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She shook hard, and I knew that we’d reached the hardest part of the story. This was the part of the memory she’d tried so hard to forget.

“When your mother was eleven, Marilyn found us. She came to one of my shows and confronted me after. Said William’s sister had told her what he’d done and that she wanted her baby back.” Tears splashed into her tea, but she wasn’t drinking it, anyway.

I wanted to comfort her, but I couldn’t move. What had almost happened? How different would my mom’s life be if…? And would I have even been born?

“Oh my gosh, all those years later? What did you do?” I couldn’t stand another moment not knowing.

“I agreed to meet her the next day, to bring Laura.” Her voice cracked here. “And then your grandfather and I packed up and left town.”

“To Blueberry Bay,” I whispered.

“To Blueberry Bay,” she confirmed.

“What happened to Marilyn?”

Nan shook her head vigorously. Her tea sloshed over the edges of her cup, but she didn’t react. “I don’t know. We walked away from everything so that we could keep our family together. Your mother hadn’t been born to us, but she was ours. And I didn’t know why William sent his only daughter away, but I knew him and knew he must have had his reasons.”

“Wow.” I breathed heavily, still in shock. “Does Mom know about all this?”

“Of course not.” Nan’s voice faltered in a rare show of fragility. “How can I tell her that I stole her?”

And just like that my legs worked again. I pulled my nan to her feet and hugged her tight.“You didn’t know. Your best friend gave her to you, and you trusted him.”

“Back then, yes,” she whispered into my hair. “But I made a choice when Marilyn found us in New York. A selfish one that’s kept Laura from knowing her real mother and you from knowing your real nan.”

“You’re my real nan,” I said, wrapping my arms around her even tighter. “I told you nothing can change that. Not even this.”

“I appreciate that, dear.” She pulled back and studied me with a small smile and bright eyes. “Sometimes I think I let myself fall even more in love with you than I allowed myself to love your mother because I knew no one would show up and try to take you away.”

This explained so much, why she had been the main one to raise me even though my parents were here and capable. Whatever the reasons for it, I’d loved my childhood and I loved my life. I loved the woman who had risked so much to give it to me.

I kissed her on the cheek.“I’ve loved every single day with you, Nan. Well, every day except for the one you took Paisley to a motel and hid from me.”

We smiled at each other, then laughed together for what felt like the first time in ages.

“You don’t hate me?” she asked with a squeak.

“I could never hate you.” I paused before saying the next part in case it hurt her. “But I do want to meet her.”

Nan nodded.“I figured you might.”

“Where do we start?” I needed to know more, but I also needed us to do this side by side.

“Together.” She reached out her hand and grasped mine. “I’ve spent so many years running from the truth. Now let’s walk toward it together.”

Chapter Twenty

A lot happened rather quickly after that.

Nan showed me all the old photos and mementos she’d kept hidden for fear of exposing her secret history growing up in Georgia and falling in unrequited love with her best friend. I still didn’t know why William had decided to entrust his baby to Nan when her mother was still very much alive. I think the only person who might know the answer to that was Ms. Marilyn Jones herself, but we had no idea where to start looking for her—or even if she was still alive all these years later.

Pringle took full credit for solving the case and decided his fee should be doubled for just how fast“he” had managed to solve the mystery. He also demanded that his payment be delivered within three days or it would need to be doubled again.

That payment? A new home, since we had irreparably damaged his under-porch apartment with our shovels. And because he had decided to ask for double, he also demanded that we erect new office headquarters for Pringle Whisperer, P.I.

Luckily, we knew the very best handyman in all of Blueberry Bay, a certain Mr. Brock“Cal” Calhoun. Not only did he do fast, quality work, but he also didn’t ask too many questions—like why a single woman and her grandmother needed not one, but two, tree forts erected in their backyard or why one of those forts also needed to be outfitted with electricity and a satellite TVdish.

Once Cal had finished building the twin tree forts and Pringle was all moved in, I introduced him to reality TV, the ultimate source of juicy secrets and real human drama—at least that’s what I told him.

Sure enough, he immediately got sucked in to one of the longest running reality competitions of them all, which meant there were plenty of back episodes for him to watch. He enjoyed laughing at the humans and their weak skills when it came to surviving in the wild.