She shrugged but I knew she was hiding her real feelings behind indifference. “It wasn’t awful growing up here. It’s just I think I was made to feel different when I might not have if I grew up in the city. I was glad to leave and go to Newcastle at eighteen. And when I got there . . .” She laughed, sounding embarrassed. “Well, when I got there, aye, I found myself quite popular. Boys asked me out, girls wanted to be friends. Mam and Dad had always raised me to believe in myself, to like what I saw when I looked in the mirror, so it’s not like I didn’t already have confidence or that I didn’t like myself . . . but with all the attention I received, I got arrogant. Knew I was smart. Knew I was pretty.

“Noah cheating on me brought me down to earth a little, and I think I needed it.”

I gaped at her.

Viola’s brows puckered. “What?”

Taking a minute, I was determined to find the words without lecturing her. My indignation, however, won out. “Did you tear other people down or make them feel inferior to you?”

She looked rankled. “Of course not.”

“Then why on earth do you think you needed to be brought low by Noah’s cheating? Viola, you’re allowed to be confident and to think that you’re smart and pretty and deserving of the best. Unfortunately, we live in a society where we tell our kids to be confident and successful and then as soon as they are, we tell them to shut up about it and be humble. Especially women. Guys can get away with cockiness until the end of time, but if a woman is cocky, she’s arrogant and superior.

“Even worse, women are just as likely as men to condemn a confident woman for not being modest enough. The only way we can change that attitude is to change it among ourselves. If you’re successful at something, celebrate that success. If you know you’re smart, then demand that other people treat you as someone of intelligence. If you look in the mirror and you like what you see, then halle-fucking-lujah!” I exclaimed. “Believe me, I spent way too much of my youth, and still do, picking apart my appearance instead of being grateful for what I have. Grateful that all my limbs are intact and that my body is healthy.” I leaned toward Viola, who was wide-eyed as she listened to me. “Do not ever apologize for liking who you are. It’s a beautiful mindset. And that asshole who cheated on you doesn’t deserve to come in touching distance of your life.”

Silence settled over the three of us as Viola stared at me in shock.

It was Caro who broke it with a sudden burst of clapping.

We looked at her in confusion.