“How’s married life?” Vivienne asked a few nights later when she stopped to visit Tessa in the bakery. Tessa was starting to think that maybe she couldn’t call what she was doing sneak baking anymore, since everyone on the planet seemed to know exactly where to find her.

Tessa smiled. “A big change.” She hated lying to her family about her marriage. But what she’d just said happened to be 100 percent true. Even though she’d barely crossed paths with Leo since the wedding, since they were both so busy preparing to launch the next part of their plan, it was clear that both their lives had completely changed.

That included everything from having a strange coffee press and a real knife set on the kitchen counter to seeing boxer briefs in clothes baskets and smelling the spicy scent of mentholated shave cream in the bathroom. His shoes were always carefully lined up at the door, and he often spent his time before bed poring over work at his big desk. But besides being roommates, they’d had little other interactions.

Tessa nodded toward a counter stool. “Pull up a seat.”

“Are you angry with me?” Vivienne asked. “That I told Mom?”

“Of course not.” Tessa couldn’t help smiling a little because Vivienne suddenly reminded her of when she was a little girl, coming to Tessa with her troubles. Even though now Viv was twenty-eight and all grown up, Tessa could tell by the way she was shifting her phone from hand to hand and looking around that she had something on her mind. She’d had that very same tell since she was twelve.

“I know the surprise ceremony was a little shocking for everyone,” Tessa said. “But I’m so glad you and Juliet were there.” Truthfully, she might not have made it through without them.

“And no one even ended up killing one another,” Vivienne said with a little chuckle. “I’ve always liked Leo. I’m glad you guys worked things out. I always thought maybe you two would get together one day.”

“You did?” Vivienne was just fourteen when their dad died and Tessa had started her senior year. It seemed to Tessa that her relationship with Leo would be the last thing Viv would remember from back then.

“Yeah. You two had this competition thing going that was really…hot. He was always overly interested in what you were doing, and you two were constantly going at it. Your chemistry’s always been off the charts.”

Funny that Vivienne would remember it that way. For a short time, Tessa had thought that, too. Until Leo had shown he hadn’t really been interested in her at all. To be fair, she’d hurt him first. But she’d had no other choice.

With relief, Tessa noticed Vivienne looking distractedly at her phone. Hopefully that would mean no more questions.