ELOWEN
My mother called on Wednesday.
"Saturday dinner," she announced without preamble. "Your father and I haven't seen you in months. I'm sending a car at five."
"Mom, I can't just—"
"You don't work Saturdays, Elowen. I checked with Carmen."
I closed my eyes. Of course she had. My mother was nothing if not thorough.
"I'll send a car," she repeated. "Five o'clock. Wear something nice. And bring that young man you've been hiding."
The line went dead before I could respond.
I stared at the phone in my hand. Fao was watching me from the couch, his head tilted in that curious way.
"Your mother," he said. It wasn't a question.
"She wants us to come to dinner. Saturday." I sank down beside him. "She knows about you. I don't know how, but she knows."
"The loud one told her?"
"Rowan w
