“You have your parents. And Sage and me. Aunt Ketty said she’d talk to the council on your family’s behalf.” She left out the part about Isola being ruined forever. It wouldn’t help anything, and besides, Leelo was hopeful that people would forgive her in time. “Someday you might even meet someone else you can love the way you loved Pieter.”

She dropped the ruined flower and crushed it with her foot. “No, I won’t.”

“Perhaps not,” Leelo said. “But you won’t know unless you try.”

They sat in silence for a long while, until finally Leelo couldn’t bear it anymore. She’d come here today for a reason, and though she knew Isola wasn’t going to be spreading gossip anytime soon, she needed to approach this delicately. “Isola, I need to ask you something.”

“If it’s about why I helped Pieter, don’t bother. I know no one understands, and I’m tired of trying to explain.”

Leelo wanted to tell Isola that she did understand, better than her friend could imagine, but she knew Isola wouldn’t believe her. “It isn’t that.”

Isola waved her hand absently. “Go on.”

“I found the little cottage. The one you kept Pieter in.”

Isola stiffened beside her. “What are you talking about?”

“You don’t need to worry,” Leelo said quickly. “I won’t tell anyone. But I was wondering how you kept him safe all winter.”

“Leelo, if you think Tate can come back here—”

“I don’t, I swear. This isn’t about Tate.”

“Then what is it about? If you hadn’t noticed, I didn’t keep Pieter safe. It got too cold in the cottage. Eventually I had to sneak him into the house. That’s when my mother found him.”

Of course. That explained why Isola had taken such a big risk by bringing him inside. Fortunately for Jaren, freezing temperatures wouldn’t be an issue. “Did you build it?” Leelo asked.

“Pieter and I found it, when we were children. We were best friends, you see. Before he left, we made a pact that he would return to Endla someday, and we would live in the cottage together. Back then, it seemed possible. We were children. We didn’t know.”

Leelo placed a hand over Isola’s. “Of course not.”

She looked up, eyes brimming with tears. “I didn’t think he’d actually go through with it, Leelo.” Her voice cracked as she began to cry. “I felt so awful, making him stay in there all alone. It was so cold. If we’d been able to build a fire, maybe he would have been all right. But we couldn’t risk the smoke.”

“I’m so sorry, Isola.”

She nodded, wiping her eyes with her thumbs.

“Does anyone else know about the cottage?”

She shook her head. “No. Like I said, we were careful not to even light a small fire.”