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“I know,” I reply softly. “I’ll handle it.”
“You need to get the fuck out of there, Abbi.”
“Who thefuckis that?” Brady demands.
“I’ll handle it,” I say again and click off, just as Chase approaches me, his face hard.
Oh, God.
“Abbi,” Chase says, but Brady puts his hand on Chase’s chest, holding him away.
“Mommy?”
“Jake,” I say, without taking my eyes off Chase. “Would you please take the little kids outside? Don’t go far, okay? And don’t take your eyes off of them. That’s very important.”
“Sure,” Jake says. “Come on, you little turds. Let’s go find some trouble.”
When they’re gone, Chase shakes his head at me, and Brady’s watching both of us.
“Abbi,” Brady says, his voice hard. “I need you to tell me what the fuck is going on.”
“First,” Chase says, holding up his phone. There’s aMissing Childimage on the screen, with Daisy’s smiling face on it. “Tell me what the fuck this is about.” His voice is all cop. All ice.
Brady’s gaze whips to me, and he backs away as if he’s been burned.
My life is falling apart around me, and the panic attack wants to surface, but I swallow and then look around the room.
Erin and Remington, all of my friends, and their husbands. Millie. Their parents. They’re all staring at me, waiting for me to talk.
“Did youkidnapDaisy?” Brady demands.
“No.” It’s a whisper, and I rub my hands over my face before Joy jumps in.
“Come on, everyone,” Joy says. “Let’s sit in the dining room and talk this out. Abbi, it’s okay, darling. Let’s sit.”
I follow the others, and I sit at the end of the table so I can see everyone.
If I have to tell those who mean the most to me that I’ve been lying to their faces, I’m going to look them in the eyes while I do it.
Brady sits next to me, but he won’t touch me. He’s iced me out, and that alone shatters my heart.
“I’m going to tell you this story,” I say, my voice not wavering, my chin up. “And then I’m going to leave. Daisy and I will disappear.”
“Like. Fucking. Hell.” Brady’s voice is hard, bordering on mean. I reach for his hand, but he pulls back, out of reach.
“Most of you know that my mom died when I was young. I spent my teen years in foster care. It wasnoteasy. I was emotionally, physically, and sexually abused.”
“Jesus,” Chase whispers as Polly covers her mouth with her hands.
“In high school, I made a friend named Nate Channing. He was from the other side of the tracks, so to speak, and he was super smart and really nice to me. Anyway, we were friends all through school. He’d help me with money, especially after I turned eighteen and left the foster home I was living in.
“This is relevant, trust me. When he was in college, we ended up getting pregnant.” I swallow hard. “On accident, of course. He wanted to do the right thing and marry me, and I agreed. His parents didnotlike me. Not at all. Not even a little.”
“Assholes,” Millie mutters.
“What I haven’t told you is that Nate had an older sister, Natalie. She died before he was born, but that death kind of sent his mom into a bad mental space. And when I had Daisy, my daughter looked a lot like Natalie.”
“Oh, shit,” Ryan says.
