Chapter 29

Celina scratched her head and adjusted the frizzy bun atop her head. She could’ve run to her parents’ house for a shower this morning, but she’d needed the extra minutes to catch up on the work she’d missed during her failed attempts to fix the sink. She’d been so behind, she’d worked straight through lunch and forgotten she still needed to go back to the hardware store. She’d run by there after her mother dropped off Emma, then work on it later.

Celina glanced at the clock on her laptop and saw that it was after five in the afternoon. Her mother was never late bringing Emma home in the evenings. Her parents’ house wasn’t far up the road, and the drive took less than five minutes.

She checked the time on her phone before dialing her mother’s number.

“Mom, are y’all okay?”

“Oh, yeah. We just had a stop to make. We’ll be there in a sec.”

Her mom’s tone was reassuring, and Celina’s shoulders relaxed.

Shutting down her computer, Celina scratched her scalp again. She’d need to go to