“Relax. I’m kidding. Mostly.” She set down a bag from the bakery in town. “I really did bring pastries. Because I’m a wonderful sister who wanted to check on my baby brother and his new wife.”
“By showing up unannounced?” I asked.
“It’s not unannounced if I texted first.”
“You didn’t text.”
“I texted ten minutes ago.”
“I was—” He stopped. “Busy.”
“I’ll bet you were.” Kate wiggled her eyebrows. “So. How’s married life treating you?”
“Fine,” Thorne said flatly.
“Fine? That’s all I get? Come on, give me something. Are you settling in okay, Maddie? Is he being a good host?”
“Very attentive,” I said, trying to keep a straight face.
Thorne choked on air.
Kate’s eyes lit up. “Oh, I knew I was going to like you. You’re fun.” She started pulling pastries out of the bag. “Okay, real talk. I actually did come for a reason beyond torturing you both.”
“Here it comes,” Thorne muttered.
Kate’s smile faded slightly. She looked at Thorne, then at me, then back at Thorne. “We need to talk. About Granddad’s will.”
Thorne went still. “What about it?”
“Maybe we should sit down.”
“Kate. What about the will?”
She took a breath. “There was no marriage clause.”
The silence in the cabin was deafening.
“What?” Thorne’s voice was dangerously quiet.
“The will. Granddad left you the land outright. No conditions. No requirements.” Kate wouldn’t meet his eyes. “There never was a marriage clause.”
I watched the color drain from Thorne’s face. “You lied.”
“I didn’t lie exactly. I just... creatively interpreted Granddad’s wishes.”
“You lied.” His voice went quieter instead of louder. “You made up a fake requirement, set me up on a dating app without my permission, and got me married under false pretenses?”
“When you say it like that, it does sound a little bad.”
“What the hell were you thinking?”
“I was thinking you were miserable.” Kate’s tone matched his. “I was thinking you’d been hiding up here for six months, barely speaking to anyone, turning into some kind of hermit. I was thinking Granddad wouldn’t have wanted that for you.”
“So you committed fraud?”
“I committed sisterly intervention.”
“You can’t just—” Thorne ran both hands through his hair. “Damn it, Kate.”
