Cora had been battling the urge to call Ashley or Julia and tell them what she’d realized about Ethan. Part of her wanted to spill her guts and tell them she knew she was dating the wrong man, but every time she thought about telling them, she felt stupid. Stupid because she couldn’t get over this foolish crush on a man who didn’t want her and stupid because she was about to let a perfectly great guy slip away for some fantasy that could never happen.

So, she was doing the only logical thing. She planned to bury her feelings in a tub of the gooiest ice cream she could find. She’d wash that down with a family sized bag of something salty and oily, then top the whole thing off with chocolate milk. To her, chocolate milk was a comfort food. Ice cold and made with whole milk so it was thick and creamy and rich. Nothing was better.

Cora entered the convenience store at the gas station on the corner, fully prepared to binge shop so she could binge eat. The register was manned by a tall skinny kid Cora didn’t know but recognized from having seen him working in the past. She smiled and headed toward the chip aisle, grabbing a bag of lime tortilla chips.

Dylan and Tommy ran up, greeting her with matching grins.

“Hi Miss Walker,” Tommy said.

“What did one arm say to the other?” Dylan asked.

Cora laughed and met Alice’s gaze behind the boys. Alice mouthed an apology. Cora gave a small shake of her head and followed the boys and their mother to the back where the frozen foods were kept.

“I don’t know. What did one arm say to the other?” she asked, her mind still half on the topic of ice cream. She needed something with caramel.

“Let’s play!” Dylan cracked up and Cora laughed. It was impossible not to. The boy thought he was hysterical.

She was focused on the ice cream selection when she realized there were muffled voices coming from the front of the store. Something about them didn’t sound right. It took her mind what seemed like hours to process that something was wrong.

She looked toward Alice but time slowed to a standstill as her gaze caught on the glass of the refrigerated cases along the back wall.

In the reflection of the glass, she could see two men in ski masks. The shock of gunmetal flashed in their hands as Cora froze in place. This time, there wasn’t any narrator in her head telling her where to find something to save herself and the kids. This was real life and she couldn’t come up with some way to save them all.

Tommy and Dylan hadn’t realized anything was wrong. They laughed and pointed to the popsicles in the case.

The kid working the register started crying and Cora saw the flash of confusion, then fear, on Tommy’s face as he realized something was going on. Whether he’d heard the crying or just felt the electric tension in the air, she didn’t know. Alice and Cora moved together, sweeping Dylan and Tommy into their arms.

All Cora could think was that she needed to cover the boys. She and Alice huddled in the back corner of the store, putting their bodies over the kids. Alice shushed the boys and told them to hold still.

There were shouts, the sound of heavy boots moving on the tile floor. Cora didn’t look back. She bent over the boys, murmuring to them as she prayed any bullets wouldn’t go through her and Alice into the boys. If she and Alice could just take all of them, the boys could walk out of there alive. She had no idea if that was possible. Maybe bullets would just go right through them.

Her stomach lurched and clenched, abject terror gripping at her. Cora braced herself for pain. The only thing she knew about guns was what she’d read in books or seen in movies. Would she hear the shot before the pain came? Or would her life end before she even felt it?

She closed her eyes, tears coming. She thought of her family, of never seeing them again. Of not getting to see her niece or nephew when it was born. God, how she wanted that.

A rough voice barked at the end of the aisle. “Keep your heads down and stay where you are.”

Did that mean they wouldn’t kill them? Would they let them live if no one looked at them?

The sound of the boys’ sobs ripped at her.

Then there came the noise of the door opening and closing and the sound of the men running. She thought it was the men running, but she didn’t dare move.

Alice was telling the boys not to move, and Cora could hear the cashier crying. He was alive. She prayed he wasn’t hurt.

She ducked her head, not daring to turn to look to see if the men were really gone. She heard sirens. Someone had either called the police or the cashier had hit an alarm or something.

She didn’t move until the police entered and she heard her brother-in-law’s voice. Seconds later, she felt his hands pulling her up. Garrett was there with two of his officers.

She felt her legs go weak and started to cry. She didn’t stop for a very long time.