Sabine looked at them and saw furniture.

I looked at them and saw the people who had quietly held my family together, and I was not going to let her sneer at them in my own home for one day longer than it took to catch her doing it.

I did not doubt Verena for a moment.

But I knew that my certainty would not be enough — not for the one person who needed it.

Because when I brought it to Gabriel, gently, he did what the tenderest people always do.

He defended her.

Chapter 6 — Give Her a Chance

“She’s stressed about the wedding,” Gabriel said.

“It’s a huge amount of pressure.

Please — give her a chance, Mom.”