We jumped apart and stared at her, stunned and guilty. This was nightmare territory.

“It’s much too hot for your sister to be outside today!” Laura snapped.

Oh. So she hadn’t seen us kissing? The path leading to this spot curved briefly behind a small patch of trees. If the timing had been perfect, she might have been behind the foliage at the perfect moment.

“Mom, it’s okay—” he began.

She held up her hand, and he fell silent.

I waited for her to say something to me, but she was glaring at Barrett and didn’t seem to know or care that I existed.

Finally, without even glancing at me, she said, “Margot. Please take Agatha back into the house. Get her a glass of water and make sure she’s not overly warm.”

“Okay,” I said, and it came out thin and scared and I kind of hated myself for being such a scaredy-cat. On the other hand, I’d possibly just been caught kissing the son and heir of the mighty Sutton family, so for all I knew, I was about to get dropped down a trapdoor into the dungeon.

I glanced back at Barrett and found both him and Laura looking at me, so I whipped my head around and focused on pushing the wheelchair toward the house. There was a slight uphill climb that got steeper as I approached the driveway. I started to sweat, and my breath came in tired puffs.

As soon as we were out of Laura’s line of sight, Agatha held up her hand.

I stopped. “Are you okay?”

She got out of the wheelchair.

“Are you sure?” I asked. “Your mom said it’s too hot—”

She was only staring into my eyes, but I got the distinct impression of an eye roll.

“Okay,” I said. “Thanks.”

We walked together up the hill.

“What do you think?” I asked. “Do you think she’s going to send me away?”

It was hard to read her expression—maybe I was assuming too much, but it seemed somewhere on the spectrum of pity and Well, what did you expect?

“DO YOU HAVE a minute, Margot?” Laura asked.

I looked up, stunned, from where I lay on my bed, trying (and failing) to focus on a book. “Does Agatha need—”

She cut me off, a note of impatience slipping into her voice. “Agatha’s fine.”

After we came in, I’d set her up with her schoolwork and brought her a tall glass of cold water. Then I’d retreated to my room to lick my wounds and feel sorry for myself. I’d kind of expected (hoped?) that Laura would ignore me. But here she was.

“Oh,” I said. “Okay, yeah. Yes. Of course.”