“Uh, yeah. I’m done. What’s up?”
“Sol wants to talk to you,” she says. “He says it’s time for a Growth Session.”
IRIS
It’sstrange for Sol not to wait until after dinner to hold a Growth Session. As I step inside, I notice the other girls scattering. Most of them head outside to do yardwork, and Violet goes to town to find ways to make money, leaving Sol and me the only ones inside the cabin.
Sol smiles at me as I come and sit down on the chair across from his bed. His smile is as warm and bright as ever, and his blue eyes crinkle in a way that makes me smile back at him despite my nerves. Even now, with all my conflicting emotions, it is so easy to bask in his light.
Marshall Solomon.I hear Rose’s voice in the back of my head, scratching over the name. I try to affix his real name to him. Try to imagine him as the criminal she claims him to be.
“How are you this afternoon, Iris?” he asks. “Tired, I’d imagine.”
“Alittle,” I admit. “I’m kind of surprised you wanted to talk to me already.”
“Oh, Iris, I always want to talk to you,” he says. “If I had the time, I’d hang out with each of you every day. But I acknowledge this is a little out of the ordinary. I’ve spent all day thinking about what you told me this morning.” He sighs. “I’m sure you’ve noticed that I’ve been spending a lot of time with Rose recently. I knew how close you two had gotten, and I felt like I needed to get to know her better. She’s been the most distant of all of you. I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, but after what you told me this morning … Iris, I don’t think she’s a good fit for this family.”
My muscles tense, and my mouth goes dry. I flash back to my conversation with Lily in the garden, and that familiar dread begins to dig its claws in again.
“I think she’s a bit of a weed in our garden.”
I shake my head. “No, no, she’s just … She’s nervous. She’s reluctant because this is all so new.”
“She’s been here for months.”
“I know, but isn’t she supposed to have a year? To learn and prove herself?”
“I don’t think giving her a full year here when she’s clearly become such a bad influence on you is a good idea.”
“She’snot a bad influence,” I insist. “It’s my fault. I—”
“Why do you feel the need to defend her?” Sol asks. “I’m just trying to be honest with you, Iris.”
No.It’s Rose’s voice again as I remember what Rose learned about him—about Marshall Solomon.No, he isn’t being honest with you.
“I care about you more than your family did,” Sol continues, and though his tone is gentle, the accusation there is clear. “I took you in. Forgave you for your past. Comforted you. I want what’s best for you, for all of you girls. But Rose is the one you defend when I’m honest with you about my worries?”
I swallow. God, my mouth is so dry. I don’t know what to say or how to argue. All I can manage is a quiet “I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry, too. Because I spent all day figuring out your final trial in the wake of your confession this morning. And I’ve made a decision, but I’m afraid you won’t be happy with it. At least not at first, though I’m sure you’ll come to appreciate it later.”
“What is it?”
He stands up and walks to the bedside table. “You’ve done well on your other trials, Iris. Very well. But your relationship with Rose—the sway she clearly has over you—it concerns me. It makes me doubt your commitment to this family. I worry thatyou’re always going to choose her over the rest of us. That she’ll poison you with lies and doubts about me and the other girls and drag you down to where you were when we first found you.”
I don’t say anything. I don’t know if he’s right or not. Would I choose Rose over him? Over the others? Maybe. And the guilt of that thought sits heavy on my heart. Because as much as I care for her, I can’t deny that I’d never defied or lied to Sol until she arrived.
“I’ve tried to give her the benefit of the doubt. But she doesn’t want to grow, Iris. She just wants to use her negativity to bring us all down. Like I said, she’s a weed in this garden. And you know what happens to weeds.”
I don’t say anything,
“Iris?”
All I can think of is Violet, saying how Rose would end up like Marigold.
Gone.
“What do we do with weeds, Iris?”
