“No,” Tessa said carefully. “I wasn’t.” She found herself rubbing her arm where Leo had touched it.

Lilac was scrolling through her phone. A bad sign, because it usually meant she was consulting the stars. This is what happened when you had a best friend who believed she’d been born in the Age of Aquarius.

“This is unbelievable,” Lilac said.

“I know,” Tessa said, “I know it’s sudden, but—”

“No, I mean your horoscope.” She proceeded to read from her phone. “Mars is orbiting around Neptune today, and the illuminating sun is interacting with the North Node of fate.”

“That sounds really ominous,” Juliet said.

Lilac looked up. “It means your life is about to be seriously shaken up.”

For once, she had to agree—Lilac’s horoscope was spot-on.

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

On the day of his wedding, on the ides of June, Leo took half an hour to dress. Considering it usually took him five minutes max on his worst days, that was saying something, but he wasn’t sure exactly what. At first, he put on a black polo and khakis. The black seemed ominous and the khakis too casual. Next he tried a shirt, tie, and sportscoat, which felt more like he was attending a business lunch than his wedding.

He finally settled on black pants, a white shirt, and a striped tie, the bright blue of which, he noticed with chagrin, was a good match to Tessa’s eyes. That almost made him change it, but by then he was running late. Worse, while he was tying it, his hands were shaking so much he could barely finish. And to top it all off, when he looked in the mirror, he saw his mother behind his shoulder.

“It’s okay, Ma,” he said as he threaded the last loop through and tugged on it. His voice cracked despite himself. “I’m doing this for all the right reasons—you’ll see.”

She gave him that look. That you can’t fool me look that made him feel guilty, almost always for good reason. No one had known him like his mom. Leo loved his dad, but…well, his mom just got him emotionally in that way that moms often do, and he really missed that.

When she was fighting the cancer, he used to sit by her bed and read to her. It would get both their minds off sadder topics. They both loved thrillers. His mom would literally sit forward on her pillows in anticipation of the next surprise twist. She’d jump at the frightening parts and oooh and ahhh at the romance between the PI and the woman accused of murder whose life was in danger because she knew too many secrets. And when the danger was finally over, she’d collapse back on her pillows and sigh, exhausted but happy.