom told Avery was true but that her mom had actually caught them in her own house. Her own bed.

Which left absolutely zero chance that it was a lie.

Her entire life, Avery had considered her parents average, boring people and her own life less than fascinating. And there were times she’d desperately wished for something interesting to happen. But this wasn’t what she’d had in mind at all. This was horrifying and embarrassing, and she’d never been this upset before. Not ever.

How could her dad do this to her mom? To her?

And those two questions were exactly why she was barreling down the highway to Last Chance, hoping to talk some sense into her dad. Because no way could the nerdy guy who loved spreadsheets more than life blow up their family over that thot. Something was wrong. Maybe he was on drugs or having a nervous breakdown. Either way, she was going to get to the bottom of things and stop this train wreck before it got worse.

She exited the highway and made the drive into Last Chance at twice the posted speed limit. If she got stopped, she’d tell them it was an emergency. Everyone at the sheriff’s department knew her family and Avery was certain the gossip had made the rounds. They would understand.

It was barely 8:00 a.m. when she drove down her block and spotted Chastity’s bright red convertible in their driveway. Rage and shame coursed through her. It was bad enough to have a romp with the town ho, but being so blatant about it was beyond gross. She pulled into the driveway, making sure she didn’t block Chastity’s car since she’d be leaving, and let herself into the house, slamming the front door as she entered. The last thing she wanted was to see anyone naked.

She heard footsteps hurrying down the hallway and a couple seconds later, her dad came into the living room, looking around frantically for the source of the noise. When his gaze landed on her, he let out a breath.

“Avery,” he said. “I thought you were someone else.”

“You mean Mom? The woman who lived here for a million years until you threw her out? That someone else? The one who cleaned and decorated and repaired everything in this broken piece of crap that you refused to sell or even update because Grandmother might roll over in her grave?”

His face flushed with anger. “I will not have you talking to me that way. Your mother chose to leave.”

Avery stared at him, dumbfounded. How did that even make sense? The entire drive to Last Chance, she’d hoped that everyone had been wrong. That some sort of shared psychosis was what was really going on. She’d seen it in a movie once. It was totally possible. At least, that’s what she’d wanted to believe. When she’d seen Chastity’s car in the driveway, all hope had fled on that end of things, but she couldn’t believe her dad was standing there all indignant, insisting that this was her mom’s fault. What the hell was wrong with him?