"Why the hell don't you answer your phone, and whose house is this? I had to bribe a resident to let me in."

When I heard that voice, I recognized it immediately. I spun around, and Joanne stood frozen to the spot, surprised and confused, until she noticed the phone in our mother's hand.

"You low-jacked my phone?" she asked in a dangerously quiet voice.

"You've been acting odd for months. What did you expect—" Shannon's gaze alighted on me, and it felt odd.

Mother visited every now and again over the years on her way somewhere else, and I now wondered if that was Grandmother's doing. Things were not as I had grown to believe.

"Avery?" Mom seemed stunned, her gaze hungrily searching my face and taking in my dark hair as if looking for something. "What are you doing here?"

"We're hiding from the jackals," Joanne said.

"Why didn't—" She stopped speaking, growing pale. "You were hiding from us as well. Why?"

"We were talking things out. Getting to know and understand each other," Joanne said, seeming to realize that I had no easy answer for Shannon.

"What happened to your hand?" Although she wanted to bridge the divide between us, she didn't know how.

How did we come to this? When did the distance between us become something even a mother's love didn't feel it had the right to breach?

"Stupid friend," Joanne answered, and I almost smiled.

It was so big sister of her to speak when I couldn't make myself utter a sound, and I wanted to cry.

My phone rang, nearly startling me from my skin. It was Kayla on a video call, and I had to take it. They would be worried about me, and I should have called already.

"I'm sorry, but I have to take this." Although it might be rude, I couldn't cope with the situation, needing a moment or two to gather myself.

***

"Where the hell are you?" Kayla asked as she frantically tried to peer past me.

"Sorry, Kayla. We ended up at Joanne's new house. I intended to call, but we've been talking."

Although her stern expression softened, I noted the reserve that had crept into her manner.

"We just escaped the paparazzi, and you single-handedly did more for my brother's book today than any promotional tour. Are you alright? Do I need to fetch you?" Her genuine concern warmed my heart.

"Yes, I'm fine and sorry about everything."

"Can you stop with the apologies? We're Canadian, but I'll begin a sorry jar if you say it again. A thousand bucks a pop," she teased. The tension in my back eased, and emotion threatened to overwhelm me as my chest tightened and my eyes became watery.

"No, don't start bawling, or you'll set me off," she warned, her mouth wobbling.

Something behind her on the screen drew my eye, and my shock must have registered.

"Wha—"

"Don't turn your head, or you'll need acid to clean your brain," I warned, holding my hand over the phone and wishing I could unsee what I saw.

"Sonja took my clothes," Erick muttered on his way to his room.

"Is he naked?!" Kayla asked, covering her face with her hands.

"The dufus wanted to sneak past you and didn't count on you being on a video call," I laughed.

"Serves him right for sleeping with my intern. Now, I need a new one," she muttered. "It's a pity you aren't available, not that I can afford your fees," she needled.

"Even worse, I don't do coffee runs either."

Kayla laughed, but the shadows in her eyes didn't budge.

"What does your client have to say about this debacle?" She turned serious like quicksilver changes shape.

"Is it bad to admit I've been too chicken to ask? What are the odds that she doesn't know?"

"You made the news, and she knows you are friends with me, so she realizes it was you. The lady asked me to take a photo for her dust cover a few days ago. Do you think she'll write me off, too?"

This was my best friend, both joking and deadly serious simultaneously.

"Who's your friend?" Mother asked, and I had almost forgotten her presence.

"Mrs. Collins?" Kayla was start-struck, and that made it twice in one day.

How had their paths never crossed at Grandma's house?

"Kayla Watkins, meet Shannon Collins," I introduced.

Joanne texted Shannon, and she read the text with a frown tugging at her brow before glancing at me.

"Kayla has been my best friend for over ten years."

"Avery told me the truth this weekend about you being her mother," Kayla said, a stiffness returning to her manner.

"It isn't that she didn't trust you; it was just an unfortunate series of events that led to a painful choice that turned into something I never wanted. If your mysterious employer doesn't want you to take her photos anymore, will you do my photo shoot for my new cookbook? Jason wanted to do it for me, but there's a conflict with his schedule. You're amazing, although I realize it isn't exactly your speed," Mom said, standing next to me, and I wanted to reach out and touch her so badly.

"Are you kidding me? Kayla's two favorite things in the world—taking photographs and food—at the same time? If she can taste it, she'll do it for free. She's a foodie," I teased, distracting myself, and Kayla nodded enthusiastically.

"Especially if I can get a shout-out or a collab?" she jumped right in, more eager than I had seen her in a while.

"Since when are you so into 'Just Shannon?'" I asked.

"Since the first time we watched her together as kids, but then you got funny about it, and I let it go," she admitted, and I felt about as big as an ant.

"I'm perfectly willing to pay you, but if I can get a video and a collab out of it, I would love to do that as well," Mom interjected.

"No need for money; I'd be honored, mam. I don't have a tenth of your subscribers," Kayla said, cutely flustered.

