shut, a punctuation ma

er on

until Mike, my adoptive father, gestured toward

ave a little

ys the beginn

I pay my own bills, but in Mike's eyes, I'm still a p

three months.

hand, promised he'd just listen politely and then th

shed, his face was a mask of dis

d spat, his voice tight.

ck, tires screeching o

his hands on an old rag. His expression was grim,

u he wasn't r

ke? What do you always say i

t always made my blood boil. "J

a carbon copy ending. They'd be charming, kind, even talk about a future. Then came the summons to t

is eyes bulging. Chris had just turned pale and walked

twenty to Jake, her high school sweetheart. They have a little boy no

some heavy lifting, I see the easy way they talk.

my voice raw. "Why d

ld. "You don't need a man, Ashley. Y

'm a grown woman! I w

aid, his voice flat. "Me

e standing there, the scent of rust and old oil f

cal bakery, a whirlwind of flour and sugar, always busy. She'd sometimes pat my arm and

to Florida, Mike made me clean out the gutte

"Ashley, maybe...maybe Mike's right. You're

n seem to like me, at first. But that tool shed...it was

, maybe I was adopted under weird circumstances. But no, the PI confirmed it. Mike and Susan Miller were listed as

s deals I could have ruined by being born. He was a dea

he so determined