A warning that settled into my stomach.
Savannah swallowed, her attention sharp. She whispered, “Do you know where the girl is now? Who is she?”
Mary’s eyes darkened. “I don’t know where she is,” she said. “But I do know who she is. And Hadley... if you’re going to her, you need to understand something.”
My breath hitched.
“She wasn’t the same person after it.” She looked away, the memory making her sad. “She dropped out not long after.”
“Because of what happened? Or because they changed the narrative?” Savannah muttered darkly.
Mary nodded. “Either way, it definitely changed her.”
The front door opened, and my breath hitched.
“Mar!” a voice called.
Mary winced. “Um... in here! I’m not alone!”
Brent walked into the front room and stopped dead, their daughter in one of those baby-carrier things that always looked uncomfortable for the kid, in my opinion. “Hadley?”
“Hey,” I said, not flinching when I met his gaze.
“What’s going on?” he asked Mary.
I stood quickly. “I just need her name,” I said with a polite smile that wasn’t real, “and we’ll be gone.”
Savannah stood too — reading the room like she’d trained for it.
Three minutes later, we were back outside. I knew it was three minutes because I’d counted every second.
Savannah buckled in. “So... do we talk about that?”
“No.”
She nodded. “Want to talk about everything before that?”
“Don’t you?” I asked, pulling away from the curb, checking my mirrors like I needed a task to keep me upright.
Savannah didn’t hesitate. “Yeah. Lots to unpack.”
In the rearview, Mary and Brent stood on the porch, baby strapped to his chest like she was about to go bungee jumping.
Savannah was right.
There wassomuch to unpack.
* * *
We’d barely made it two blocks before Savannah reached over and patted my knee.
I looked at her and then at my knee. “What’s that for?”
She shrugged. “You did well,” she said simply.
Silence filled the car, but not a peaceful one. It felt heavy. If I gave her any background information, it would have to be all of it. No one needed that. Especially not me. Instead, we sat in silence like both of us were afraid the wrong sentence might break something open.
“So...” Savannah said, finally. “We’re not talking about it, but we said we’re... talking about it, right?”