"Don't call me mam, please. Although I am the grandma in our community, don't make me feel like one." That patented Just Shannon charm worked its magic.

Despite being forty-six, Mom looked barely older than Joanne.

"Mam, you are who we all aspire to be, not just because you're famous, but for what you do for the community. You don't like frauds and gimmicks, never lower your standards, not even for advertisers, and you stick to your guns."

Never had I heard my friend gush like this over anyone.

"Will people still think so highly of me when they discover the truth? Subscribers easily put others on pedestals, and when they learn we're all only human, it usually doesn't go well. Those I brought down in the past will call me a two-faced fraud."

Shannon never backed down from speaking her mind.

"They won't learn the truth. I'll be gone in two days, and it will be as if nothing ever happened."

The silence following my words made my ears pop as everyone stared at me.

"Look, Avery, I just needed to know if you're okay. Erick and I will take off early tomorrow and arrive at the lodge in a few days. Take the time you need to sort this out, and we'll talk when you're ready," Kyla said, giving us some privacy.

***

"The hell you will," Joanne and Shannon said like one person when the connection ended.

"You aren't just slinking back out of our lives, and it won't be as if nothing ever happened," Shannon said.

Marguerite's stubbornness hadn't just been passed down to Joanne.

"It's okay, Mom. It was nice seeing you, but I am not blowing up your lives and disappearing on you for three months."

I silenced my phone and set it on the table.

"You keep talking about this mysterious contract and a lady that doesn't like anything false. Are you telling us you will be unavailable for three months when we can finally sort this out?" Joanne was having none of it.

"There's nothing strange about it, I'm just helping an old friend of Grandma's, and she likes her privacy."

"Helping her with what? And if she's so into truth, what will she think when she learns half your life is a lie?" Joanne insisted as Shannon sat down beside me.

"Look, I don't bloody know, and yes, she can sue me for breach of contract, but that won't happen. Even though I've never been sacked before beginning a job, there's a first time for everything."

This wasn't me being flippant; just accepting the situation.

"Well, you've never had a job before, so—"

Although she teased me, it was just the last straw, and I surged upright, shoulders tense, jaw clenched, and my head about to explode.

"Sister, you don't know shit about my life! Our blood makes us family, but you don't know me."

Grabbing the phone, I intended to storm off, something I wasn't prone to doing. So many unresolved emotions were swirling inside me that I couldn't contain them.

"Sorry, you've always been with Grandma—"

But I didn't give her a chance to finish, pointing at her, and barely noticing the phone clenched in my grip.

"Admit it, you think I just hang around grandma like a tick on a dog while you have degrees and wonderful little lives? Am I just the offcast living off the fat of my famous grandmother? The little loser down in Canada that must apologize for not being as wonderful as you are?"

Something tickled my cheek, and I swiped at my face, surprised to find my fingers wet.

"Avery, she didn't—"

I interrupted Shannon. This had built up inside me since childhood and exploded outward.

"FYI, I have had full-time and part-time jobs since I turned fifteen, not because Grandma expected it, but because I have a sense of honor. I went to university for a year, but Grandma needed me, so I finished my courses online. There are many things I've done you don't know about, so stop writing me off like I'm so much less than you and not worth counting."

Until I saw the shock on their faces, I didn't realize how much I raised my voice.

"Honey, we never thought you were less than us! Somehow, we thought you didn't like being in the spotlight, wanted privacy, and enjoyed being with Grandma. Marguerite's getting older, and although she wouldn't admit it, she needs you. It comforts us that she isn't alone!" Joanne got to her feet, unsure if I would allow her near me.

"Yes, I don't enjoy being in the spotlight, but that doesn't mean you have to speak down at me as if I have never accomplished anything and won't amount to much. Don't make it sound like it's a good thing Grandma will leave me some money, so I will at least not starve. Just so you know, I don't need Grandma's money or your approval. Contrary to your beliefs, her will favors all her grandchildren equally," I said, wiping my face on my sleeve like a child.

"I told her I wanted to make my own way in life, and she nearly had a heart attack, so I didn't bring up the subject again. But I paid for my classes with the money I earned. I buy my own clothes and whatever I need, and I have not asked her for money since I turned eighteen."

How had I never understood how much these things bothered me? Their stunned expressions would have been comical under different circumstances; they were taken aback, gob-smacked, and floored.

"But I don't look down on you!" Joanne insisted, sounding teary.

"Avery, they were teasing you in the way they always bite at each other and drive me nuts, but they love you and thought no less of you. They love that you are with Grandma. She is so proud of you, and although she doesn't tell us much out of respect for you, she always talks about you." Shannon took a step in my direction and stopped when I almost retreated.

"Sorry that all of this happened, and I should never have let you go. At the time, I couldn't handle my life, and I was too proud to go home and let my mother love and look after me. Unfortunately, you were the price of my pride, and I realized it too late." A sob caught in her throat, but like me, Mother bottled everything up.

The door Joanne didn't lock, opened, distracting us from the heated emotions in the room.