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“No,” he said sharply. “They treated us badly after all the years we lived there. They owed us more than that.”
“It would have died down eventually,” I said. “They couldn’t have talked about us forever.”
He gestured toward the new houses across the road. “How long did I say those people have been living here?”
“Okay,” I said. “That was a good point. But there are more people to gossip here, that’s all.”
“And they also have more to gossip about,” he said. “We were the main topic of conversation back home.”
“You mean I was,” I said in a low voice.
He wrapped his arm around me and led me across a narrow road that led right back into our estate. “Family sticks together, Margo. If one is under fire, we all are. That’s the way it works.”
“Do you ever regret adopting me?” I asked after a moment. “I mean, your lives would have been much easier.”
He glanced at me. “Do you think that’s what we want? Easy? You’ve given us everything we wanted. We’ll never regret adopting you. You were meant to be ours. I’ve always believed that.”
“Do you think she gave me up because of how I look?” I said, avoiding his knowing gaze. “My birth mother, I mean.”
“No, I think she couldn’t take care of you for some reason, and she did what was best for you. You have been happy with us, haven’t you?”
“Of course I have,” I said. “You’re my parents. I don’t care who gave birth to me.”
“You must be curious,” he said. “About who she was.”
“Sometimes,” I admitted. “But I don’t think of her as my mother. I doubtshewould have stuck by me in the face of gossiping old ladies.”
He affectionately ran his hand across my head, making me glad I had worn a hat.
“Here we are,” he said, nodding at a long line of houses. “He lives in one of those, but we’re meeting him on some land just beyond the buildings.”
“What is it they want you to do?”
“Probably just tidy up the place. Maybe Byron Evans is thinking of selling now that he’s raised property values all over town. Before he worked on the place, it was dying.”
“And they still complain about these people?” I asked, offended on behalf of complete strangers.
“Ha,” he said. “If he hadn’t, our house would have been a hell of a lot cheaper. Then again, I’d still be out of work, too.”
We walked across the main road, which wasn’t particularly busy, until we reached the end of the group of houses. Two men stood together on a stretch of concrete where a couple of cars were parked next to the first house. One man was at least a couple of decades older than the other, but they looked similar enough that I took them to be father and son. Both had dark brown eyes, muscular figures, and black hair—the elder’s was mostly grey, and the younger had a slightly lighter skin-tone, but those were the only differences I noticed.
When he saw my father, the older man waved us over. “Mr. Harding,” he said warmly. “And this must be your daughter.”
“Call me Niall,” Dad said. “This is Margo. We moved at a poor time of year. Her mid-term break has been terribly boring so far, so she’s stuck keeping me company.”
“This is my nephew, Nathan,” the older man said, obviously the infamous Byron Evans. “It’s nice to meet you, Margo. I hear we’re hosting a Halloween party in our back yards this week. Have you been invited?”
I rubbed my earlobe. “I was, but I’m not sure if he was supposed to.”
“Dorian invited you,” Nathan said, a smile hovering on his lips.
I frowned. “How did you know?”
“He… mentioned it,” Nathan said innocently. “He’s not in right now, or I’d fetch him for you.”
I held up my hands, embarrassed. “I don’t even know him. He only invited me because I was standing right there when…” I cleared my throat. “It doesn’t matter.”
The men began to discuss the work that needed to be done. I tried to listen, but I soon zoned out and wandered off in a daze. Something in the pit of my stomach shifted as I strolled toward the woods. A gust of wind blasted my back, making me shiver. I stared into the woods, seeing nothing, but my skin crawled as though something were staring right back.
