I don’t hesitate.
“Because her niece is performing,” I whisper.“And I want her to give me a chance.So, maybe tonight is a start?”
A start to something I should’ve begun a long time ago.
A start toward making things right.
A start toward earning—if not forgiveness—then maybe the chance to look her in the eyes without shame.
Trish sighs.
“Well, if you’re going to do it, at least try not to traumatize any children.”
“I promise,” I say, but for the first time since coming home, something like hope flickers in my chest.
Small.
Stupid.
Probably doomed.
But hope, nonetheless.
ChapterNine
Adrianna
Momand I are just about ready to leave for the school play.
Coats on, scarves wrapped, the giant wooden sign Mom crafted loaded into the back of my SUV.
Bella’s been at the school for two hours already, and Adele’s there already setting up the bakery’s snack stand with all the goodies we’re donating for tonight.
All I need are my gloves, because—seriously—fuck, it’s cold, and Mom.
I grab them off the hook by the door just as the doorbell rings.
“Who could that be?”Mom mutters, fluffing her hair in the hall mirror and winding the fluffy scarf Bella got her for Christmas this year around her neck.
“I’ll get it,” I say, already smiling, assuming it’s a neighbor or maybe one of the drama moms needing last-minute cookies.
I open the door—and freeze.
There’s a man standing on my porch.
A stranger.
Tall.Broad.Menacing in a way that sets my instincts screaming.
He smiles at me, but it’s not friendly.
It’s smug.
Hungry.
Like he’s savoring a secret I don’t know yet.
Every hair on my body stands on end.
