Chapter 10: Marin's POV

Marin's POV

I had one second to decide whether to hide.

I didn't.

I pulled the sheet up to my collarbone and sat up straight, and Mitch moved in front of me with his arm across my body.

The footsteps on the stairs were slow.

My mother did not hurry.

The door opened, and she stood on the threshold in her cardigan with her purse still on her shoulder.

She looked at the bed.

She looked at Mitch's bare chest, and at my dress on the floor.

Then she lifted her phone and took a photograph.

The flash went off once, white and sudden.

"Joanna," Mitch said, in a voice I had never heard.

"Stay where you are," my mother said, mildly. "Let me get one more."

The flash again.

I could not speak.

My mother lowered the phone and checked the screen.

Then she nodded, satisfied.

"Get dressed," she said. "Both of you. I'll put the kettle on."

She turned and went down the stairs.

I sat there with my hands over my mouth.

"Marin," Mitch said. "Look at me."

I looked.

"Whatever she says, we're not ashamed. You hear me? I'm not ashamed."

"I'm not," I said, and my voice shook. "I'm not."

I put on the white dress with my fingers fumbling at the zipper.

He did it up for me.

His hands were gentle and steady.

Downstairs my mother sat at the kitchen table with three cups of tea.

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