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Matthew was glad Katie had someone to turn to, someone she could trust. But he had hoped to be that person for her.

“I love her, sir.” He couldn’t stop himself from blurting out the obvious. “I really do.”

“I know, son, but you’re not doin’ her or yourself any good right now. Go home and hold your baby girl so your folks can get on the road. I’ll take the car back to the station and let you know if me or the missus hear from her.”

Matthew hesitated. He thought about using the house keys Katherine had given him to go inside and wait for her there, but he couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t bolt again. And it wasn’t a chance he was willing to take.

“Alright.” He shook the Chief’s hand. “Thank you.”

But Matthew only made it to the edge of his yard when he heard Jerome shout his name, and he came running back.

“Is she here?” he asked, but Jerome didn’t answer. Instead, he tilted his head toward the street and Matthew followed his gaze to see Andie, Maddie, Ellie, and Georgie advancing on them like soldiers marching off to war.

When they stopped at the bottom of the stairs, they fell in line, side by side, while Andie handed their father an envelope and Katherine’s other sisters crossed their arms over their chests.

Recognizing her handwriting, Matthew felt a small sense of relief, even though his stomach was still twisted in knots. When Jerome turned the envelope over to open it, he sawDaddy & Matthewscrawled across the front, and took a deep breath, bracing himself for the message inside.

Jerome swallowed hard before reading the note out loud. “Get off my front porch and go home. You’ll see me when I’m ready to see you. Katherine.”

After all four sisters affirmed Katherine’s words with a stern-looking nod, they turned on their heels without saying a word and marched back toward the street.

“Is it just me, or was that like a mafia hit?”

“You mean right between the eyes?” Matthew asked.

“Yep.”

“I would say so.”

Then they watched as the four Bennett sisters climbed back inside Andie’s minivan and drove away.

** *

“Young lady, do you honestly believe what you’re doing right now is any better?”

Katherine looked confused. She wondered how laying low to figure out the things in her head and heart were somehow the same as what had been done to her.

“But they lied. I’m not lying or being deceitful,” she grumbled, not meaning to be so short with her obliging host.

Although she knew she didn’t deserve sanctuary after her behavior at the diner, Katherine was grateful to have it. She was also grateful that her sisters promised to keep her location a secret.

“Think about it. Did those peoplereallylie to you?”

“Yes!” Katherine snapped, then bit her tongue before her emotions got the best of her again. With a heavy sigh, she slumped back against the couch’s mountain of pillows, looking down at the bandage wrapped around her arm. “I’m sorry, but yes, theydidlie to me.”

“Oh, horse feathers! Can’t you see the difference between a bald-faced lie and a lie of omission?”

Katherine felt her fragile emotions begin to unravel yet again as salty tears teetered along the rim of her lashes, stinging the jagged red lines across the whites of her eyes.

“Don’t you see they were trying to protect you from the awful truth? It might not have been the best way, but maybe it was the only way to keep you from hurting even more. Would you have been able to go on and do all the things you’ve done if you knew everything you know now?”

Drained of any strength she had left, Katherine flopped over on the couch, curled up in a ball, and wept uncontrollably. When she felt a gentle, motherly hand against her back, she managed to cry even harder than she already was.

“Oh, dear girl, I didn’t mean to make you cry like that. But if you can’t see the truth for yourself, I’d be doing you a disservice by not saying anything. Everyone in that diner today loves you. No one wanted to hurt you. Not your father, or Matthew, or Justin. Not even Beth Ann. Can’t you set aside your anger and see how hard it must’ve been for them to carry the burden of that awful truth?”

Katherine’s sobs deepened with regret.

“And it’s not just the people who knew about Max and Beth Ann. Think about those who didn’t know anything. Think about what Zach is going through right now. Can you imagine whathemust be feeling? How does he see sweet Beth Ann now, knowing that she used to be one half of an adulterous affairandpart of a situation that took the lives of two people? I don’t imagine any of this is easy for him either.”