Chapter One

The spare room wasn't exactly homey, per se, although attempts had been made. Eva looked around it with wide eyes, even so, taking in the futon, bookshelf, and the little door that led to the bathroom. Most importantly, there was a child's bed for Avery.

"Liberty..." she managed, eyes filling with tears. Liberty shook her head. 

"Don't worry, Eva. You and Avery need a place to stay, and this is as good as any, I hope. As long as you put in for the food bill, you don't have to worry until you're back on your feet. Hell, you two can lodge here until the end of time as far as we're concerned."

Eva fell silent, eyes going back to the children's bed. Avery wouldn't mind it, she knew - Avery didn't mind much, after years of living in their run-down house where the struggle to keep the lights on hit them every month. Avery didn't mind that sometimes they only had baked beans.

She'd have preferred it if Avery did mind, once in a while, if she told her she minded. 

"Do you want me to call her in, show her the new digs?" Liberty asked, gently. "You can go take your mind off of it, watch some TV."

Eva shook her head. "No, it's ok." She padded slowly out of the room, leaving Liberty to look around the room nervously.

Was it ok? Was everything ok? Eva had refused to say anything more on the subject of why they needed to live elsewhere, but from the look of her, something was terribly wrong.

She heard Eva speaking softly, and turned around just as Avery walked in, closely followed by her mother. 

Not for the first time, Liberty was struck by how pretty Avery was. She was like a little doll, with big eyes and delicate eyebrows, and thick, dark hair that she certainly hadn't got from the pale blonde Eva. 

"Miss Lee?" she asked, in her whispery little voice. "Is this...our room?"

"I told you it would be, Avery." Eva frowned, slightly, and Liberty smiled. 

"Take a good look, kiddo. It's your room, just like your mom said." She sat down on the futon, and Avery shyly sat on the old panda chair the girls had had when they were younger.

Her mother seemed to still be frowning, and Avery cleared her throat.

"Mom? Are we... How long are we staying?"

It was the wrong thing to ask, Liberty knew, from the way Eva froze. Surely, something terrible would have slipped out from her mouth, if Liberty hadn't jumped up.

"Eva, go get yourself a coffee. I'll be fine with Avery here."

Without saying a word, Eva simply nodded, leaving the room quickly, shaking slightly. Avery looked like she might cry.

"Now, Avery." Liberty tried to smile widely. "You and your mom will be staying here for a bit. She and I both don't know how long, but we hope you'll be happy here. My girls were really curious about you, did you know? They go to the local middle school, Creekbank. Your mom's sorted it so you can go to, but you'll start next week." She stopped, and smiled again. "It'll all be good, don't worry."

"You have...two daughters?" Avery asked, unsure. Liberty grinned at her. 

"Yep, twin girls. Autumn and Eileen. They're super excited to meet you, you know. Just don't ask them anything like if they have telepathy, okay? They're in seventh grade."

"I'm in sixth," Avery said, shyly. Everything about her seemed shy, in fact. Shy and girly. Eileen was going to like her, Liberty thought, though she didn't know quite yet if Autumn would.

In the kitchen, Eva felt like crying again. Liberty had been so kind, and yet she didn't know the whole truth of it, of why Eva was here, why Avery was here. She'd be less kind if she did, but she'd told Avery not to say anything about him while she was here. Just until we leave, she remembered herself saying. But how could they leave? How could they, with no money, and no house, and nothing at all in the world but Eva's own mistakes blotting their copybooks.

She needed a coffee, but she felt too much like she'd be sick if she drank one. Liberty was so kind, and that room had been a godsend, even with a private bathroom for them, but what could she do to repay her? She'd have to get a new job, maybe one she could work from home on. 

She couldn't cry. Not now. 

Not ever, without telling Liberty what had really happened. Not without revealing the whole sordid thing.

Summer heard someone calling her name as she headed towards the middle school.

"Summer! Wait up, how've you been?"

She looked over into the park and saw Corbyn, the park's gardener, waving at her. She hurried over with a beaming smile.

"Corbyn! It's been too long!"

"That it has, yes. How have you been? Those young girls of yours doing okay? Getting good grades?"

"They've got Liberty's brains, so yes, they're doing good. Their homework's getting more difficult, though. I've half a mind to say something to the school!"

"Well, do it! High time someone said something. My Jacob, he's a smart kid, but that school sends him home with enough to convince him he's stupid. Hey, though, you off to pick them up?"

"Ah, yes. I know it's early, but I thought it'd be nice to be there and waiting."Summer smiled bashfully. "Silly, but I want to be there."

"Well, I'd better not keep you. Say hello to them, and to Liberty for me. And don't forget there's that Romance festival soon, hm? Our plant nursery is providing the roses for it."

Summer laughed, already walking away, as Corbyn got back to work, tending the apple tree. Shame she was busy. Summer and he usually had a nice lengthy gossip together, which he looked forward to. And there was a lot of buzzing around town recently, mostly to do with the fact that Lily Feng had kicked Eliza Pancakes from the PTA for being inappropriate, meaning that Eliza Pancakes had been offended that her beloved son Samuel had been beaten in a spelling bee by Mina Caliente, a lovely kid. Eliza had been saying all sorts of things, apparently, running her mouth about Katrina Caliente. Lily, a very proper woman, had told her in no uncertain terms that the PTA wasn't the place to spread vicious rumours. 

Not that Lily didn't spread rumours, mind. Recently there'd been one going around about Mortimer Goth having a mistress, which was pure nonsense if ever there was nonsense. Mortimer was as devoted to Bella as a man can be to his wife, like those funny goth movies with the kid with plaits. 

Shaking his head, Corbyn began to whistle.