"OH," I say.

"Jared made the terms of your marriage quite clear to me." Tomiichi calls for a refill of his coffee as my heart sinks to a depth that rivals the Mariana Trench. "How you're the daughter of Spencer Monet. Was that why you didn't want me to know your surname when we met?"

I don't answer. All I can think of is – how did it all turn this way, so fast? Cutting ties with my father, finding out about Akai's real identity, and now stalked by my ex-husband. It's as if a string has been pulled, and now the entire fabric of my lie is coming undone.

I tried so hard to run away from the old me, but it looks like the old me isn't ready to give me up yet. Not when it's chased me here from the city.

"Jared told me you cheated on him and ran away to avoid the consequences. Is that true?"

"No! He was the one who – " I stop as I realize it doesn't really matter anymore. "We're in the middle of a divorce. I didn't mean to drag your family into this. I'm sorry."

Where Akai's eyes are dark hurricane pools that refuse to give up their secrets, Tomiichi's are a pair of glass doors that somehow stays opaque.

"I see," he says, and like his cousin, reveals nothing on his face at all. "So you're not here to seduce me as your next rich husband?"

The weight of lies is heavy. You always start out with one, just one knot of mistruth, but to keep that one knot from unravelling, you tie another. And another. And another, and yet another, until finally you're left with something so gnarled you don't even remember what the first knot looked like anymore. Or what even it was for.

At some point, it's no longer worth it to bear.

I start slowly. "I came to Ryefair by accident. I didn't mean to stay, but then I heard about your family. I knew who you were. Jared has a share of your stocks."

"Several shares," Tomiichi corrects.

"I'd just left a millionaire. I had no money of my own. But I wanted to stay rich."

The more I spoke, the more I realized how ugly I sounded. How materialistic I was. Heather was right; I was a gold-digger.

"I heard about the prodigal Satoh first-born. The bachelor heir. I decided – why not make him my next target? Except, I made a mistake."

Tomiichi doesn't blink. He keeps that same unreadable gaze on me, and I know – he knows. I don't know how, and I don't know why, but Satoh Tomiichi knows the second lie. The second lie I told to cover up the first.

"I confessed to the wrong person. I chased the wrong man. And I didn't even know it until two days ago. Since then, things have just been such a blur. Everything's happening so fast."

My fingers dig into my palms, and I can't meet Tomiichi's stare. I wonder how he feels hearing me admit I set out to cheat his family? Wild guess – not very friendly.

"I understand if you want me to leave immediately," I say, voice small. "But ... I'm only one week away from making this month's salary. And I really need it to pay my divorce lawyer. So if you can just let me stay until then – "

"But you're not a real farm helper," Tomiichi objects. "My father told me the story. Your shark-eaten ex-employer seems to share the same surname as your ex-husband."

My face flushes a shade so red it's unknown to man. Tomiichi goes on.

"I can understand how you fooled my father ... but surely not my cousin? Correct me if I'm wrong, but while married you never did a day's worth of farm work, yes? Akai would have known from the first second you touched a pitchfork."

I think back to the doubtful expressions and dry remarks.

"He did. Caught me single-handedly destroying the barn. But when I helped him find Maiko, and asked for a second chance, he gave it to me. He's a nice man, Akai. He really is."

To my horror, I can feel tears wetting my eyes. One drips down the side of the nose before I get to swipe it away.

Tomiichi's eyes on me are keen. "Not a lot of people are perceptive enough to say that about him. And he doesn't give out second chances. At least, that's what I thought."

"I can't tell you I didn't mean to tell lies," I whisper, "because I did. And I can't tell you I regret it either, because I don't. I've learned a lot working here. Not just about taking care of animals, but also about myself. Your parents have an amazing marriage. Mrs Satoh is a ridiculously strong woman. Chihiro sees the good in everyone, even those who don't deserve it. Akai – "

My voice breaks off again, and this time I can't hide the trembling crack.

"You seem to have a lot of difficulty pronouncing my cousin's name," Tomiichi observes.

"It's a nice name. He's a nice man."

"So you've said." Tomiichi shifts in his seat. "Would you like to know how you got found out?"

"You said Jared spoke to you."

