Chapter 38

The words catch in my throat, and my heart somersaults. Pain splices me, and I turn my head to see the sadness in her eyes. A mirror of how I feel anytime I think of Tia. It’s another layer to things that make me connect to her, and I want to hug her suddenly. We share so many scars that it feels like I found someone I could honestly talk to.

“Hmmm. She ran out of my front yard and got hit by a car. I took my eye off the ball in one second of careless parenting, and my kid isn’t here anymore.” Her voice trembles, even though she states it so matter-of-factly, but she swallows it down and shakes it off. “She would be four now.”

My eyes wash with intense sorrow at the same age as Tia would have been, and I have to turn my back on her to blink it away. I am churning inside at what she said and sympathizing with the loss and guilt for letting down our babies and not protecting them.

“I’m sorry.” The vibration of emotion in my voice matches hers, and there’s a long sile