“Oh, Tessa, no,” her mom said, looking distressed. “I’m the one who told Mark to draw up a proposal for the Castorinis. I did go to Leo with it and asked him to not say anything. More than that—I swore him to secrecy. I’m so sorry.”

“You approached Leo with this?” And asked him to keep quiet? She struggled to let that sink in. Misery and panic flowed through her, freezing every muscle.

You’ll have to ask your mother about that.

Her mom had initiated this. Leo had kept her mother’s confidence because she’d asked him. And in return, Tessa had accused him of terrible things. Of coercing. Of wanting to take over the bakery. Of using her.

She’d ruined everything. But why hadn’t he told her?

“Mom, why?” Tessa managed. “We got married to save the bakery and the restaurant.”

“You did what?” her grandmother asked.

Tessa tried to hold back her panic. She’d kept so many secrets. But she had nothing to lose now. She was going to tell her family everything.

She exchanged a glance with Juliet. “I haven’t told any of you the truth. But Juliet guessed it. Leo’s dad wasn’t giving him any control and thought he should be married, and of course Mom wasn’t budging about selling any pastries, so we…we came up with a plan to jumpstart both places. It was just a business agreement, but…but things got muddled. He was kind and fun and full of wild ideas and…” All of a sudden, she started crying.

Cosette carefully wove her way around Juliet and Viv and finally settled in Tessa’s lap, the one good thing about this crappy day.

“You did this for us?” her grandmother asked.

Her mother sat down next to her and took her hands. “Tessa, you sacrificed your dreams to help our family. I—I’ve felt terrible about that for a long time.”

Tessa shook her head. “That’s all in the past.” None of that mattered anymore. Only Leo mattered. Except he’d hidden this from her. She was so confused.

Juliet piped in. “Tessa, tell Mom the whole truth.”

Tessa blinked at her sister in confusion.

“Tell everyone about the scholarship,” Juliet prodded. “Come clean. It’s time.” Juliet, not one to wait for permission, plowed ahead. “Tessa threw the scholarship. To stay and help me. To help all of us. She did it for us.”

“Oh, Tessa,” Viv said, starting to cry, too.

“Mon Dieu,” her grandmother exclaimed. “You stayed here instead of going to New York?”

“I knew how badly you wanted to go away to school,” her mom said, squeezing her hand, “but I never imagined you’d give up something so important. I never would have kept you in town.”