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“Does keeping it a secret hurt anyone?”

Abby ran a hand through her hair, frustrated “I don’t know,” she said “Not really, but kind of indirectly”

She pictured Anna Gut that explained her bizarre reaction She randfather in the picture that day What she had to have felt in that in to understand To know one of the men responsible for theher own faht to be family

“Does telling the secret hurt anyone?”

“Yes,” Abby said Her parents—her mother, especially—would be devastated; their reputations ruined Her grandfather would go to trial and be sent to prison Or worse, be put to death

“Well, then Maybe that’s your answer”

Abby nodded, biting her lip So, keep the secret to herself Keep the past in the past Turning her grandfather in would help no one now What was done socan turn back the clock and change it

She should be relieved So, why did she feel sick at the thought?

Abby fisted her hands in her lap Her nails digging into her pal the truth is the right thing to do no ht over what hurts the most? No matter the personal cost?”

Miss Mandie fell quiet Her emerald eyes ch

urned with unanswered questions as she stared unblinkingly, and Abby sensed a shift in her, a knowing they were not talking about teenage draers kept fro Unthinkable

She toyed with a pencil on her desk, tapping the end of it over the stack of papers there before answering “So in the world Personal sacrifice is a sign of true character Turn everything off, Abby Chances are, you already knohat you have to do You simply fear it in your heart Sometimes, if we stop and listen to that voice deep within, we usually have all the anse need”

ABBY DROVE AROUND FOR hours following school Miss Mandie rong No ht, everything around her, her gut told her nothing It re Abby a hollow ache in her chest and no clue what to do

She returned hoed her heart hadn’t spoken to her, other than to re so she could sneak up to her rooed her way to the kitchen where she knew her

“Abby, we’re in here,” herthey weren’t at their usual spot at the little eat-in table but were seated in the for room instead