PART 3 The courthouse smelled like wet coats, old paper, and coffee that had been burned for too many hours.

Nobody falls in love with a monster.

They fall in love with a mask, then spend years trying to prove the face beneath it is not real.

One morning, three weeks after court, Savannah found her mother in the kitchen holding one of Andrew’s old notebooks.

Rachel looked guilty.

“What is that?” Savannah asked.

Her mother sighed.

“Your father’s notes.”

“About what?continue reading …