BACK TO PARK CITY

SALOME'S POV

I was on my way to Mama's room when her voice cut through the air, a sharp edge of panic that made me stop short in the hallway. I leaned against the door frame, straining to hear her words as they spilled out in a frantic rush.

"Mama, what's wrong?" I whispered to myself, but my heart pounded too loudly for her to hear me.

She was talking to Runty Sharlene, her voice shaking. "Odon… he's summoned me. At the Hampton hotel. I'm afraid… he must have told Gregory."

My stomach dropped. Gregory? I clenched my fists, feeling the weight of what that meant. The truth—the secret she had buried so deep—was surfacing, and I could sense her fear radiating through the thin walls.

"I can't let him know, Sharlene! If Odin finds out that Maurice is his son… he'll never forgive me!" Mama's words hung in the air, heavy with desperation.