Chapter 8 - The Woman on My Porch
I almost closed the door.
Then I looked at the baby.
He was asleep against Maren's chest.
“What happened?”
“Gavin disappeared.”
I stared at her.
“What do you mean?”
“He hasn't answered for three days.”
“That isn't my problem.”
“I know.”
She swallowed.
“But before he disappeared, he took money.”
My stomach tightened.
“How much?”
“All of it.”
Maren had finally discovered what I had learned months earlier.
Gavin didn't build relationships.
He built exits.
And this time, she had been standing where I once stood.
I didn't invite her inside immediately.
But Evelyn began crying upstairs.
Maren looked toward the sound.
Her face crumpled.
“I ruined your family.”
“Yes.”
“I know saying sorry doesn't fix it.”
“No.”
She nodded.
Then she said, “But I won't lie to you anymore.”
That sentence became the beginning of a truth neither of us expected.
Because Gavin had not simply vanished.
He had been moving money again.
And one account carried a name I recognized.
May you like
A name belonging to someone who had attended my baby shower.
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