“Which is why she hasn’t said anything. To you, at least. Seems to be all she wants to talk about to me. I reckon she knows I know and is fishing. Haven’t told her you’ve been sneaking off with Lila or she’d have already orchestrated a formal dinner to rope you both into.”

Sticky discomfort rose within me. “It’s not serious. Certainly not serious enough for Mom to get involved.”

“Try telling her that.”

I snorted a laugh.

“You’ll have to tell her at some point. If this keeps on, I mean. She’s driving herself crazy trying to figure out who you’re seeing and is convinced it’s Verdant.”

My discomfort was replaced by aversion. “Verdant? Really?”

He shrugged. “She’s the last girl you went out with, by your mother’s knowledge anyway. You know how she is. It makes her feel better to assume. Gives her comfort in having an answer, even if it’s false.”

“There’s no point in telling her. Let her wonder.”

“You say that now. How about when she’s snooping around? Or eavesdrops on your siblings? She’s gonna find out. If you tell her, you might be able to contain the blast.”

At that, I full-on laughed. “Sure. Maybe I could bail out the ocean with a bucket while I’m at it.”

We shared a chuckle just as the greenhouse door swung open again. But I wasn’t rewarded with Lila like I’d hoped.

Instead, I found Ali Gibson with a smile on her face and a swing of her hips.

I rose slowly as she approached. Dad was still as stone.

“Kash,” she said, that smile broadening. “I hope you don’t mind my coming straight back. The new girl said it was all right.”

“Wendy,” I provided. “I didn’t know you were in town,” was the only other thing I could think to say as she reached me, stretching onto her tiptoes to press a kiss to my cheek.

I resisted the urge to put three feet and my father between us.

“Oh, it’s a quick trip, just here for work,” she said. “God, how have you been? It’s been too long. When was it … August?”

“July.”

She snapped her fingers. “That’s right. Just after the Fourth. I can’t seem to get away from Boston much these days, what with my caseload. There’s always someone needing to be proven innocent,” she said, as if being a defense attorney made her an altruist.

“How are things here? I thought I saw Jett on my way back. I didn’t know he was back at Longbourne.”

“Everyone is, even Luke. They all came to roost when we needed them.”