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“You own it?” I ask Lex, but Breckyn answers me again.
“Lex owns all of Fox Hollow.”
“I don’t own Fox Hollow,” Lex argues weakly.
“She runs it,” Breck amends before wordlessly switching places with her to supervise Primrose trying to feed herself.
“Your sister’s exaggerating.” Lex rolls her eyes as she passes me, but then adds, “It’s a group effort.”
Before I can ask what kind of group, that same voice from before alerts, “Motion detected door three.” Another door opens, this one from the rear of the house.
“My mom—”
“Aleksandra? Why are there—”
At Lex’s mom’s voice, I shut my eyes.
“Oh, a stranger,” Yetta says.
“Mum, this is Reece. Do you remember seeing his face in the pictures we show Prim?”
Before Yetta has a chance to get flustered, I step in the direction I think she’s in and stick my hand out, reintroducing myself as, “Reece Souza, your—”
“My next son-in-law.”
I smile. She remembered.
This time she takes my hand and gives it a timid shake before quickly letting go.
“Mum?” Lex asks, closer than she was a second ago.
She didn’t tell her daughter about our first meeting.
“Your mom and I met before.”
“And you said—”
“That I was going to marry you.” I turn my head toward Lex’s voice, promising, “Because I am.” When I ask Lex to marry me, I’ll be gazing into those color-changing eyes.
“You’re exhausting,” comes out on a sigh I know is her trying not to laugh.
“He should talk to your father first,” Yetta says.
“Mum, that’s impossible. Dad’s grave was vandalized beyond repair.”
I stick both hands in my pockets. “Beyond repair? It was a grave of dirt.”
“Someone dug that dirt up and basically cremated my father’s remains.”
I bob my head along.
“And left Roses behind, perfectly intact, out of the blaze’s reach,” my mom adds.
My body goes still, and I get the feeling looks are being exchanged because nobody says anything for a couple minutes. Do they know?
Finally, Yetta breaks the silence, telling me, “You can look.”
“Are you sure?”
