Chapter 115

Kaia

“So,” Tiernan said. “How’s it going?”

I was lying on my back on the bed in Liam’s spare room with my feet up on the wall and the phone wedged between my ear and the pillow, looking at the ceiling. There was a water stain in the corner shaped like a rabbit. I had been looking at it for five weeks. I knew it better than I knew most people.

“How is what going?”

“Kaia.”

“The weather’s nice. The plants are thriving. One of the ferns has a new leaf.” I tilted my head. “Is that what you called about?”

On the other end of the line, my brother breathed out through his nose. I knew exactly what his face was doing. He made that face at council meetings when someone’s cousin wanted to dispute a boundary stone for the fourth time in a year.

“I called,” he said, “to ask how you are. And how things are with Liam. And whether you’ve changed your mind.”

I rolled my eyes so hard it nearly hurt.

“I heard that,” Tiernan said.

“You