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waited until she heard the engine start and saw the pickup roll forward before she turned to go inside.
    If she were to glance back, she wondered if she’d find him watching her. Probably not. She might’ve only imagined the spark between them, but she didn’t think so. Maybe he was still in mourning and wasn’t ready to get back in the dating saddle. Had the tension between them made him feel guilty?
    She couldn’t stand it. She had to sneak a final look.
    He’d just made the turn onto Main Street. And now drove in the opposite direction of the Food Mart, toward the highway leading back to the Lucky 7. Proof of what she’d already known. He’d used the store as an excuse. It pleased her and made her laugh.
    “What was he doing here?”
    The snarl in Liberty’s voice had Beth jerking around to stare at her niece. She was coming from the stop where the school bus dropped off town kids. Candace and Liberty didn’t live nearby, but she got off in town on the days she worked for Beth—who’d somehow managed to forget today was one of those days.
    “Who?” Beth followed the spiteful gaze aimed at Nathan’s truck. “Nathan Landers?”
    “Yeah.” Liberty gave a surly huff. “What the hell did he want?”
    “How do you know—? Oh, God.” Beth finally realized why his name had sounded familiar. She’d seen it on the victims’ restitution list, the one that had been issued by the court. Nathan was one of the dubiously proud owners of Liberty’s wall art.

4
    B ETH SAT AT the kitchen table, sipping her morning coffee as she listened to her sister and niece get into yet another argument. They were down the hall, probably in Liberty’s room, but their rented house was tiny and Beth could hear every heated word.
    This time the disagreement centered on how Liberty was dressed for school. A rather popular theme for them—although the shouting could’ve been about anything, ranging from using each other’s things without permission to whether Liberty could visit her father in prison. Their differences seemed endless, and Beth felt awful for both of them.
    Sadly, their quarrels weren’t the typical mother-daughter stuff because Candace hadn’t grown up yet. They sounded more like teenage sisters. At times Beth felt pathetically grateful she’d been spared ten years of the ongoing drama, but mostly she felt guilty.
    Yes, she’d been only seventeen when her sister had taken Liberty and fled without even leaving a note. But contact had been reestablished five years ago, and Beth, wrapped up in her career, had ignored the signs they were headed for trouble. Turning a blind eye had been easy to rationalize. After all, she’d already done her share. At age eleven she’d started taking care of Candace and their mother, and then later Liberty, making sure they all had a roof over their heads and food in the fridge.
    “Stop it, Candace.” Liberty stormed into the kitchen, her long brown hair flying everywhere. She dropped her backpack on a chair and flung open the fridge. “You try to act and dress like you’re still young, but you’re not. You’re old and you don’t know what you’re talking about. Girls don’t wear that kind of shit to school anymore.”
    “Come on, Lib,” Beth said quietly. Normally she didn’t interfere, but she knew Candace wouldn’t correct her daughter’s language. “I know you have a better vocabulary than that.”
    The teenager rolled her eyes, but she’d watch her mouth...at least as long as Beth was present. They’d had a few discussions about showing respect.
    “That’s right. Listen to your aunt but ignore me.” Candace swept a contemptuous gaze over Liberty’s baggy jeans, oversize T-shirt and combat boots. “But she doesn’t have a man, now, does she? And neither will you if you keep dressing like a damn slob.” Candace shook back her overprocessed, bleached hair. “Old, my ass. Last week at that silly PTA meeting, I could’ve had any man I wanted. You shoulda