Page 60 of Jay Bird

Lily kicked the bright purple ball across the backyard with more enthusiasm than accuracy, sending it rolling several feet to her left instead of toward the small tree she had designated as her goal.

“Again!” she shouted.

Willow laughed from her chair on the patio.

“Go get it, bug.”

Lily took off after it, her little legs pumping furiously across the grass while Ellie remained safely beneath the patio table.

Beside Willow, Mia shifted nine-month-old Camden higher against her chest as he tried once again to get his entire fist into his mouth.

“You’re going to regret that someday when I show your girlfriends pictures,” Mia informed her son.

Camden responded by blowing a wet raspberry.

Willow laughed. “He looks clearly terrified.”

“He has his father’s attitude.”

Mia grinned before leaning over to set Camden on the blanket they had spread across the patio. A few toys surrounded him, although he seemed considerably more interested in trying to reach the grass than anything his mother had brought.

Willow settled deeper into her chair. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed this. Not just Mia, but conversation itself.

Earlier, they had spent a while talking about Derek and Tink’s visit. Willow had told her about getting her money from her old bank account, her father’s life insurance policy, her brother being a jailbird, and how someone had been digging into Willow’s records.

She’d also told her about the temporary last name change, and Mia’s reaction to that particular piece of information had been interesting.

She had stared at Willow for several seconds before saying, “Let me get this straight. Jay Bird offered you his last name?”

“It’s only temporary.”

“Uh-huh,” Mia said, trying to hide her smile.

“It’s for security.”

“Of course, just for security.”

Willow had refused to entertain the ridiculous little grin Mia had worn for the next five minutes.

Now, as Lily chased the ball again, Willow’s thoughts drifted toward another conversation she had been wanting to have since seeing Mia in the hospital.

“Mia, what happened to you that night we were supposed to meet for drinks?”

The humor faded from Mia’s face, and Willow pressed on before she could lose her nerve.

“I spent three years wondering if you were okay. I thought something had happened to you. You never showed up, and you weren’t answering your phone.”

Mia reached across the space between their chairs and rested her hand over Willow’s.

“Something did happen.”

Willow turned toward her. “What?”

Mia exhaled slowly. “I was kidnapped that night.”

Willow just stared at her, the words refusing to settle into anything that made sense. For several long seconds, her mind couldn’t catch up to what she was hearing.

“You were kidnapped?”