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Prologue
Hannah Destin sat on the edge of her bed and listened to her mom and dad fight through the wall.
“You aren’t going anywhere!” her dad yelled, and then she heard what sounded like her mom being slammed into a wall.
“Hannah and I are leaving!” Sounds of a scuffle and slapping hands.
Her parents had been in plenty of fights, but there was something different in the air today. Something dangerous.
“If you leave, you’re never coming back, do you hear me?” he shouted.
“I neverwantto come back!”
Hannah’s door slammed open and bounced against the wall. “Let’s go, Hannah.”
She clutched her bag, wishing she could drive to get away, but she had three more years until she was sixteen.
“You aren’t taking Hannah,” Dad snarled.
Mom looked surprised, then scared. “The hell I’m not!”
“She stays.”
Hannah’s heart was beating so fast she thought it might blow up as her parents stared each other down. There was no way she was staying here, especially if her mom wasn’t around. She eyed the space between her dad and the door.
“Let’sgo, Hannah!”
Her mom had that scary glint in her eye, and suddenly she felt as if the last bit of rug had been pulled out from under her feet, no safety anywhere. She hunched her shoulders and clutched her backpack against her chest, feeling the reassuring soft body of her teddy through the fabric.
For a few moments longer, her parents glared at each other like angry wild animals. Then her father lashed out and hit her mother in the face, and Hannah ducked between them and ran out of the room, out of the house, and straight to the car. She jumped in and slammed down the door locks, then tossed her bag down on the floor and twisted around to kneel on the back seat.
She kept her eyes glued on the front door, praying that a neighbor had heard the commotion and called the cops. After what seemed like forever, Mom came stumbling out of the house. Hannah kept quiet as she got behind the wheel. She didn’t have long to wonder what might have happened, because the door flew open and Dad rushed out the door, his eye bloody.
The engine turned over and they flew down the driveway, tires screeching.
Hannah didn’t know where they were headed. Her mom hadn’t told her anything more than to pack a bag. She just hoped that wherever they were going, it would be better than what they had just left behind.
Chapter 1
Hannah swiped the package over the scanner. The register beeped and the price flashed onto the screen, right next to the time. She had only been on shift for an hour, and she could hardly wait to leave. Pushing one item after another for seven more hours on her feet was the last thing she wanted to do. Not that she should complain. She was lucky to have a job, which was something her boss, Lloyd Hooley of Hooleys Groceries, didn’t hesitate to remind her of.
“I don’t usually hire girls like you,” he had told her many times throughout the last decade.
She usually just smiled and kept her thoughts to herself. Even though the “girl” he’d hired was an adult, a mother who paid all her own bills, and an honor student. She’d even had a scholarship to college, but she’d stayed home to marry her high school sweetheart and have the baby. Yet, the girl Mr. Hooley sneered about was the person Prairie Valley believed she was. Drunk Joel Destin’s daughter, who let some boy knock her up before she was even out of school.
She continued to swipe Mrs. Nyberg’s items as her eyes wondered around the store. Seven more hours might be torture, but things could be so much worse. Troy hadn’t had a job in a year. Not that it would matter to Hannah if he did. He hadn’t paid child support since the day he left, when Emma was only a baby. And though her rent was reasonable, there were still all the other expenses, like utilities and food and gas. And a daughter who wanted fancy things and name-brand clothing like all the other girls had. She tried to save up, but never seemed to get anywhere. She had no idea what she was going to do when Emma needed money for college.
“Hannah, those cucumbers are supposed to be on sale,” Mrs. Nyberg pointed out.
It took her a moment to snap back to reality. “I’m sorry,” she said, tapping the register keys, then flipping a switch. Her station’s light began to flash, and Tim Hooley hurried over.
She faked a smile. “The cucumbers are coming up at the regular price.”
He pulled the keyring off his belt. “Sorry about the mistake, Betty.”
“It’s no problem.” She waved her hand. “Hannah’s doing fine.”
Hannah gritted her teeth and didn’t say a thing. Tim was in charge of pricing, not her. Hadn’t she just been telling Emma to think before she spoke? Did she need to say something? Would it help the situation? Did he deserve to be called out?
