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It only made sense that Sam was upset. Of course, he was. She couldn’t blame him for that. He and his brothers and sisters had been through so much, in ways she couldn’t possibly imagine. Her own parents had been flighty and self-absorbed, but she and Brian hadn’t been touched by tragedy like the Winslows.

Lily Winslow had been found.

And Sam was pulling away. And she had no clue what to do about it.

The physical distance was easy to see, but the emotional distance hadn’t been any more subtle. The man who had told her that he loved her had built an armor around himself so thick, she wasn’t sure she’d ever get to him again.

“You look like you lost your best friend,” Tara observed, coming to sit next to her on the back patio where Alli had gone to do some thinking about the day. “Wait, they didn’t pull the reporter job offer, did they?”

“No. No, they didn’t.”

“You don’t seem okay, if you don’t mind my saying so. Want to talk about it?”

Did she? She wouldn’t be telling anything she shouldn’t. Gabe had told the Winslow siblings at lunchtime that he’d hold off on the news for a few hours to give them time to inform their father. But the news might be filtering out right about now. Surely, by bedtime everyone in Winslow Heights would know that Lily Winslow had been found.

“I’m not sure talking about it is going to help,” Alli admitted. “This isn’t anything I have control over.”

“Which is what drives you crazy,” Tara replied, nodding. “I hate that, too. When I feel powerless and can’t do anything to fix a situation.”

“Are you saying I have control issues?”

“I’m saying that you’re human, and we all have them. Some more than others, but we all like to feel as if we have more control than we really do.”

“The illusion of control?”

“Exactly. Now, what are we talking about exactly?”

“Lily Winslow.”

Slowly, Alli recounted the events at lunch. Sheriff Finn’s arrival, his announcement regarding the remains found outside of town, and then the plan to go to the hospital to break the news to their father and aunt.

“Wow,” Tara whispered, her eyes wide with surprise. “Just…wow. I’ve heard all the stories, of course. Everyone in town has. But I never thought they’d find her. I just assumed the mystery would continue forever.”

“Technically, the mystery still continues,” Alli pointed out. “They only found her remains. They still don’t know what happened to her or who was responsible.”

A fact that was clearly haunting Sam.

“That couldn’t have been an easy conversation with the family,” Tara said. “How did they take the news?”

“They were shocked, as you can imagine. Devastated. I’m sure it’s like their mother died all over again. Sam…”

“Sam?” Tara prompted. “Did he cry? It’s okay if a man cries.”

“I’m fine with a man crying. Sam would have a good reason to cry with that news. In fact, I think I would have preferred that he cried. He just…closed in on himself.”

“Oh. Oh, I think I know what you mean. He withdrew from you?”

“One minute he was holding my hand, the next he’d moved away from me, both physically and emotionally. He was this remote statue after he got the news. I wanted to comfort him. I wanted to tell him that he could lean on me.”

“But he didn’t want to lean on anyone?”

“It all happened so fast. I couldn’t stop it. All of a sudden, he was a completely different person. A person I don’t even know.”

“And he probably doesn’t want you to know this person either.”

“I get the feeling he wants to be alone. It feels wrong to grant that wish. I feel like I should be by his side, helping him through this. But I can’t, if he doesn’t want me there. I’m stuck. I don’t want to disrespect his boundaries, but I think his boundaries are bullshit.”

“I can hear the frustration in your voice. I think I should tell you, though, that you need to give him the space he’s asking you for. This has brought up everything that he’s conveniently buried for more than a decade. He’s going to need some time. Can you give him that?”