My heart stops. Noah knows about my prison time. Sweat breaks out on my forehead, and I can’t breathe.
“What kind of record?” Tobias’s words rise in pitch.
“She spent a year in prison.”
Tobias leans back in his chair and groans. “I thought she might be hiding something like that. What did she do time for?”
“Felony evading. But I don’t think it was her fault. I read the police reports. She had a terrible attorney. She never should have done time.”
Tears blur my vision. Noah’s trying to defend me. That makes me choke up.
Tobias huffs. “Why didn’t she just tell me?”
“Well, that’s not all.”
“There’s more?”
I hold my breath. Noah found out everything. He’s going to tell Tobias. Fear snakes through me as I watch, helpless to stop him.
Noah leans closer. “Her last name isn’t Anderson. It’s Emmerson. She’s Skyler’s birth mother.”
“What?!” Tobias jumps up, his white plastic chair toppling backward. He spits out a curse and my heart shatters. He hates me. Just as I knew he would.
Tears stream down my face as I turn and head in the other direction. I don’t want to see the hurt my betrayal has caused Tobias. I don’t deserve his love. I never did.
TOBIAS BARRETT
My heart pounds as I stare at Noah, shock and anger coursing through me. “Are you serious?”
Noah stands and grabs my arm. “Listen, I think there’s some extenuating circumstances here. Don’t overreact.”
“Don’t overreact? She’s Skyler’s birth mother. Are you certain of this?”
“Yes.”
“Is she here to take her?” My heart pounds as my gaze swings to where Levi and Skyler are in line for the cotton candy. Levi’s holding her hand, and she grins up at him. She’s safe. But what did I do? I let an ex-con into my home. I put my child in danger. How could I have done that?
Noah gives me a flat look. “She hasn’t taken her. She’s had many opportunities. I don’t think she’s here to do that. I think she just wanted to see her daughter.”
My thoughts race too fast for me to land on one. “Who called the station looking for her?”
“A relative.” Noah presses the folder into my hand. “Read through this. All of it. Please.”
I can barely breathe. The street spins around me. Skyler’s birth mother? I can’t wrap my brain around that. Kiki lied to me, and not some tiny white lies, either. She came to Willow Shade Island under false pretenses.
“You look like you’re going to faint. Why don’t you sit down a minute?” He sets my chair upright and gently guides me down.
Anger sweeps through me. I look to where the bathrooms are, clenching the folder so tight it bends. “Why isn’t she coming back?”
“I don’t know. Let me go find her. I think you two need to talk things out.” Noah takes off around the back of the building where the bathrooms are.
I stare after him, my jaw tight. I don’t even know who Kiki is anymore. I thought I was in love with her and that she had feelings for me. Was that all a lie, too?
My head throbs as I think about all the things I shared with her. How I trusted her. How could she betray me like that?
Noah comes back from the restroom area. “I can’t find her.”
I grind my teeth. “Where is she?”
