Daisy's shock didn't dissipate in the least. If anything, it only grew. I reached across Pamela to grasp my bestie's hand while she shook her head, that surprise turning to sorrowful rejection.

"My father didn't care what happened to me or my mother," she said, without a trace of the bitterness she was entitled to as far as I was concerned. Daisy's fingers grasped mine tightly while she held on.

"I don't think that's true." Pamela didn't move, holding still. To ...