“What’s wrong?” her mom asked.

Louisa covered her face with a pillow. Her mother was the last person in the world she wanted to talk to right now. Why was she here? She didn’t even like Louisa.

Louisa couldn’t be sure, but she thought Mom had just sat down, which meant she wasn’t leaving.

“Why are you here?” she asked from underneath the pillow.

“I came to see if you needed any help with Maggie’s party,” her mom said.

Louisa sat up. “It’s tomorrow, Mother. You’re a little late.”

Her mom looked wounded at Louisa’s cross words, which had come out much harsher than Louisa had intended.

“What’s gotten into you?”

Would it be appropriate to scream into the pillow? Louisa was dangerously close to finding out.

She whipped the blanket off and tossed the pillow aside. “Mother, I am in love with Cody Boggs. I’m in love with him, and I’ve been in love with him practically since the day I was born. And I know I screwed up, but there’s more to it than my mistake. Teenage foolishness wouldn’t have kept you and Marissa apart, especially not after Daniel died. So tell me the truth—what happened between the four of you? What happened with you and Marissa, with you and Daniel, with Dad and Daniel? With all of you? Because whatever it was—it’s ruined my chances of being with the man I love, so don’t I deserve to know why?”

Her mother’s eyebrows appeared to be permanently raised, the unmistakable expression of shock on her face. “Well, I don’t know what’s going on with you, Louisa Elizabeth Chambers, but I—”

“Mom.” Louisa let the word serve as an entire sentence.

Her mother perched on the chair, the innocent expression falling from her face. Louisa could almost see the pretense drift away.

“What is it? Were you and Daniel having an affair?”

“No, Louisa,” she said. “But I’m not so sure Marissa and your father weren’t.”

Louisa frowned. “What?”

“Marissa is one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever known,” Mom said. “But I was just cocky enough not to worry about her stealing the eye of a man I was so certain loved nobody else in the world but me.” She laughed to herself. “Warren and I were so taken with each other in those early days, it never seemed like a risk to bring Daniel and Marissa into our lives, especially since they were equally as taken with each other.”

Louisa didn’t tell her mother she had trouble picturing her parents “taken with each other.” But it was hard to imagine.

“Marissa doesn’t seem like the cheating type, Mom,” Louisa said.

Her mother shot her a pointed look. “Oh, but I do?”

“No, of course not.”

“And yet you’ve accused me of that exact thing twice now.”