Even though Annaleise had been our alibi, had corroborated my story that Daniel and I were fighting and he hit me, that didn’t clear him. In fact, that made it worse. By the time the story rolled through town, people wondered what else he did to me behind closed doors. Were those bruises on my back? What happened in that house without a mother, with a half-vacant father?

Were he and Corinne ever involved? they had asked. They’d asked him. They’d asked all of us.

Never, said Daniel.

Never, said Bailey.

Never, said I.

* * *

DINNER WAS BARBECUE CHICKEN and vegetables that Laura had grown herself. She’d also made the sweet tea, which Everett had obviously never tasted before. His eyes gave him away when he took a gulp, but he recovered well enough, and I squeezed his leg under the table.

“Sugar and liquor,” I said. “We take them very seriously.”

He smiled, and I thought maybe we would get through this all right. But it took only until the second gap of silence—knives sliding against the dishes, bread crunching in my mouth—for Laura to start up again.

“They should be looking at the workers from ten years ago, see if there’s any working the fair. I told them that. Two makes a pattern, right?” The ends of her long blond hair were centimeters from brushing her dinner, and I motioned my fork toward her plate. “Oh,” she said. “Thanks.” She brushed it back behind her shoulders.

“Dinner’s delicious,” I said.

“Pass the butter?” Daniel asked.

“They’re looking in all the wrong places,” Laura went on. I tried to catch Daniel’s eye, but he was focused on the chicken he was cutting from the bone, his expression unreadable. She pushed her chair a little farther out, twisting to the side. “Honestly, they should be talking to Tyler more.” My hand froze, my knife over the chicken. She leaned closer, conspiratorially. “No offense, Nic. But he was seeing her, and I heard he was the last phone call on record—”

Daniel put his cup down on the table a little too hard.

“Who’s Tyler?” Everett asked.

Laura laughed at him before she realized he was serious.

Daniel cleared his throat and answered for her. “A friend we grew up with. He was seeing Annaleise. He and his dad own a construction company, and they’ve been helping us with a few repairs.”

“You know, Nic’s Tyler,” Laura said, like that should clear it all up.

“Oh my God,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Ex-boyfriend, Everett. Tyler was my high school boyfriend.”

Everett smiled tightly at Laura. “Nic’s Tyler, huh?” Then to me, “And he’s helping with the house?”

“Oh,” Laura cut in. “But that was years ago. He’s good people. You’d like him.”

Daniel choked, coughed into the crook of his elbow, and Laura reached an arm for him. “Are you okay?”

My fork trembled over my plate, and I pressed my hands to my legs to still them. “You think he’s involved in Annaleise’s disappearance?” I asked. “Is that what you told the cops?”

“No, I didn’t mean to imply that. I just meant they should be asking him questions, not us. He probably knows more— Oh!” Laura gasped, grabbed my hand, and pressed it to her stomach. I froze, trying to politely pull away, when something rolled, slowly and languidly, and I felt myself sucking in a breath, leaning closer, moving my hands, trying to find it again.

“You feel that?” she asked.

I looked into her face—a little rounder than pretty, balancing out Daniel’s harsh edges—and I felt in that moment how lucky this baby would be. Unlike my mother, Laura would live. And Daniel would know what to do, wouldn’t cower under the weight of responsibilities.

“This will be you guys someday,” Laura said, and I gently pulled back my hands.

Everett finally pretended not to hear part of our conversation, concentrating on his food. Daniel was doing the same.

“This is really good, Laura,” I said.

“It really is,” Everett said.

* * *

I CLEARED THE TABLE with Everett’s help. “Join me for a drink out back?” Daniel said to Everett.

“I’ll join you out back, but I’ll have to pass on the drink.” He grinned at me. “Nicolette took me out and got me toasted last night. You guys don’t mess around down here.”

Daniel laughed. “No, I suppose we don’t. Where’d she take you?”

“Murry’s?” Everett said. “Kenny’s?”

“Kelly’s,” Daniel corrected as I scrubbed the dishes in the sink. “You don’t say.”

I spun around. “Daniel, show him the backyard. Seriously, Everett, if you thought our view was nice? This place is amazing.

“Sit,” I told Laura as she tried to help.

“Thanks. I didn’t mean to get you into trouble with Everett.”

“You didn’t get me into trouble,” I said. “I just don’t talk about home much. Probably caught him by surprise.”

“Okay. Well, I’m sorry,” she said. “I was just shaken. From the cops showing up. And when I’m nervous, I talk too much.”

I nodded, and then I did something that surprised us both as she walked to the back door. I hugged her. My hands were soapy, and the ends of her hair held some crumbs, and I felt her abdomen pressing into my side. “You and Daniel will be fine,” I said, and when I pulled back, she nodded quickly, tears in her eyes. She cleared her throat. “You coming?” She motioned for the back porch, where Everett and Daniel were sitting under the light, watching the sunset.

“In a sec. Gotta use the bathroom.”

I grabbed my purse and waited in the hall until I heard the screen door bang shut. Now that the nursery was almost done, Daniel’s office was mostly a storage area under the stairs, about the size of a walk-in closet. I took out the manila envelope full of cash and used a pen to write Daniel’s name across it. I didn’t think Laura came in here much, but I figured I should leave it inside his desk drawer, just in case.

I owed Daniel money. But if I sent a check, he wouldn’t cash it. If I held it out to him, he wouldn’t take it. I probably could’ve given it to Laura, but I was pretty sure she didn’t know about it. Telling her now would only make her wonder what other secrets Daniel was keeping.

I hadn’t started paying it back for a long time, and it had been hard to scrape together, after rent and lease, on top of school loans. But I was staying here for the summer, and that kid paid me for the sublet up front, and if I let myself get a month behind on the car payment—just this once—I could leave this for him. Before the baby. All debts settled. All ties severed.