the Pop In. Partly because I was hungry as shit, and partly because it was the easiest way to find out what was going on. People talked in this town.
Search parties had been organized. They’d been sweeping the town, the woods, the beaches, the hot springs. People were already speculating—everything from she’d run off with a boy to she’d drowned in the lake. But no one had seen any sign of her since last night. She’d said goodbye to the kids at the beach, and no one had seen her since.
I wandered back to my truck, the ache in my chest threatening to swallow me whole. I’d never felt so helpless in my entire life. My eyes burned and a single tear broke free from the corner of my eye. Something terrible had happened to her. I felt it, deep in my bones. Something awful, and there was nothing I could do to help her.
20
MAYA
Shelby and I sat in the almost-empty Yee Haw Yarn and Coffee sipping our sweet tea. Billy Ray was curled up beneath her chair, chewing on a toy, making cute puppy-growl noises. Cash was asleep next to me, tuckered out from playing fetch earlier and his excitement over meeting Billy Ray.
She’d called, waking me from my nap, and asked if I’d like to hang out with her and the girls tonight. She was already out and about, so she’d offered to come pick me up. We were currently killing time while we waited for Scarlett, Cassidy, June, and Leah Mae. Then we were going to head down to the lake with a take-out picnic.
Just like old times, the girls of Bootleg were happy to tuck me right into their circle.
Gibson’s truck hadn’t been outside—he’d probably gone into town again—so I’d sent him a text to let him know what we were up to.
Shelby and I had been chatting over our drinks—mostly small talk—but she kept eying me, like she had something else she wanted to talk about.
Finally, she leaned closer and lowered her voice, although there wasn’t anyone close enough to overhear. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“How does it feel to be back?”
I took a breath. “Good and strange and familiar and a little bit scary all at once. I’ve been having a lot of feelings.”
“I can imagine.”
“I’ve been Maya for thirteen years, and I really thought I’d be her forever. I didn’t think anything in my past would be a part of my life again. It hurt to let the good things go, but…”
“But you had to.”
I nodded. “Back then, it was about survival. I was a very broken girl.”
She tilted her head, like she was scrutinizing me, and adjusted her glasses. “You don’t seem very broken anymore.”
“I did a lot of healing, especially in the first few years when I lived in Blue Moon. And I found my strength. Henna, the woman who took me in, looked at me one day and said, You survived, but now it’s time to decide who you are. And that isn’t up to anyone but you.”
“A powerful statement.”
“It was. I learned how to stand up for myself. And I realized that I’d never been weak. I’d survived because I had strength inside me.”
“That’s absolutely true.”
“But I have to admit, being here is messing with my head a little bit.” Not to mention being with Gibson. “I keep waiting for people to recognize me or to run into… well, you know.”
“They’re not in town, though, right?”
I realized I was tugging on my sleeves. An old reflex. I grabbed my tea to give my hands something else to do. “No. And I’m sure we’ll hear about it if they come back.”
Shelby smiled. “I think June and GT are running surveillance on their house.”
“That’s the craziest part. They don’t have to do that for me, but they are anyway. None of you have to help me. And no one seems angry that I disappeared and they didn’t know what happened. No one’s blaming me for that.”
“That’s because they understand,” she said. “We all do. Even before you turned up, we all realized your father is dangerous. We knew this was a lot bigger than just a girl who went missing.”
I nodded. “I wish there was more I could do. I talked to the sheriff, but like he said, even if I come forward, it’s my word against theirs. We can’t prove anything yet.”
“Exactly.” Billy Ray popped up and she reached down to scratch his head. “I think we’re doing the