“Scared of screwing up. Scared of us, maybe. Margo—” Meg stopped. “Margo found out yesterday. Had an emergency Circle meeting last night.”
“Oh no. How is she?”
“Controlled. You know Margo. But she has to be hurt. All those years...”
Anna was quiet for a moment. “We should ask him.”
“What?”
“We should ask Tyler. Right now. While Secret Teenager is asleep and can’t hear.”
“Anna, he’s exhausted?—”
“He’s had sixteen years to be exhausted. We deserve answers.” Anna’s jaw set in that stubborn way Meg recognized. “Go wake him up.”
“I’m not waking?—”
“Meg. Our brother has been hiding an entire human being from us. Wake him up.”
She had a point. Meg stood, decision made. “Fine. But if he throws something?—”
“He won’t. He’s too tired to have good aim.”
Meg slipped back inside, moving quietly throughthe living room. She set her coffee down and gently shook Tyler’s shoulder.
“Tyler. Wake up.”
He startled, nearly rolling off the couch. “What? Is Stella?—”
“Stella’s fine. Sleeping. But Anna wants to talk to you.”
“Anna?” He blinked, confused. “What time is it?”
“Early. Come on.” She held up her phone, Anna’s face expectant on the screen.
Tyler groaned but sat up, his hair sticking up in twelve directions. “This couldn’t wait?”
“Sixteen years was enough waiting,” Anna said from the phone.
Meg propped the phone on the coffee table, angling it so they could both be seen. Tyler rubbed his face, trying to wake up fully.
“Hi, Anna,” he said weakly.
“Don’t ‘hi Anna’ me.” Her voice was firm but not unkind. “Spill.”
“I don’t know where to start.”
“The beginning,” Meg suggested, settling beside him on the floor. “Australia. Twenty-three years old.”
Tyler was quiet for so long Meg thought he might refuse. Then, quietly: “Her name was Fiona. Is Fiona. She was... God, she was everything. Photographer, like me. Taught workshops at the program I was attending. Older, established, brilliant. I was completely gone for her.”
“And?” Anna prompted when he stopped.
“And it was supposed to be casual. Summer fling. I was young and stupid and she was very clear about not wanting anything serious.” Tyler’s hands twisted together. “When the program ended, I came home. She stayed. End of story, I thought.”
“Except it wasn’t,” Meg said.
“Two and a half years later, she called. Out of nowhere. Said she had something to tell me but I had to promise...” He stopped, swallowed. “She had conditions.”
