Page 42

“I love you, too.”Abby turned so she could gaze into his eyes.“I’ll come home as soon as I can.”

“Don’t worry about us, we’re fine.”

“I promise, I’ll make it up to you.”

“Can you start tonight?”Alex asked.

Abby grinned.“Give me fifteen minutes to put them all to bed.”

“Fifteen minutes?That’s ambitious.”

“I’m fast.”Abby stood up.

“Don’t expect me to be fast,” Alex flirted.

Abby bent down and kissed him long and hard.Alex stood up, and as she turned to leave, he grabbed her butt.

“I’ll hurry,” Abby said, then called out.“So, which one of my three adorable children will be able to get in bed and fall asleep the fastest?”

A chorus of “me-me-me” rang out as three little beings raced to their rooms.

CHAPTER 20

Carla

Carla loved New York and would never have considered moving away.She loved the smell of hot dogs wafting through the air, picnics in Central Park, the marquees in the theater district, and the way that Statue of Liberty was lit up for every holiday.These were just some of the things that made the city exciting all year long.

When Morgan and Charlie were born, Carla couldn’t wait for them to get old enough to introduce them to everything the city had to offer, musicals, art museums, the Empire State Building, and Serendipity for hot chocolate.But she didn’t experience most of those things with them because Brian’s actions ruined New York for her so badly she had to move.

When Carla decided to leave, she felt she had to get as far away from Brian as possible.Los Angeles was across the country, and it was so different from New York that it would never remind her of how wonderful things had been with him when they first got married.She only hoped the girls were young enough to forget they ever lived in New York.The thought of them bringing it up brought a shiver to her bones.

Carla felt sure she was making the right decision by leaving Brian.When she told the girls that their father wasn’t joining them, Morgan, not even six, seemed to be the only one who understood.One night, Carla overheard Morgan explaining her father’s absence to her stuffed elephant.She wasn’t crying, only slightly sniffling, so Carla told herself Morgan would move on quickly.

As the girls got older and they pushed for details about their father, Carla made it clear she wasn’t going to go there, and they finally stopped asking.Over the years, Carla experienced moments of guilt, wondering whether her daughters would eventually be affected by growing up without a father.If at any point Carla had given any thought to the relationships her daughters had with men, she would have had to admit the truth, but she didn’t allow herself to go there.

Carla didn’t know anyone in Los Angeles, but she didn’t mind because she had her daughters, and they were all she needed.She found a two-bedroom apartment in a quiet neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley.She put sheets over the bedroom windows because drapes were not in her budget.She cooked a lot of Hamburger Helper and chicken nuggets.She couldn’t afford to take the girls to the Natural History Museum, amusement parks, or the zoo, but at least the city parks and beaches were free.

Brian had never been great at saving money, which was why Carla kept the small amount she’d inherited from her grandparents a secret.That money served to keep her and the girls afloat while she worked to pass the test for her real estate license in California.

After two years and a lot of hard work, Carla could finally afford a small house on a street near the girls’ elementary school in Studio City, a small suburb of Los Angeles.The eighteen-hundred square foot four-bedroom house sat between two mansions that towered over it like a short person at a standing-room-only concert.

During those first years in Los Angeles, Carla’s social life revolved around her daughters.

That is until the day she met Ginny.Carla had made an appointment with a new client interested in buying a house.From the moment Ginny Baxter walked into Carla’s office, Carla knew she’d found a good friend.It wasn’t that they had a lot in common; it was that they admired each other.

Carla was a single, working woman taking care of three daughters, while Ginny, who was married, used to be a high-powered attorney but quit when she inherited money from her father.That gave her the ability to relax and travel the world.Carla envied Ginny’s close relationship with her parents, while Ginny envied Carla’s relationship with her daughters, as she had been unable to have children.

Not only did Carla find Ginny the perfect house, but the two of them spent many afternoons there drinking wine and chatting about their lives.Carla avoided talking a lot about the past, but because she trusted Ginny, she did reveal a few things about her life in New York.

When Carla’s daughters eventually moved away, she turned to Ginny for comfort.Charlie was the first one to go.She attended the University of Arizona for graduate school and opened her therapy practice in Scottsdale.A year later, Morgan took off for Oregon to distance herself from the friends she used to drink with, and Abby moved to San Diego when Alex got promoted and transferred.Carla missed them but wanted them to be happy and enjoy their lives wherever they were.

After her last daughter left, Carla joined a book club and tried to make a few new friends, but her social life remained small.She didn’t go out that often and continued to make a point of being private, so she panicked when her face was suddenly plastered all over the internet.People from her past would know where she was.

I’m going to lose my mind if I have to live like this, she thought, until she stopped living altogether.

CHAPTER 21

Morgan