Page 24 of A Thousand Little Goodbyes

It was a good thing the lamp had allfourscrews because Chrissie managed to rip out two of them in her second reach for a weapon.

“What did he do to you?” she demanded. “Tell me where you live. Get me my pepper spray. Scarlett, call the police and warn them there’s about to be a murder.”

Instead of doing any of those things, River and Scarlett shared a knowing look.

“I’m serious.” Chrissie shoved her feet into her Crocs and started reaching for her coat. The weather outside didn’t look pleasant, but then, in this state of mind, neither was she. “Where are the car keys?”

“It’s not my ex,” River said. “I promise. Not in the way you’re thinking.”

River still stood on the other side of the door, so in the absence of a major felony to take the edge off, Chrissie drew the girl into the room and patted her down in an effort to examine her for injuries. Other than being soaked to the skin and trembling all over, she appeared to be okay.

“You’ll have to excuse Chrissie for foaming at the mouth,” Scarlett said as she shut the door behind them. “Her mama bear instincts are so deeply ingrained that if she took up residence in a zoo, people would come from around the world to catch a glimpse of her.”

“My instincts aren’tthatbad,” Chrissie said as she sank to the edge of the bed. When the adrenaline drained like that, ebbing out like the ocean at low tide, her knees were always the first to go. “People would only come from the next state, at most.”

This earned her a watery chuckle from River, though the girl had her arms wrapped around her midsection and a look of increasing anxiety on her pinched face.

“Are you sure this is okay? I meant to come talk to you as soon as my shift got over, but I figured you were only being nice and—”

“It’s okay,” Scarlett said for both of them. “And I think I knowwhat this is about. I’m sorry. I should’ve asked before I tagged the location.”

“Wait.” Chrissie looked back and forth between them. “What do you mean?”

Scarlett winced and handed Chrissie her phone. “You were right about posting that video. It’s, uh, getting a lot more views than I was expecting.”

Chrissie had to put on her glasses before she could look at the screen—without her contact lenses, she was basically a mole rat—but the sounds of piano music and River’s raspy voice told her more than enough.

“Two hundred thousand likes?” Chrissie frowned down at the screen. “Is that a lot?”

“Is that…?” Scarlett’s voice trailed off in disbelief. “In less than twelve hours? Are you serious?”

“It’s a lot,” River said quietly. She pushed her wet hair out of her face. “My stepmom—that is, my stepsisters—saw the video right away. They, uh… That is, I didn’t exactly…” She cast a look of such painful entreaty at Chrissie that it was all she could do not to pull the poor drowned child into her arms. “I didn’t leave home on good terms. They’ve been looking for me for a while now.”

Chrissie could have torn the lamp off the table forrealthis time—and for no reason other than to lob it at Scarlett’s head. It was just like her friend to ignore all the warning signs and make a very public announcement of River’s location without her permission.

Since brute force wasn’t an option, and River was starting to look sick to her stomach, Chrissie did the only thing she could think of: She went to work.

“Okay, here’s what we’ll do. First of all, Scarlett will take down that video—”

“What’s the point? This thing is a viral sensation. There’s noun-ringing that bell.”

“Scarlett,” Chrissie warned.

“Chrissie,” Scarlett warned right back.

“You had no right to post it in the first place.”

“Technically, I had every right. You were performing in a public location.”

They might have stood at this impasse for a while if not for River’s quiet voice sliding into the conversation yet again. “It’s fine. The damage is already done. There’s no sense in deleting the video now.”

Chrissie didn’t like the idea of giving Scarlett a free pass, but if she’d learned one thing as the parent of a strong-willed teenager, it was when to choose her battles.

“Fine, it can stay up. River, is there somewhere safe we can take you? A relative you can stay with, or a friend maybe?”

She thought, but didn’t add, afemalefriend. The idea of dumping this teenager with yet another man all too willing to take advantage of her situation was one that didn’t sit well with her.

River looked down at her shoes, a clunky pair of boots that Chrissie noted for the first time were so battered that they were being held together with black duct tape.