Rory is rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, and whaddaya know? Her ring twinkles as she does. Debbie looks between us, her mouth slacking in shock. Guess I should’ve given her a heads-up before I got her on that plane. Oops.

I stand up and rap the counter.

“I believe you have some things to discuss. Have fun, ladies.”

“Mal! What the heck?” Rory grabs my wrist as I make my way to the door.

I need to visit Tamsin and explain to her with my usual delicacy (of a tank) that there’s someone new in our lives. Someone I love dearly.

I kiss the side of my wife’s neck. “Tamsin only has two grandmas. Don’t you reckon she deserves three?”

That’s all I need to say to make her melt and smile at me cunningly.

“You’re a pig,” she whispers.

I steal another kiss, laughing as I march to the door. “Then you’re my shit.”

Rory

“Explain yourself,” I tell her.

I flick the kettle on and try to calm my heartbeat. Talking to my mother right now is the last thing I want, but it needs to happen. On one hand, I’m grateful and surprised she’s put on a show for my entire existence, feeding me sweet lies to protect me. It’s kind of endearing, in a screwed-up, totally dysfunctional way. On the other, she tore Mal and me apart for years. Everything would have looked so different had she just given me his letters.

But then again, Tamsin wouldn’t have been born.

Mal wouldn’t have her.

I would never know that Summer is a backstabbing friend who slept with my boyfriend.

And I never would have landed the job with Ryner that taught me who I am as an artist.

“No, you explain yourself to me, Rory. What is this marriage nonsense? You hardly know the guy! Plus, you have a boyfriend.” Mom shoots on her feet, waving her hand in the air, her bangles clashing, creating a wind-chimes kind of sound.

It transports me back to adolescence, and I find myself touching the hoop in my nose, gritting my teeth.

“Callum and I broke up.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I cheated on him. And before you say anything—please remember you cheated on your boyfriend with Glen, too.”

Mom’s face falls. She raises a finger, about to defend herself, but I interject.

“Besides, I found out afterwards that he cheated on me first—with Summer, of all people. Although, to be honest, looking back, I’ve always had my suspicions. He always tried to change me, to clip my wings in small, roundabout ways. And anyway, Mal and I are married, and after the bullshit Ryner pulled when Ashton Richards died, I’m not in a hurry to get back into the glitz and glamor of this industry.”