"That explains how I know you're not a farm helper, and why you're here, but it doesn't explain how I know you were chasing Akai. Well, actually Jared told me that information too, but he got it from someone else. Imelda."

I stare. "What?"

"She has a recording of a conversation between you and your sister. I'm afraid you weren't subtle in stating your motives. It's not exactly court evidence, but it's pretty damning."

My mind flashes back to that day. Heather in her palm-print dress. Sound of cows mooing.

My opened bedroom window.

"But why," I say slowly, "would Imelda tell Jared that? She doesn't even know him."

Tomiichi snaps his fingers. "An excellent question, and one I asked myself. It seems Mr. Darling was ambushed by Imelda from the very first minute he stepped into town. She played a bit of the recording, convinced him to listen to the rest, and in return, got the truth about you. Then she asked Jared to come find me."

"Find you? But why?"

Tomiichi's tone is blunt.

"Because she's chased me for her daughter for years, and last night at the bar, she did it again. This is nothing out of the ordinary – except this time, I didn't just turn her down, I turned her down with another woman on my arm. A woman who saved a very expensive cake."

It takes a second for the information to sink in. "Oh."

"Unnerved by the idea of competition, Imelda decided it best for me to know the truth about you. But she couldn't tell me herself, because she knew she was the last person I'd believe. Besides, she had another job. Jared wasn't about to help her for free. He asked for something in return."

I thought I knew. Just the idea of it is enough to send my heart thudding, terribly fast. My palms are both cold and hot. I feel as if furrows are being dug in the walls of my stomach, and liquid mercury is pouring in.

It's a feeling worse than seeing my father on the doorstep. It's a feeling worse than seeing Jared. It's a feeling worse than having Satoh Tomiichi find out about my original intentions.

In fact, it quite possibly is the worst feeling in the world.

"Of course, I should make a disclaimer now that this is purely my theory," Tomiichi says. "I don't actually know what Jared asked Imelda to do. But if I had to put money on a bet ... judging from the way he spoke my cousin's name, how he hates to mention you and Akai in the same sentence ... as well as the utterly undisguisable jealousy, I would say: Jared told Imelda to tell Akai the truth. That Akai was never meant to be the one you love. And anything you said with that intention was a mistake."

The effect of his words is instantaneous. I jump out of my chair, the furniture shoved backward in a bang not unlike a bullet from a gun. Nearby customers stare and murmur. The same waitress who's served me three times now over the past week shakes her head, no doubt thinking here we go again.

But I don't notice any of those things. I see only Tomiichi, and hear only his words.

"I need to go," I stutter.

Tomiichi's upward gaze is placid. "You're not going to stay and ask me to marry you?"

"I doubt you'd accept a gold-digger's proposal."

"I'd accept a businesswoman's. And that's what you are, aren't you? At least, from my understanding of you and Jared's marriage."

"Marriage isn't a business transaction."

The words spill out from my lips on their own, a gush of water, a sigh of summer wind. I finally understand what those five words mean.

A pause. Tomiichi leans back in his chair.

"Well," he says. "Then there's nothing more to be said."

¥

tomiichi 👁

I watch her run out of the coffee shop like the devil himself is on her heels. I've seen a lot of blonde women in my life, but there's something about Iris Monet's hair, streaming out behind her in carefree waves, that reminds me of watercolor sunstrokes in Renaissance paintings.

Beautiful and untouchable.

"Ah. She forgot her lilies."

Aliyah comes over with the coffee pot. "Lost another one, Tom?"

I smile. "It's inevitable. Women find love after they've met me."

"You'll get your Mrs. Right one day." She gestures at the flowers. "Want me to wrap those up for you?"

"Leave them." I stand up. "Consider it my gift to the coffee shop."

"If you insist. They're a pretty addition."

"And she's a pretty woman," I murmur.

Aliyah stops picking up plates. "Sorry?"

"Oh, nothing. Have a great day. And keep the change."

Outside, thunder rumbles. Looks like rain. Two days from now I'll officially be single for 8 years. My mother's been nagging at me to settle down ever since I turned the big three-o.

A sigh escapes from my lips like the deflated air of a fat balloon. First my best friends get hitched, and now it seems my little cousin brother will too. Not that he's little anymore. He hasn't been little for a long time.

I look up at the cloudy sky. When will it be my turn, I wonder?