There was a heavy pause during which Eve became distinctly nervous that she might have to put her foot down harder than intended. She found herself wondering WWJD: What Would Jacob (King of Boundaries, First of His Name) Do?

Then Mum swallowed hard and nodded, her neat bob brushing her cheekbones as she stepped forward. “You’re right, of course, my darling. I apologize.”

Dad came next, catching Eve’s hands and giving them a quick squeeze. “We’re sorry, Evie. Really. We were just worried about you. But you’re correct.”

“We’re very proud of you,” Mum said, pursing her lips in a way that meant she was hiding a smile.

Eve didn’t bother to hide hers. “Well, wonderful. Glad to hear it. Very emotional reunion, et cetera, but now I’m afraid I’ve got to dash so I can win Jacob back, and so on and so forth, so . . . bye!” She kissed her parents’ cheeks, then turned on her heel and whipped out of the kitchen.

“Evie, wait!” She’d barely made it down the hall before Dani’s voice followed her. Pausing by the front door, Eve grabbed her shoes and turned to face her sister—no, sisters, Dani striding toward her and Chloe hurrying behind.

“What’s up? I’m on a tight schedule.” Actually, Eve was on no schedule beyond the one that went:

1. Find Jacob.
2. Insist she would never leave Jacob.
3. Proceed to never leave Jacob, regardless of how much he may protest.

But she was slightly—only slightly—distracted from that particular plan when she noticed the uncharacteristically nervous looks on her sisters’ faces. Chloe, in particular, might possibly be sweating. Chloe! Sweating!

“Are you all right, darling?” Eve asked. “Do you need me to open a window? Are you having a wobble? Is—”

“I’m fine.” Chloe flapped a hand, then sighed heavily. “Except for the part where I’m drowning in guilt.”

Eve blinked. “Oh. Erm. I see.”

“We’re sorry, is what she’s trying to say,” Dani interjected. “We were interfering cows and you’re absolutely right—we should’ve asked a few more questions before jumping to the sex cult conclusion.”

“Now your job is all . . . fudged,” Chloe said, “and it’s all our fault.”

“Not entirely,” Dani added. “It was also Zaf’s fault.”

“Safety first,” came a grim, rumbling voice from down the hall. Eve looked up to discover her sisters’ boyfriends were also hovering at the edge of the Group of Guilt.

“Oh, how wonderful,” Eve said brightly. “Now everyone is in my business. It’s a venerable party.”

“Did you mean veritable, darling?”

“I meant what I meant!” Eve snapped, her temper ratcheting up by the second. Jacob never asked what she meant. Jacob just paid attention and focused on what actually mattered and got the bloody hell on with it, and didn’t make her feel silly or frivolous or childish—which was understandable, since she wasn’t any of those things. Or rather, she wasn’t just those things. She was herself, and she’d demanded he respect that—all of it—and now she was going to demand everyone else did, too.