Page 48

Gwen forced a smile. “Zoey.”

“And you are…?” Evan held out his hand in my direction, expression soft, but eyes cold.

“Jared.” So Gwen had told me this morning, anyway. I accepted the shake, unmoved by his iron grip. He shook my hand so hard it was like he was trying to rip my arm from its socket. “Zoey and Allie were really close. Didn’t want to send her all this way on her own.”

“I don’t know what I would do without him.” Gwen rested her head on my bicep and laced our fingers together.

Not a sign of affection for me or for her. She was playing a part. A sweet young lady, devastated by the loss of her friend, relying solely on her boyfriend for support through it.

It worked. Because Evan’s piercing eyes softened the moment he realized I wasn’t the threat. Allie hadn’t run into my arms. She had run into a woman’s. A woman as weak and malleable as he had wished Allie had been.

“But I’m so sorry to meet under the circumstances,” Gwen said to Ava. “I never would’ve thought… I’m so sorry. For your loss, I mean.”

Ava swallowed and forced a smile. “Yeah, I don’t—” She blew out a deep breath. “Thanks. I know you must be here to say goodbye and everything, but I just have so many questions. We both”—she gestured between herself and Evan, then to a man and woman near the door—“we all do. I still don’t even know where she was. I don’t know why she left.”

My eyes flicked to Evan, and my jaw tightened.

No change in his expression. He still wore that intense, almost focused frown. His brow still pulled up in the center, creasing like he was trying with all his might to look sad. No redness in his cheeks from all those weeps, no chafed skin around his eyes or nose from wiping tears and snot that came with true, body-breaking grief.

“A little town in Montana,” Gwen said.

Ava’s brows furrowed.

Evan’s face didn’t budge.

“Montana?” Ava asked. “What was she doing in Montana?”

“I’m not sure really,” Gwen said. “She didn’t talk about her life here much. Just said she wanted a fresh start. She was about to start school though. She wanted to work with kids.”

A hard swallow bobbed Evan’s throat.

Was that grief? Shame? Both?

Ava’s lip quivered. “I—I don’t understand. Why didn’t she just go to school here? And why didn’t she tell me? I mean, we were never the closest, but she was my sister. Sisters tell each other when they move across the country.”

“Honestly, I don’t know.” Shaking her head, Gwen softened her voice. “All she ever really said was that things weren’t always great at home. The day we met, she had a nasty black eye.”

Gwen didn’t look at Evan when she said that. His shoulders stiffened though.

“A black eye?” Ava’s mouth hung open. “What are you—are you sure?”

That woman, the one by the door, the one Ava had gestured to, popped her head up. Her wide eyes fell on Ava, then on Gwen, then on Evan. They lingered there a moment. His stayed on hers. The baby blues returned. So did that bullshit wrinkle in his forehead.

The woman patted the arm of the man she’d been standing with. She squared her shoulders and pasted on a smile as she started our way.

“Pretty sure, yeah,” Gwen said. “I never really asked about it, but⁠—”

The woman pressed her manicured fingers to Ava’s elbow. “Daddy needs your help getting some things out of the car. Would you meet him out there, honey?”

“Mom, this is Zoey,” Ava said, not even looking at her mother. “She knew Allie. Like, recently. She said Allie had a black eye when they met, and she’s gotta be mistaken, right? I saw Allie the day before she left, and⁠—”

“Zoey,” the woman repeated, holding out her hand. “That lady—she didn’t tell me your name, but she told me you’d be coming.” Her voice was some odd combination of timid and assertive. “Thank you. Thank you for being here.”

Ava blinked hard at her mother in disbelief.

For half a second, Gwen did too. It only took a heartbeat for her to resume her character. She forced a sad smile and shook the woman’s hand. “Thank you for having me. I’m really grateful. Charlotte, right?”

“Wait, what lady?” Ava turned to face her mother better. “What are you talking about?”