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ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-NINE

COAL MOUNTAIN CEMETERY

One Week Later

Family meant everything. Ellie had overheard Barbara, Loretta and Ros talking and supporting each other and saw it in their eyes. Everything they’d done had been to have a family and to protect it. Even though their secrets had led to them losing Claire and the twins.

She stood on the periphery of the memorial service. Such a sad loss to bury a mother and her two little girls who had barely started their lives. They never should have died.

More tragic was the reason, that they’d suffered from a man’s revenge.

Families came to you in different ways. Some naturally. Others through friendships who weren’t blood kin, but ones you loved for who they were.

They came in all shapes and sizes. Some through birth or fostering or adoption. Some were friends who became family. Some children who’d been abandoned and needed homes. Some who were bonded through trauma. Others through hope.

She said a silent prayer that at least the twins would eternally rest in peace with their mother.

Barb, Ros and Loretta clasped hands in a show of respect and support. Michael curved his arm around his wife. He obviously didn’t care that Ivy wasn’t born of his blood.

Only that he loved her with his whole heart.

The remaining girls, Mazie and Ivy, were blood sisters. But they were also sisters of heart.

Barb and Loretta had a way to go to mend hurt feelings. But they were strong and loving and they’d decided long ago nothing would tear them apart. Now their forgiveness and trust had been tested.

Ellie had no doubt they’d survive.

The tenderness in Barb’s eyes when she looked at her biological daughters touched her deeply. The love from the other mothers and their bond with Barbara renewed her faith in humanity.

Ros still looked weak, but Barb had taken her in and promised to help her get back on her feet. Barb had sacrificed so much already but she loved them all. And now the sisters were safe and would grow up together.

“Where’s McClain?”

Ellie shrugged. Cord seemed to have retreated into his brooding self again. “I don’t know. He’s been distant since I saw him at the hospital.”

“No shit,” Bryce said. “You gotta watch out for him, Ellie. Sometimes he seems like a loose cannon just waiting to go off.”

Irritation sparked in Ellie. “Why do you say that?”

“Because even after Huller was down, I saw his face.” Bryce made a low sound in his throat.

“He looked like he was going to kill him.”

Ellie wanted to kill him herself. “But he didn’t.”

Anxiety gnawed at Ellie. Bryce was just being a pain in the ass. His negative self. He probably was pissed at Cord because he’d gotten back with Lola.

“If you’re jealous of him and Lola, just admit it, Bryce.”

His features sharpened. “Why would I be jealous of him?”

“Because you were dating Lola. And now she’s pregnant and they’re together again, that leaves you in the dark.”

A muscle ticked in Bryce’s cheek. “You’re worried about me?”

“Well, I don’t know how serious you were with her,” she said, her patience hanging by a thread.

“Thanks for your concern, Ellie, but I can take care of myself,” he said wryly. “You need to talk to McClain.”

Ellie rolled her shoulders. She was tired and still sore and hadn’t been sleeping at night. She didn’t need his BS.

She folded her arms. “Why the hell are you being so cryptic?”

“You really don’t know, do you?” he asked.

She wanted to strangle him. “If you have something to say, just spill it. I’m not in the mood for games.”

“Lola and McClain aren’t together. The baby isn’t his.”

Shock robbed Ellie of speech. If that was true, why hadn’t Cord told her? All along she’d thought he was engaged.

Without another word, Bryce turned and strode back to his police car, his shoulders hunched in the wind.

Ellie wrapped her scarf around her neck and padded across the cemetery grounds to her Jeep. She blew out a breath as she climbed in, started the engine and set off.

Bryce’s words echoed in her head, taunting her. Talk to McClain .

She wanted to do that. But if he’d wanted her to know the truth, if he had feelings for her, he would have told her himself.