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I stepped back, feeling my face contort with condemnation. “How dare you? Zoe was fine at that school. I know it isn’t as pretty as the school here, but it’s a good school.” Okay, that was a stretch, but I wouldn’t let him talk bad about Mountainside.
“Zoe wasn’t fine.” Each word was an accusation off his tongue. “Every time I took her to that school she’d change, withdraw into herself.”
“She never said a thing to me.”
“Me either. But I heard it firsthand—this little asshole and his followers calling you a whore.”
I jerked back as if he’d slapped me. “They didn’t.”
“They did. I threatened the little jerk that I’d sue him and his whole family with slander if they couldn’t prove that statement.”
An inappropriate giggle burst from my throat. “You didn’t?” I asked.
He chuckled. “I did. Scared the pants off of them. But I couldn’t leave her there. She had enough to deal with without being bullied.”
I closed my eyes and dropped my head before facing him again. “Fine. Thank you. You did the right thing. But I’m back and you can’t make unilateral decisions about”—the word clawed in my throat before I forced it out—“ourdaughter.”
“Agreed,” he said.
“I should get home, but don’t think I’m okay with Zoe living with you forever.”
His face changed. I didn’t know him well enough to read his expression. “Have you talked to Avery?”
“Not much. Why?”
“You should talk to her before you go.”
I was smart enough to notice he hadn’t said “go home,” and I didn’t like it. I called Avery. “Can you come outside and tell me what’s going on with my place? I don’t want to wake up Zoe.”
FOURTEEN
When Avery came out,I immediately felt bad. She had terrible bed head, and I’d likely woken her up. “Sorry, I fell asleep. I do that a lot lately,” she said.
“Tell me about it,” I said. When she glanced down at her belly, I got it. “Oh, my God. You’re pregnant.”
“Yeah,” she said. “It’s Nate’s.”
I wasn’t surprised, but she looked worried. “I’m so happy for you both.”
There was a time when I’d cursed the Bowmen family, as had her father. But from all I’d witnessed, they’d done everything they could for Zoe since I’d been gone.
“I love him,” Avery said, speaking about Mitchell’s brother, Nate.
I hugged her fiercely. “I know. We all saw the sparks at the barn dance. But I need you to tell me about my place. What did my mother do?”
Though I wouldn’t admit Mom’s faults to Mitchell, Avery knew everything about my homelife growing up, as I knew everything about hers.
“She didn’t do anything. When your rent wasn’t paid, they gave your trailer to someone on the waiting list or something like that. If I’d known, I would have paid it.”
“No. It’s not your fault, and besides, Agan paid the month before we left. We haven’t been gone that long.”
Avery stared at me for a long time. “How long do you think it’s been?”
“Three weeks,” I said.
She shook her head. “It’s been longer than that.” She lifted her phone and showed me the date.
How could I have lost a week or more? I thought about how much we’d slept for what I’d thought was the last few days. Then there had been the time spent in the cave with all the rain. We hadn’t had a clock of any kind to tell us how long that had lasted.
