“You’re absolutely positive?” I asked both dad and grandma, who were locked in a staring match that was now going on two minutes.

“She never brought Lola to your cottage?” Dad’s lips fell, and everything inside of me regretted bringing this up.

From her leaving him years after having Sean, to returning with me in her arms and a shadow hovering over her shoulder. They had been through more than most mated couples, and somehow managed to make it work up until her death. Uncovering her secrets felt like peeling back the layers of my memories until the woman who had raised me was almost unrecognizable.

“No, not once.” Grandma replied. She and mom had never gotten along, and it was mom’s refusal to let us see her that drove a wedge in between her and I. Dating Tyler only wedged that chasm open even more.

“How old was I when she took me? When she came back, did she act any different? Did I act any diff