Page 103 of (My Accidental) Killer Summer

That was easy.

“That’s good,” Noah says, pulling me into his arms. “I had zero intentions of letting you go.” He leans in to kiss me. This time I’m ready and responsive since I brushed my teeth.

He slows the kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Kids, about ready?” He asks without looking away from me.

“Yeah,” Jill says.

“Oh, hey, this was outside. Like, stuck in the ground on a stick or something over by the fence.” Jaq approaches and hands me a folded piece of bright pink paper.

I glance at Noah to see his face visibly blanch with recognition.

“Uh, where was itexactly?” Noah asks tersely.

Jaq jerks his chin toward the backyard. “By the back fence near the big tree. I think Kiki V-T was digging back there cause the dirts all messed up.”

I unfold the note. The letters GGG are monogrammed at the top. And written in very precise cursive is the following:

GGG

You can’t hide any of it from me. You’re foolish to even try. But kudos for the effort, “World’s Okayest Mom”

XO, G

I look at Noah, questioningly.

He looks panicked. “I can explain…”

fifty-one

. . .

EPILOGUE

Elle

My phone rings,interrupting the crazy tense moment with the note and Noah’s reaction. It’s Amy.

“Hey,” I say. “We’ve got a problem that I need to—” I glance at Noah. He’s still fixated on the note. His eyes doing that back-and-forth thing that people do when they can’t believe what they are seeing.

Pink paper.

X. O.

Is that from a woman?

“Fucking, eh, right we’ve got a problem!” she says.

“Did you get a note too?” I ask, lowering my voice so the kids can’t hear.

“Huh?” She sounds genuinely confused. “What note?”

I hold up a finger to the kids and Noah, none of whom are even paying attention to me, and walk into the other room. “We got a note,” I hiss. “Stuck on Doug’s grave. It mentions the shirt I was wearing and basically says we aren’t getting away with shit.”

“Oh, dear,” she sighs. Not quite the reaction I was expecting.