The Poison Season(60)

Fiona walked up to them, still blinking away her drowsiness. “What’s this I hear? A proposal?” She was smiling, but in the darkness, Leelo couldn’t tell if it was genuine.

“That’s right.” Ketty lifted her chin, almost as if she were challenging her sister. “My girl will be married on her eighteenth birthday. Mr. Harding has already begun drawing up the plans for their cottage.”

Leelo felt as if the ground was shifting beneath her, and she had to hold on to her mother for support. “You’re moving out?” she asked Sage.

Sage’s eyes flicked to her mother, then back to Leelo. “Yes.”

It was all too much to make sense of. Couldn’t Ketty see that Sage wasn’t happy about this? And if Ketty’s bitterness was the result of marrying a man she didn’t love, how could she possibly want the same thing for her own daughter?

“It’s late,” Fiona said. “We should get home.”

Leelo allowed her mother to take her hand and begin leading her back to the house. The voices of the still-carousing Endlans were drowned by the roar of blood in Leelo’s head, and she realized almost too late that she was going to be sick.

She retched so violently she fell to her knees, her mother pulling her hair back just in time.

“It seems you really did have too much wine.” Ketty’s voice was loud and grating. By the time Leelo wiped her mouth and sat back on her haunches, her aunt and Sage were gone. Fiona helped her to her feet.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

“I think so,” Leelo said. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. We’ve all had a little too much wine on a summer solstice night.” Mama smiled and linked her arm through Leelo’s. “Where were you tonight, darling?”

Leelo glanced at her mother from the corner of her eye. She should have known she would notice her absence, no matter how much wine she’d had. “I needed to get away for a little while, that’s all.”

Her mother arched a brow. “Is that all?”

“What do you mean?”

Her tone was soft and coaxing when she said, “You met someone, didn’t you?”

For a moment, Leelo wondered if she was going to be sick again.

“It’s all right, Leelo. You can tell me. I promise I won’t expect you to marry them, just because you like them.”

Leelo knew she couldn’t continue lying to her mother, but she also couldn’t tell her about Jaren. It wasn’t that she thought her mother would be angry with her. But she would be worried. She would do whatever it took to keep Leelo safe, even if that meant killing Jaren. And Leelo couldn’t bear to think of that now.

“I do like someone,” she admitted finally. “But I’m not ready to talk about who it is yet.”

Fiona rested her head on Leelo’s shoulder. “That’s fine, my darling. You don’t have to tell me. I just hope you’ll be careful.”

“What do you mean?” Leelo didn’t think her mother could possibly know about Jaren, but she was intuitive. She observed more than Ketty gave her credit for.

“I don’t want you getting hurt. That’s all.”

Leelo relaxed a little. “I won’t, Mama.”

Fiona lifted her head, and Leelo shivered at the sudden absence. “Just remember, my girl. It’s not the falling that breaks you.”

Leelo didn’t ask her what she meant. After tonight, she thought she understood. They walked on for several moments before Fiona sighed.

“It’s not the falling,” she said in a soft voice that sent chills over Leelo’s bare arms. “It’s the landing.”

By the time Leelo had changed for bed, Sage was asleep. Leelo crawled under the covers, her head pounding with the latent effects of the wine and the news of Sage’s engagement. While she had never relished the idea of living with her cousin for the rest of her life, she wasn’t ready for Sage to move out. She wasn’t ready for Sage to move on.

Leelo rolled onto her side, away from her cousin. A few moments later, she felt Sage’s fingertips on her shoulder. They were ice-cold.

Leelo turned to find Sage’s eyes glimmering in the dark. “What’s wrong?”

Her voice was flat and detached. “Nothing.”

Leelo didn’t want to assume that Sage was unhappy about the engagement. She had seemed resigned to it before, and knowing Sage, she wasn’t going to talk about how she truly felt. When Leelo attempted to console her, it usually backfired. “Were you expecting it tonight?” she asked instead.

Sage sighed and rolled onto her back. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

“What did he say? Does he love you?”

Sage snorted dryly. “What do you think, Leelo? That Hollis poured his heart out on bended knee?”

“No, I suppose not.”

“We were dancing, and somehow we ended up in the trees by ourselves. Out of nowhere he said, ‘You’re going to be my wife.’ And I asked him what he was talking about. That’s when he told me we were getting married in six months, that our house was already planned. He wants children. Soon.”

So that was it. Hollis had informed Sage he was marrying her with as much emotion as if he was telling her about the weather. No wonder Sage seemed so numb. “You don’t have to marry him. I know Aunt Ketty wants it, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have a say.”