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Marsha squeezed her hand "I’ht it would make a difference, but it didn’t She never answered my letter and when I sent the detective to check on her, she was gone Just like she’d proave up I stopped looking Stopped hoping I accepted that I’d chased away o, I decided to try again"

Charity’s chest tightened "You hired another detective?"

Marsha nodded, her eyes filling with tears "It didn’t take hiirl had died Cancer He said it took her quickly"

Charity nodded She’d had tiet used to the loss of her mother, but for Marsha, that neas fresh Still painful "I’ that when it came to Sandra everyone had been sorry except Sandra herself

"It was a shock," Marsha admitted "She was my only child Shouldn’t I have known? Guessed? Felt it inI mourned her I mourned what could have been What I had throay"

"No," Charity said firmly "You aren’t completely responsible Yes, youup, I begged her to tell me about my family and she wouldn’t She refused, because what she felt wasme alone in the world, and never bothered to tell me the truth I had you all this ti tears "I hatedher to stay, but she wouldn’t When I was a junior in high school, I told her I was done I was going to graduate fro as she could It was six months, and then she took off I stayed She sent me money when she could and I worked part-tih She wasn’t even worried about raduation"

She turned to face Marsha "Tell me you would have been there"

"Yes, but that’s not--"

"The point? It’s exactly the point"

Feelings Charity didn’t nored up inside her She’d learned that it was better not to think about sos too much Better to always be in control Now, as she felt that control starting to slip, she knew she had to get away

"I’o I’ll…We’ll talk later"

She grabbed her handbag and hurried fro down the stairs and out of the building, she glanced both directions, not sure where she should go In the distance, to the left, she saw one of the three parks in town and headed there

She wouldn’t think about it, she told herself And there was no way she was going to cry She never cried It acco weak

She walked briskly along the sidewalk, re to sreen park in a couple of minutes and ducked down one of the tree-lined paths until she found an empty bench Once there, she collapsed and tried to sort out everything spinning in her head

Her reaction to herthe information about Marsha to herself was obviously an emotional misdirect Better to be pissed at Sandra than think about all she’d lost All she’d randmother And if wasn’t for her own mother’s stubborn ways, she could have spent the past twenty-eight years knowing her

Marsha Tilson Which meant Charity’s last name was probably Tilson and not Jones Jeez, had Sandra even bothered to change her na "Jones" on Charity’s birth certificate?

She heard footsteps and angled away from the path At least there weren’t any tears to wipe away She braced herself to have to make polite chitchat, then nearly fell off her seat when she saw Joshtoward her

He looked concerned and uneasy, not to ly handsome self

"Hey," he said

"Hey, yourself"

He paused in front of her "I’ht"

How could he possibly knoas going on? There hadn’t been enough time for him to hear the story from Marsha Unless he already knew

"When did she tell you she was randmother?" she asked, not sure if she was pissed or not

"The day before the first interview"

The interview The job "Oh, God," she whispered "Marsha hired hter"

He sat next to her and put his arm around her "She hired you because you were the best one for the job She didn’t make the decision by herself and you weren’t the only candidate It was a group decision Don’t you have enough on your plate without going there?"

"Maybe," she adainst hi all on her own But it felt so good to lean into his strength As if he could hold all of her problems at bay

"Who else knows?" she asked

"Just ot here, she wanted ht up "What? Is that why you’ve been so nice to randrinned "Want to run that last sentence by your couy to sleep with her only granddaughter?"

"Oh You’re probably right"

"Probably?"

Soainst hiet better You need a little ti to have some surprise fauys"

"I know, but it’s so strange to think about She’s known about s She wanted us to be together" Her eyes began to burn She blinked away the sensation

"My mother was the most stubborn person in the world," Charity whispered "She was totally unconventional She didn’t care if I ate cake for breakfast, or what tirown up with too lanced at hireat in theory, but the truth was, I would have liked a few rules I had to take responsibility for everythingsure there was food in the house by the ti the bills by the time I elve I wanted to be a kid, but I was too scared of ould happen if no one was in charge"

"I’ her hair "You should have had better"