"It's been ready for weeks."
"Good." She takes a breath. "Don't change anything."
"I won't."
"I'm going home."
"Tonight?"
"As soon as the cart's ready." She turns for the door, then looks back at the dress. "I'm not ready to put it on yet."
"You don't have to be."
"But there will still be a wedding."
It isn't a question, so I don't treat it like one. "Then we'll schedule another fitting when you're ready."
"It may run long."
"They always do."
She nods once and walks out to the cart that will carry her back to the man in the courtyard.
Twenty minutes after Mirelle leaves,the bell rings again.
Ysolde, Brynna, and Saskia come in together. Of course they do. Oakenshade sisters travel in packs, even when they're apologizing.
Saskia is carrying a box from Arabella's. Brynna has her notebook under one arm. Ysolde has nothing at all, which means she intends to do the talking. "We owe you an apology," she says.
Saskia winces. "Straight to it, then."
Ysolde ignores her. "We were frightened and angry. Mirelle was standing in front of us, and she was gone, and you were the nearest person who knew anything, so we put all of it on you."
"I should have asked Torgan."
"Yes," Brynna says.
Ysolde looks at her.
"What?" Brynna says. "She should have."
"I know," I say. "I should have."
Brynna's grip tightens on the notebook. "But you did not owe us a private transaction you overheard before you knew any of us. Noemi explained that."
"Repeatedly," Saskia mutters.
"I called you dishonest," Brynna goes on. "That was inaccurate."
I wait.
Her nostrils flare. "And cruel."
I wait some more.
"I'm sorry, Lissy."
She looks like the words cost her a tooth, and that makes them mean more.
