Haven appeared at my elbow. "Willa told me," she said quietly. "About the baby. She's not cramping, she feels fine. You can stop worrying about that part."
"I wasn't?—"
"Forrest."
"...I was a little worried about that part."
"I know." She squeezed my arm once. "Congratulations. Both counts."
The front door opened and Stetson came in, the sheriff behind him, hat in hand. A deputy stayed outside, raising one hand in a short wave before the door shut. He was chatting with Gage outside—maybe keeping an eye out in case the Daleys came back.
“Well, shit,” the sheriff said. “Gage told me there was a bit of a scuffle at the gate. Wanna fill me in?”
Willa looked at the sheriff and then at me. I gave her the smallest nod…because this really wasn’t up to me.
This was her choice.
It was all her choice.
She straightened in her chair.
“I’ll tell you whatever you need to know,” she said.
The sheriff looked from me to her. “And you are…?”
“Willa Daley,” she said. “I mean…Willa Pruitt? Willa somethin’.”
The sheriff frowned, and I could see the alarm all over his face. “You’re one of the Daley girls?”
“Yeah,” she said. “And I’m ready to tell you the whole story.”
The sheriff sat down, then, across from Willa, clasping his hands on the table.
“Alright,” he said. “Lay it on me.”
So she did…and I had to listen as I got all the details of what she’d been through.
SEVENTEEN
Willa
I hadn’t told Forrest everything.
Maybe it was out of shame…maybe because it was just too painful to revisit, because I didn’t want it all out there. But now it felt like other people were depending on me—the other women on the Daley homestead, the children, maybe even my family back home.
This could be the end of the whole endeavor, if I was honest and open. If I reclaimed my own future.
So I told Sheriff Braddock everything.
“I um…” I started, immediately second guessing myself. Everyone was watching—waiting.
Haven cleared her throat. “We can leave—” she started.
“No,” I shook my head. “You can stay. I’m not ashamed. I was never the one to blame.”
Forrest’s fists clenched around the edge of the countertop, and he heaved a deep breath.
“Alright,” Sheriff Braddock said. “I’m listening.”
