Doesn’t matter.
None of it does.
Because Josie’s not here. And Savannah is.
She keeps showing up like a virus that won’t clear. Keeps acting like this town owes her something. Keeps asking whereJosie is, pretending like she just wants to talk, like I don’t know exactly what her brand of ‘talk’ looks like. Gossip, guilt, knives in the back.
It’s a full-time job just keeping her away from Josie. I’ve told her to stay away. I’ve told her to leave Silver Peak altogether. I’ve ignored her texts. Blocked her number.
Nothing works.
I grip the plastic spoon tighter. The handle snaps in half.
“Shit.”
I toss the broken spoon across the pantry, where it ricochets off a can of navy beans and clatters to the floor. The soup sloshes over my hand. Sticky butterscotch coats my knuckles. I sit there like a damn toddler with pudding on my fingers and no one to blame but myself.
Shit, what the hell am I doing?
The pantry door creaks open.
I freeze.
Shit. I thought I locked it.
But then I see her.
Josie.
She steps inside like a ghost, quiet, pale, eyes too big for her face. She closes the door behind her, pressing her back to it like she needs the wood for support.
Her hair’s pulled up in a messy bun, strands sticking to her cheeks like she’s been sweating or crying. Or both.
“Josie,” I breathe, heart lurching straight into my throat. I start to rise. “You… are you okay? What are you?—”
“I need to talk to you,” she says, voice thin but steady. “Right now.”
I’m on my feet instantly, adrenaline flooding my system. “If it’s Savannah, listen, I’ve been trying to keep her away. I swear I didn’t know she’d show up at?—”
“It’s not about Savannah.”
Her hands tremble at her sides. She’s trying to keep her chin up, but I can see it, that glassy edge in her eyes. Whatever this is, it’s going to wreck me.
“I’ve been trying to find the right moment. Trying to say it nicely… but now I just need to get it out.”
I stiffen as my entire nervous system is drenched in ice, poised for the hurt I know will come. She draws in a breath that sounds like it scrapes her lungs raw.
“I’m pregnant.”
The words hang in the air for a second too long before they detonate.
Pregnant.
I stare at her.
Then the world tilts.
No noise. No motion. Just the single, blinding snap of something coming undone inside me.
