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Not Greg.

This is the moment she's been waiting for.

Her daughter.

Hayley presses her bandaged hand against her stomach.

“What if she doesn't want me?”

I don't answer immediately.

Because I won't lie to her.

Sage may be angry.

Confused.

Overwhelmed.

She may not know what she feels.

But I know one thing.

“She asked if she could talk to you.”

Hayley's eyes fill.

“She did?”

“First thing.”

A tear slips down her cheek.

I resist the instinct to wipe it away.

Not yet.

Maybe someday.

But not yet.

“Come on,” I say quietly.

“Where?”

“To meet our daughter.”

10

HAYLEY

“You're not taking us to the motel.”

I look at Sean across the back of the ambulance.

Sheriff Vega walked away less than a minute ago after telling us she would arrange transportation to a secure location outside Juniper Wells.

Now Sean is standing in front of me with an expression I remember from eighteen years ago.