He straightened out from the middle of the pachysandra, a prickle at his neck. “What are you saying?”

She shook her head solemnly. “Tessa’s had an awful year. I don’t really understand what’s going on here, but this little arrangement is tying her up and preventing her from meeting someone else. Someone decent who really cares about her. No offense, Leo—you make great pasta, but…my sister never would have married you so suddenly. Not for real.”

He narrowed his eyes. Was she really onto them? And should he take offense that Juliet had told him he wasn’t great marriage material?

“You have no idea what it’s like to be a woman in a small town, do you? She lost a fiancé. Which might actually be a good thing, but if you two part ways, she’s going to be marked forever.”

He knew Juliet had a flare for drama. But forever? That seemed a bit much, even for her. “What are you talking about?”

“The gossip. The whispering. It will make her put up even more of a wall so that if a man even tries to get close, she’ll shut him down. She’s really good at that.”

She was really good at that. But she seemed to have lost her edge with him, judging by those kisses last night.

Which were a huge mistake.

Tessa acted tough and strong on the outside, but she was like one of her own cream puffs on the inside—soft, melty.

Vulnerable.

“Tessa’s spent her whole life taking care of us. It’s time for her to finally do what she wants. I hope you appreciate that.”

“I do.” He was about a foot from the cat, who was now sitting on a rock in the middle of the pachysandra, licking her paw. One step forward and a quick swoop, and he’d have her.

“She deserves someone to respect her,” Juliet continued. “To treat her right. She’s capable of doing anything for people she loves.” She paused a long time, as if debating saying more. “Like throwing that scholarship.”

Leo’s swipe at getting the cat missed, and she scurried off to the far corner of the garden, next to the wire fence—and the hole he hadn’t yet fixed. He straightened up and narrowed his eyes at Juliet. “What scholarship?”

Juliet ignored his question. “I don’t really know what’s going on here, but I do know that you wouldn’t be asking that question if you really knew her.” Juliet walked past him and into the garden, where the cat was delicately sniffing some chives, and scooped her up with one hand. “Sorry, sweetie,” she said, setting her coffee cup down on the table and rubbing the cat’s head. As she moved to open the sliding door, Cosette almost wiggled out of her arms before Juliet could scoot her inside.