Page 214 of Vows We Never Made

I swallow roughly, wishing I could read minds.

“No wonder Margot’s crawling out of her skin,” I whisper, half to myself. “If Ethan confronts him… not good.”

Ares whines by my feet, leaning on my legs. I stroke his head absently, wiping my palm on my thighs when he pushes his wet nose into my palm.

“Hang on, I’ve got it!” Margot announces, jogging back over. Her designer heels don’t slow her down for a second. “He’s going to be at a Boston café in approximately”—she checks her watch—“two and a half hours.”

“With Cooper?” I demand.

“Probably. What else would he be there for? Oh, man.” Margot groans as she drags a hand down her face. “I cannotwaitto shake some sense into that boy.”

“That makes two of us. I’m coming with!” I slam Mom’s trunk shut, flashing her a heavy look. The books can wait and I can trust her to keep them safe.

“And I’m driving. We’ll stop to unload a few of these boxes and then hit the road,” Mom says cheerfully.

Ares nudges my hand with his nose again. I look down at his wrinkled, lovable face and smile.

“Guess you’re with us, big guy. If we can’t get Ethan to listen, we’ll try woofs instead.” I rub his head until his loose skin flaps.

“And if that doesn’t do it, we’re beating the ever-loving crap out of him,” Margot adds.

If only it were that easy.

Truly, I have no flipping clue what kind of minefield we’re walking into.

But we’d better get there before this meeting happens and Ethan makes a life-eating mistake.

My stomach dips as I jump in Mom’s car, wondering if I’m ready for this drama.

When I woke up this morning, I had no idea I’d see Ethan again today. Definitely not under these circumstances.

Mom fills Margot in on Cooper’s creepy-crawlies as we drive to her house. I do my best not to imagine Ethan in a blind rage, walking up to Cooper and breaking his face.

If we get there in time, maybe we’ll make sure cooler heads prevail.

Not that Ethan will listen to me, but maybe he’ll listen to his sister, or even Mom.

Someonehas to convince him to slow down, to breathe, to think about how he really wants to solve this.

“Oh, good,” I hear Margot say from the front seat, and when I glance up at her, she’s smiling.

“Good? What’s good about any of this?” I ask.

“Cooper’s a total manwhore,” Margot says.

“Um, how is thatgood?”

“Blackmail. If he makes one wrong move, his marriage goes poof.” She snaps her fingers sharply.

“Is that even legal? And hasn’t it been a while since this went down?” I say cautiously. “Maybe Luna already knows.”

“Doubtful,” Mom says as she changes lanes. “At yoga, she always talks about how amazing he is. It’s one of the reasons no one had the heart to tell her. She worships the ground he walks on.”

Sad.

“Even better, Julia.” Margot’s smile turns positively wicked. “The farther he has to fall, the harder he’ll fight to make sure she keeps him on that pedestal. I bet he’d do a lot to make sure it doesn’t come out. And after we get through this, if someone just happens to slip Mrs. Daley a little note, welllll…”

Mom laughs. Even I crack a smile.