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Dinner goes smoothly, despite my reservations. Nolan and his mother carry most of the conversation, discussing everything from Nolan’s brothers to the inner workings of the family.
“I have to admit, I do like that Ash girl your brother married,” Molly says, winking at me. “She’s a good person.”
“A good friend too,” I add.
“I wouldn’t know.” Nolan face is impassive. “I’ve barely met her.”
I raise my eyebrows at him. “Really?”
“Like I said, they’ve been distant.” Molly drinks her wine and leans back. “Well, Nolan, that was amazing.”
“Seriously,” I agree, nodding for emphasis. “Amazing. I’m almost impressed.”
“Takes a lot to impress you then.” Nolan winks at me. “Happy to keep on trying.”
I blush despite myself.
Molly laughs and stands. “Keely, would you join me out back for a drink? Nolan, you can clean up.”
“I did the cooking. Doesn’t that mean you two do the dishes?”
“Not tonight.” She wags a finger at him. “Don’t talk back to your mother. Keely?”
I nudge Nolan before following her out onto the porch overlooking his handsomely landscaped back yard. It’s large for a city plot, and we take two comfortable chairs beside a fire pit, currently empty. Dim lights illuminate the darkness, pressing against the tall fences on all sides.
“Can I ask you something?” Molly tares into the darkened fire pit, swirling her wine. “If I’m overstepping, you can say so.”
“Please.” I gesture for her to continue.
“You and my son must’ve only begun your relationship recently. Did you two rush into this marriage for some particular reason?” She glances at me, her eyes straying down to my belly.
I nearly groan. She knows I’m not drinking for a reason, and her guess is terrifyingly accurate.
Except that’s not the real reason we got together—at least not the reason Nolan knows about. I’ve kept the baby from him, thinking we’ll be finished before he even finds out. Though now I’m starting to realize my plan was flawed and kind of dumb from the start.
“It’s an arrangement,” I blurt out, desperate to do anything to distract from her question. “It’s only going to last five months.”
I sit in the silence that follows, feeling like an idiot, but I didn’t know what else to do. I could tell her the truth and admit that I’m pregnant, but then Nolan would find out.
Instead, I said the second dumbest thing possible.
Her surprise turns to contemplation. She takes a long sip from her drink, looking older than she has all night. “That’s good,” she says softly.
“That’s—I’m sorry, what?” I lean back in my chair, too surprised to sit forward. I feel like the ground’s opening up. Does this woman actually hate me? Is this whole kindly mother thing an act?
“They’ll ruin you, dear.” She’s not looking at me. Her voice is small, distant, like she’s speaking from inside of some faraway memory.
“Ruin me how? Who will?”
“The family.” She glances over and her smile is heartbreaking. “It’s what the Crowleys do. I didn’t realize it when I married Orin, but slowly, the work overtook everything. I thought I could resist for the longest time, but—” She leans back, letting a breath out of her nose. “It changed me.”
“Changed you how?” I ask gently, unable to help myself. This isnothow I thought this conversation would go, but now I can’t stop it. I need to understand what she’s talking about.
My life hangs in the balance. But so does Ash’s life. And that girl Dara, married to the other brother Finn.
I feel like I’m getting a glimpse over a tall, beautiful wall, only to find the presumably beautiful garden beyond rotten, brown, and ruined.
“It hardened me. It burdened me with the knowledge of all the difficult decisions Orin made every day. And slowly, he began to bring his work home, asking for my opinion, seeking my council. I couldn’t help it. I told him what I thought, even when the situations were—” She pauses, searching for words. “Dangerous and ugly. It changed me. A little at a time, but it changed me, and it took my husband passing away to finally see how far I’ve come.”
