Page 37 of A River of Crows

“No. He mentioned his wife, but I didn’t realize it was Anna.” Sloan felt dizzy. “He said Anna was his friend. I thought she was his secretary, the one he talked about sometimes who scheduled his meetings.”

Caroline smirked. “No, sweetie. Angela was his secretary. Anna is his wife.”

“But she’s so nice,” Sloan said. “She doesn’t even seem mad.”

“Some women are weak.” Disapproval gleamed in Mom’s eyes. “Some women can’t live without a man.”

Sloan remembered the little redhead in the back seat at school that day. Was that her sister?

“I get what he’s doing.” Mom stood and walked toward the window. “He wants you to be a part of his family with Anna. And if that’s what you want, I can’t blame you.”

“Mom . . .”

Caroline closed the curtains and turned towards Sloan. “But you’ve got my blood running through you. You’re a Hadfield, yes, but you’re just as much a Radel.”

Mom was crying again. Sloan had wanted to see her cry for so long, and now, she only wanted to stop it. She wrapped her arms around her mother. “You’re my family, Mom. I won’t go back with Anna.”

Mom kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry I haven’t been here for you, but from now on, I will. I promise it’s me and you, Lo. Me and you.”

“I promise too.” Sloan felt terrible for how awful she’d been to her mom. How she’d blamed her and let Daddy off the hook. He’d tried to turn her against her own mother, tried to make her bond with Anna. Sloan should have known not to trust him.

“It’s going to be hard, Sloan, but we can let him go together. Ridge would want us to be strong.”

Sloan nodded. “I don’t want to be weak.”

“No matter what you decide, I want you to promise me no more secrets. If you decide to stand with your dad and Anna, be honest. No sneaking around.”

“I’m with you,” Sloan said. “I’ll always be with you.”

“Noah . . . Noah!” Sloan hissed from outside his window. She hadn’t been in bed long when she jolted up, realizing what she’d forgotten in the day's chaos—Noah’s party.

“Sloan?” Noah walked toward the window, rubbing his eyes.

She motioned for him to open the latch, and he did. “Noah, I’m sorry. Can we talk?”

“No,” he whispered. He started to close the window, but Sloan put her hand under it, forcing him to stop. “Go home. It’s late.”

“You’re mad. I get it. You have every right to be. But I can’t handle it, Noah. I don’t care who else in the world is mad at me as long as you aren’t.”

“We’ll talk tomorrow.” He glanced behind him at his open bedroom door. “My mom will kill me if I let you in this late.”

“Then come outside. I had an awful day.”

“That makes two of us.”

Sloan averted her gaze. “Just let me explain.”

“Fine.” Sloan watched him close his door and slip on his shoes before climbing out the window.

They walked for a while in silence. Moonlight splashed them in silver as they followed a well-worn path toward Crow’s Nest Creek.

“We waited an hour to start the party.” Noah broke the silence. “I tried calling, but the line was busy.”

“Mom was talking to Libby. I wasn’t home.”

Noah turned his head toward her. “You promised.”

“I’m sorry. There’s no excuse, but I visited my dad. There was an issue with the paperwork. I got home late, and Mom caught Anna dropping me off.”

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