Oh my GOD.
“What’s her name?” I ask, monotone. They never change first names. This will confirm it.
Megan looks up from her note and smiles.
“Oh, it’s so cute; she’s a little Irish lass. Her name is Nora.”
I lap Megan’s bedroom three times before she gets me to sit down.
“Girl, you’re tripping,” she says, sitting facing me. “Now what’s up?”
I sigh loudly, grabbing one of Megan’s pillows and clutching it to my chest.
“I went to school with that girl in Frozen Hills,” I say, pointing at the computer accusingly. “She’s the one who spotted me in the mall.”
“Daisy!” Megan says, rolling her eyes. “That profile picture is tiny by tiny—it could be me. You’re freaking out for no reason.”
“I’m not,” I say firmly. “I know what she looks like. She lived down the street from me.”
“Wait, what?” Megan asks. “How is this the first I’m hearing about her?”
“Because we weren’t friends,” I explain. “We weren’t anything. She was popular and I was… well, you know.”
“Wait, wait,” Megan says. “I’m confused. Tell me the whole story. Speak slowly; pretend I’m Wade.” Megan winks and it makes me laugh, which takes away some of my anxiety.
“Okay,” I say, hugging the pillow tighter. “Nora Fitzgerald lived down the street from us in Frozen Hills. She invited me to her birthday party when we first moved there, but I didn’t go.”
“Why not?”
“Totally irrelevant.”
“Why not?”
“I felt inferior. She was rich and had an apron-wearing mom and wore clothes that matched head to toe.”
Megan nods once like she understands.
“So anyway, Nora turned out to be popular, and I did my own thing. Then I got stung and we moved.” I pause for breath; I feel like I’ve been running. “Then that night in Omaha, I went out with Matt and Audrey and I saw Nora—she was randomly visiting relatives or something—and she might have seen me…. But she might not have. Regardless, Mason kidnapped me that night and took me to Kansas City—”
“Poor Wade.”
“Shut up,” I say, tossing a pillow at Megan’s face. She catches it. “On the way, I asked Mason what God would do about Nora, and he said they’d watch and wait and see what she did.”
“What does that mean?” Megan asks.
“I don’t know,” I admit. “We didn’t really talk about it again. I found out about Audrey and went back to Omaha and sort of forgot about it.”
“And then you got all lovey-dovey with Matt and really forgot about it,” Megan teases.
“Yeah, but it makes sense,” I say, ignoring her comment about Matt. “What if Nora did see me, and she told someone? What if God relocated her and her family so she’d keep quiet?”
“That’s a little far-fetched, but for the sake of argument, why would they agree to be relocated?” Megan asks.
“Maybe they didn’t,” I say. “Maybe God threatened them.”
“Or paid them off,” Megan says excitedly. “Maybe he gave them millions of dollars in hush money.”
“Maybe,” I say, genuinely considering it. “Except you’re forgetting the file.”