Leelo relaxed a little. “I won’t, Mama.”

Fiona lifted her head, and Leelo shivered at the sudden absence. “Just remember, my girl. It’s not the falling that breaks you.”

Leelo didn’t ask her what she meant. After tonight, she thought she understood. They walked on for several moments before Fiona sighed.

“It’s not the falling,” she said in a soft voice that sent chills over Leelo’s bare arms. “It’s the landing.”

By the time Leelo had changed for bed, Sage was asleep. Leelo crawled under the covers, her head pounding with the latent effects of the wine and the news of Sage’s engagement. While she had never relished the idea of living with her cousin for the rest of her life, she wasn’t ready for Sage to move out. She wasn’t ready for Sage to move on.

Leelo rolled onto her side, away from her cousin. A few moments later, she felt Sage’s fingertips on her shoulder. They were ice-cold.

Leelo turned to find Sage’s eyes glimmering in the dark. “What’s wrong?”

Her voice was flat and detached. “Nothing.”

Leelo didn’t want to assume that Sage was unhappy about the engagement. She had seemed resigned to it before, and knowing Sage, she wasn’t going to talk about how she truly felt. When Leelo attempted to console her, it usually backfired. “Were you expecting it tonight?” she asked instead.

Sage sighed and rolled onto her back. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

“What did he say? Does he love you?”

Sage snorted dryly. “What do you think, Leelo? That Hollis poured his heart out on bended knee?”

“No, I suppose not.”

“We were dancing, and somehow we ended up in the trees by ourselves. Out of nowhere he said, ‘You’re going to be my wife.’ And I asked him what he was talking about. That’s when he told me we were getting married in six months, that our house was already planned. He wants children. Soon.”

So that was it. Hollis had informed Sage he was marrying her with as much emotion as if he was telling her about the weather. No wonder Sage seemed so numb. “You don’t have to marry him. I know Aunt Ketty wants it, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have a say.”