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He sputtered in disbelief. "Not to their wife’s brother they don’t. In fact, the less I know about you two—like that—the better."
"But I think you might be able to get some information out of him I couldn’t."
He snorted. "Honestly, I don’t think I could."
"Drew. Please. You’ll never know if you don’t try."
"Mandy," he started uncertainly. But she’d already moved closer and was clinging to his arm.
"Just come to lunch tomorrow," she pleaded. "Maybe get him off alone for a few minutes. And then tell me what you think? Tell me if he’s acting unusual. I’ll even cook your favorite. Roast beef."
Giving in, Drew groaned out his displeasure. "Fine," he muttered. "But I refuse to ask him about … that."
"Thank you, Drew," Amanda exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him tight, stamping his cheek with a quick kiss. "You’re the best brother ever. I owe you."
"Yes," he muttered, making a face of displeasure with each loud, smacking smooch she gave. "You do. Big time."
•
When Mia got home, she hurried in the front door and shut it behind her, leaning back against the closed panel. Pressing a hand to her still-racing heart, she stared across the living room to the table sitting in the kitchen, or rather to the vase full of six long-stemmed roses perched on top of the table.
Eyeing the blood red petals as if they were contaminated, her breathing grew choppy. No way, she thought dizzily. There was no way those had come from a married man. She refused to believe it. She could never image her roommate—
Suddenly, Piper appeared, strolling in from the kitchen as she popped the tab on a can of soda. She started to smile until she saw the expression on Mia’s face.
Jerking to a stop, her grin fell. "What’s wrong?"
Mia shook her head. She couldn’t ask. She wouldn’t. She refused to pry into her roommate’s private life.
In the past three years, Piper had helped her in her time of need. When Mia was struggling through her darkest hour, contemplating suicide, her friend called from five hundred miles away, as if she knew how desperately she was needed, and she invited Mia to come live with her.
Okay, so invited wasn’t quite the right word. She’d ordered.
"Mia, you’re family’s concerned about you. I think every member’s called me in the past week, worried sick. This has gone on long enough."
Mia nodded, but she couldn’t answer. She knew exactly how long it’d been since burying her baby girl. But she couldn’t seem to do anything about it.
"You need to get away from there," Piper insisted. "You need to escape all the memories and just start over."
Start over. The words sent a shiver up her spine. Start over.
"You’re coming to live with me. That’s all there is to it. And you’re going to get help. Your family’s been too lenient, not pushing you toward therapy. But that’s what you need."
Mia wasn’t sure what all her friend went through to move her from Illinois, but a month later, she was living at 410 South Elm and all her things had been arranged in her new room. She didn’t remember much of the move. Piper must’ve taken care of everything because Mia had only been along for the ride, half out of it.
Life here wasn’t easy though. It’d been good for her, yes. But easy? No. After starting therapy, along came a job and responsibilities. Piper made her take on half the cooking and cleaning, half the laundry, and half the bills. And her friend had been right about starting over fresh. Moving had been exactly what she needed.
She owed her life to Piper. She’d saved Mia. Literally.
"Nothing’s wrong," she murmured now, her voice an octave too high. Tearing her gaze from the flowers, she forced a nervous smile Piper’s way.
But her roommate was no fool. Setting her pop on the table next to the roses, she started cautiously toward Mia. Mia wrenched a step back, running into the closed door.
Piper stopped. "Mia?"
"I saw Drew again." It was the first thing she could think to say to divert her friend’s attention; the words just kind of rushed from her throat.
Surprise and excitement bloomed on Piper’s face. "You did?"
