“There’s nothing like that.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely not. I live the way I want to.”
“Could you be…um, exiled? Excommunicated? If you did something the group didn’t like?”
His mouth twitched, but he didn’t allow himself the smile. “Well, if I broke the law I guess somebody would call the police. But that’s not what you mean.”
“No. You know what I mean.”
“I do, and the answer’s no. My folks moved here before they had children. I’ve always lived on the Lane, and nobody’s been excommunicated in my lifetime. Or my dad’s, I can tell you. He wouldn’t stand for it either.”
“But that’s—” She clamped her lips shut, ducked his gaze.
“You’re right, it’s unusual that as an adult I live so close to my folks and my siblings. But it’s not as if nobody lives there except Sterlings. Plenty of other people do too.”
“Including Nathan Corrigan?” she said.
He cocked his head as if listening to something only he could hear. After a few seconds he nodded. “Yeah, including Nathan.”
“Ezra, I’m not trying to pry, honestly.”
For a minute he watched the passing fairgoers. Then he met her eyes, and his were somber yet accepting. “I get it. I just don’t know how to prove anything to you.”
“What about outside information? Are you allowed to go online? Are you allowed to read or watch anything you want?”
“Yes,” he said, and the simplicity of it felt true.
Or she wanted it to be true. She sighed. “It’s just…a bunch of people who chose to settle together? That sounds too easy.”
“It sounds like the setup for a true crime podcast.” His mouth twitched into the first smile since she’d brought up the topic.
“Exactly.”
“Well, we’re not luring people to their deaths or anything. We’re just a group that sticks together by choice. My grandparents passed down our property to my dad. Nathan’s folks are out there too, and their land goes a few generations back as well. And there’s plenty of privacy. Most of the plots are fifty acres each.”
She hadn’t known that. She’d pictured a typical suburb, with Ezra’s home a few hundred feet from everyone else’s.
“Other questions?” he said.
“Not that I can think of right now.” She’d have to process all this first.
He nodded. His eyes held understanding…and caution. She couldn’t begrudge him that; she was prying beyond whatever trust she might have earned with him.
“Thanks for talking about it,” she said as they continued walking. “I hope I didn’t ask too much.”
“Nah.”
He aimed a full smile down at her, and its warmth seeped in between them. He wasn’t defensive. It really was all right.
At last they reached the far end of the grounds. They hadn’t been tracking time, but Willow checked now. Almost four. Quite a marathon first date. She was suddenly tired, not of Ezra but of the crowd, the venue. She wanted to sit in a quiet room for a while.
Neither of them spoke as Ezra walked her back to her car, and Willow exhaled in their comfortable silence. Maybe he was doing this for her, but…she glanced up at him, and he looked the way she felt. Happily spent.
“I guess we’ve used all our words for the day,” she said.
Surprise smoothed his face, and then he gave her another of those warming smiles. “Yeah.”
