“Would you have helped Mr.

Bell if I’d told you?” he asked.

“I couldn’t promise I’d know how,” I said.

“But I would have tried to find someone who did.”

“I thought you were already so stressed.”

That explanation stopped me.

I had been working extra shifts and worrying about money.

Toby had seen me at the kitchen table with bills spread out and assumed that asking for help would add a burden I couldn’t carry.