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Mr. Browne turned toward her.

“Nah, I thought you said you had everything.”

“I thought I did too.” She looked toward the kitchen. “I can’t finish dinner without them.”

“I’ll go,” I offered.

She looked at me.

“You sure, baby?”

“Yeah. What kind you need?”

“Two green ones and a red one.”

“I got you.”

Maliah put her phone down and then slid into her Ugg slippers.

“I’ll come with you.”

I stood and reached for my keys.

“Come on, then.”

“Don’t let her come back with the whole store,” Mr. Browne said.

Maliah stopped beside his chair.

“Daddy, I bought decorations one time.”

“One time was enough.”

She leaned down and kissed his cheek.

“You’re welcome for making your house look nice.”

He smiled at her before he turned his attention back to the television. I waited while she grabbed her purse, then followed her out to the car. The sun had started going down, and the air was cooler than it had been earlier. Maliah pulled her sleeves over her hands as we walked down the driveway.

“You cold?” I asked.

“A little.”

I opened the passenger door for her and then made a mental note to turn the heat on once I got in the car. The grocery store wasn’t far from the house, and we spent most of the ride talking about everything except Ghost. Maliah told me Maylee had been trying to convince their mother to let her start decorating for Christmas early, even though they’d barely finished putting up the fall stuff. I told her I wasn’t helping move another piece of furniture after the way she’d put MJ to work while getting the house ready for Mr. Browne.

When I made it to the house earlier, everyone had their own version of how Maliah was acting the day Mr. Browne came home. When we reached the store, I pulled into a spot near the entrance.

“You want me to come in?” I asked.

“For three peppers? No.” She unbuckled her seat belt. “I’ll be right back.”

I watched her walk toward the entrance before reaching for my phone. I had a message from Sha asking if I’d heard anything else. I typed back that I hadn’t, then sat there looking at the screen. I was tired of telling people I didn’t know where Ghost was. My trip to North Carolina replayed in my head, and it pissed me off because every time I thought I might be getting somewhere, I ended up right back where I started.

I put my phone down and looked toward the store. Maliah was coming out with a small grocery bag in one hand. She’d made it halfway across the sidewalk when she slowed down. There was a woman sitting near the edge of the building just a few feet from the entrance. She had a bag beside her and a cardboard sign propped against her knees. I hadn’t paid much attention to her when we pulled in, and neither had Mali. But this time she had stopped in front of her. I watched her say something and then reach into her purse. She pulled out some cash and bent slightly to hand it to the woman. The woman lifted her head, and when she did, I sat forward.

Something about her face made my stomach tighten. I couldn’t see her clearly from where I was parked, so I leaned closer to the windshield. Maliah said something else, and the woman looked up at her again, giving me a clear look at her profile. I knew that face. For a second, I couldn’t move. I just sat there staring while my mind tried to make sense of what I was seeing. I hadn’t seen her since what she tried to do to me, and now she was sitting outside a grocery store, accepting money from my girl.

I pushed my door open and got out. My vision blurred as I walked toward them. I blinked hard while trying to focus on the woman’s face. Slowly, I closed in the space between them and me, and Maliah noticed me first.