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The words seemed to echo some of the sentiments Tori had been trying to say on that fateful night, didn’t they?

“Sandy!” Emmitt bellowed from the other room.

“Dad wants his night libations.”

Her mother walked out of the room as if she hadn’t just dropped her own bomb, leaving Miranda confused and uncertain where to land.

More than anything Miranda was stunned. Had they actually had a decent conversation for once? Rebel tugged on Miranda’s skirt.

“‘Elp?”

“Yes, you can help.” She dragged over a chair and started to teach Rebel how to cook some of their dinner. If her parents weren’t going to help, at least Rebel would.

After a dinner that was rather uneventful, where no one brought up the fact that Tierney was still gone, Miranda had a weighty decision to make. As she got home with a sleepy Rebel, Miranda put her to bed in her own room and then collapsed on the couch with a glass of wine she wasn’t sure she wanted to drink.

Her phone was in her hand, her mother’s words ringing through her mind since she’d said them. She breathed out a sigh and closed her eyes. She didn’t have a support system. And right now, she had no one to talk to. The only person who kept coming to mind was Tori.

On a whim, Miranda unlocked her phone. She hadn’t read any of the texts Tori had sent in the last week. She’d used busyness as an excuse, but after Rebel had knocked her down and their awkward moment at the daycare center, Miranda couldn’t bring herself to figure out what was going on between them.

She called without reading them. Tori picked up on the third ring, a curious, “Hello?” ringing through the phone.

Warmth spread in Miranda’s chest at just the sound of her voice. “Hey.”

Stilted silence filled them.

“Um…I talked to Aili today.”

“Oh?” Tori didn’t actually seem all that interested.

“She said Rebel is making a lot of improvements lately. She’s been really impressed.”

“That’s good.”

Miranda bit her lip. Why had she called again? This wasn’t going well. She had been the one to stop talking, she knew that, but she’d been overwhelmed with everything. She still was.

“I haven’t heard from Tierney in a while. Mom has. She’s on boyfriend number five or six I guess. Hasn’t found her soulmate.” She let out a wild and weird chuckle. Why was she so nervous? Miranda had to get better control of herself. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately.”

“I don’t think you ever stop thinking,” Tori teased, but Miranda could tell her whole heart wasn’t in it.

And it brought up a memory. One of Tori with fingers inside her, mouth against her, telling her to stop thinking while she convulsed with pleasure, the only thought in her mind at the time was Tori. Nothing but sweet, sunny Tori. Against her wishes, Miranda’s body heated, pleasure growing between her legs, and she had to shift on the couch with how uncomfortable her body had become.

“That’s probably true.” Miranda found herself smiling slightly. “I know Rebel misses Harley.”

“Harley misses her.”

Why was this so hard? Miranda smoothed her fingers over her leg. It shouldn’t be this hard to talk to someone when it had been so easy before. “I need to make Rebel more of a priority in my life, especially if Tierney isn’t going to come home any time soon.”

“I think you’re already doing that.” Tori’s voice cracked, but she caught it. “You’ve been wonderful for her.”

“Aili seems to think so. I just worry about her.”

“You worry about Tierney.”

She did. Every day she wondered if Tierney was going to resurface or if she’d vanish into the ether. “And I don’t want Rebel to have to worry about that.”

“She doesn’t.”

“She’s two. She doesn’t know better.”