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ISLA MAXWELL SPED down the quiet back roads to the local greenway. Something was off at home. A silent storm was brewing and Isla wasn’t sure she was prepared to face it.

Clark hadn’t kissed her before he left for work at the marine base. Instead, he stepped into the bathroom while she was getting dressed and criticized her for the sports bra she’d put on for her run. When she told him that no one would see her and that she didn’t want to change, he stormed off.

There was a limit to what she would take from him, and being told how to dress was something she wouldn’t tolerate.

She parked her car in the empty parking lot and stepped out onto the gravel. Her phone buzzed. She glanced at it to see a text from Clark.

“Come home. Now.”

Rolling her eyes, she deleted the text and placed her phone into the plastic sleeve of her armband and strapped it to her forearm.

Isla stretched her arms and legs and took a quick drink of water. Once she started down the path into the forest, she began to feel better.

Running was all that took Isla’s mind off of the turmoil of her life. She breathed the warm air in and breathed out the negativity that seemed to cling to her.

Clark was good, better than she deserved or could have imagined. Their home was nice—small in comparison to the custom-built mansion she’d grown up in—but cozy and far enough away from her parents to make her feel like she might just be independent for once.

At twenty-one, she finally felt like she was an adult with her life together. She knew what that meant.

Something bad was bound to happen.

Isla tuned out all of those thoughts as her feet pounded the overgrown dirt path that cut through the thickly wooded area of the greenway. The scenery was just what she needed. It was early enough that she didn’t have to worry about crossing paths with anyone or having the heat affect the calm serenity she enjoyed above all.

This was her time.

A buzz of her phone distracted her as it vibrated against her forearm from within a hot pink armband. She ignored it, but it kept buzzing. She leaped over a fallen tree and cut through the clearing that led to one of the ponds.

Once her phone rang for the third time, she sighed and stopped, snatching the armband from her arm.

Her brows lifted when she saw that it was her mother. A picture of the two of them at her sister’s wedding almost made her answer it. Instead, she pushed the red decline button and worked at catching her breath.

What could that woman possibly want? Weren’t they supposed to have disowned her—the slut who tarnished their squeaky clean family name?

Just thinking of those dark days made her wince. She dialed her sister, one of the few people from Laguna Beach who understood her.

“Isla! Holy crap. I was just thinking about you. I’m the one with a three-month-old, what are you doing up so early?”

Isla started walking toward the pond, her eyes cast at the brightening sky. She loved that moment when the night began to lift its veil to welcome the bright sun. She sat down and folded her legs.

“Mom just called,” she said, scrunching her nose at the thought.

“What?” Chrissy asked. “What do you think she wants?”

Isla shook her head. “No clue.  I didn’t answer. It is an election year. Maybe they want to make sure I’m nowhere near Laguna. You know, they wouldn’t want me getting in the way of Dad’s reelection.”

“Don’t say that,” Chrissy said, the sound of a baby crying in the background. “Maybe they are coming around. She might just want to talk. You never know if you don’t answer her calls.”

“That’s not going to happen. They can pretend like they don’t have a second daughter all that they want.”

“Isla. It could be something serious.”

Isla exhaled. She wanted to say that she didn’t care, even though she did. She’d hate herself if one of them passed without a reconciliation. But...her pride. They’d watched her suffer. She would never forget that.

“How is Kimmie?” Isla asked, changing the subject.

“She’s fine. I’ll be happy when she sleeps through the night. Still feeding her every three hours,” Chrissy said with a sigh. “But, nice try changing the subject. You know I’m the voice of reason.”

Isla smiled. “You are. I also know that you’re apparently perfect, and I’ll never be as good as you. In their eyes at least.”

While Chrissy was the perky cheerleading captain with a perfect GPA, Isla was the one cutting class to make out with the boys from the lacrosse team.

All of them.

That didn’t turn out well.

“Hey, I was there when you were born. You were the most perfect little curly haired baby girl I’d ever seen. Mom and dad remember that happy, energetic little girl as well. We all make mistakes, Isla.”

“We do. I fell for a boy, and not the one they wanted for me. You’d think I robbed a bank.”

“Well...you did get your trust.”

“Shut up,” Isla said, laughing. “And I haven’t touched a dime.”

“Except for that Porsche.”

“A girl has to get around.”

“How is Clark?”

“He’s fine.”

“That’s it? He’s fine?”

Isla shrugged. “He’s nice to me. He’s nice to look at. And, he’s great in bed. What else could a girl want?”

Kimmie started crying again, so loudly that Isla had to pull the phone from her ear. She looked out at the pond as the geese began their morning swim.

“You’re too funny,” Chrissy said in between soft singing to Kimmie that calmed her. “Let’s talk again soon, Isla. I need to feed her and we’re going to go for a little walk.”

Isla nodded. She didn’t want Chrissy to go. “Okay. I love you.”

“Love you too. Bye.”

Isla lowered her phone. She leaned back and rested on her arms as she gazed at the brightening sky, puffy white clouds revealing themselves as the sun’s rays peeked through. She closed her eyes. Chrissy was one of two people who understood her.

So, why didn’t she tell Chrissy the truth?