“Okay, but that doesn’t count.” I shook my head. “Why do you need me?”

Simon didn’t answer; he just looked at me and waited for me to get there. And I did, a moment or two later. “Oh.” I put my hands on my hips. “I told you.”

“You did.” He had the grace to at least look at little shamefaced.

“I told you.” I all but shook my finger at him. “I told you that Dahlia would flake on you.” Dahlia Martin had been the best singer we’d had try out, and since she was a college student she had that little bit of extra maturity that meant she could lead the Lilies’ rehearsals with minimal supervision. But I’d had a chat with Ms. Howe, who was still teaching and directing the chorus at Willow Creek High, about our crop of Gilded Lilies this year. While she’d approved of the talent we’d chosen, she had warned me that Dahlia in particular was likely to lose interest and stop showing up after a couple weekends.

And here we were. Simon held up a defensive hand. “You’re right. But she’s a strong singer. I had to give her a chance.”

“So what happened?”

“Well, she didn’t show up this morning. I figured she was just running late, but she texted a few minutes ago that she couldn’t come today. Like she’s calling in sick to work. Like . . .” Simon clenched his jaw, and there went that muscle in his cheek again. Poor guy. We all had his back these days, but there were still the occasional moments like this, where it seemed like he carried the whole Faire on his shoulders.

I sighed. Fine. “But I’m not exactly a teenager anymore. Aren’t the Lilies supposed to be a group of sisters?”

“Oh, never mind that,” he said. “You know the songs, that’s what’s important. You can be their—”

“Watch it.” I put my hands on my hips and narrowed my eyes.

“Their much more beautiful older sister?” His eyes turned pleading, and I had to laugh. He relaxed a little when I did; he knew I was giving in.

“Their really, really young mom?” Emily supplied.

“Their fun aunt?” I suggested.

“There you go.” Simon shrugged. “Work with that.”

I looked across the tent, where the remaining Gilded Lilies, four high school girls, milled around and played with the ribbons on the front of their yellow dresses. “I don’t have that outfit anymore,” I said. One of those girls was probably wearing the exact dress I’d worn a few years back. We recycled costumes a lot around here. “And even if I did, I wouldn’t have time to go home and change. Opening gate is in like twenty minutes.”

“You look fine.” Simon waved a hand at my newer, more wood-nymphy outfit. “I mean, that orange is in the same color family, basically, right? It’s good enough.”

“Good enough?” My eyes went wide. I never thought I’d hear Simon say good enough about anything when it came to his precious Faire. “Wow. Marriage has changed you.”

Emily snorted from beside me, and a slow smile came over Simon’s face. “Maybe it has,” he said. Could just a smile be TMI? It made me want to get a room. If only to get away from those two.

“Fine,” I said. “I’ll be a Lily.”

Simon blew out a sigh of relief and settled his pirate hat back on his head. “Thank you.”

I wasn’t done. “But just for today. Figure something out for tomorrow, and next week.” I’d had very important plans of doing the bare minimum today so I could hang out and play at the Faire with Daniel, so I was not pleased that those plans were getting shunted to tomorrow.

“I promise.” Simon held up his hands. “I’ll go to Dahlia’s house myself tomorrow morning, stuff her into her costume, and drag her here if necessary.”

“I one hundred percent believe that,” Emily deadpanned while I snickered.

Daniel chose that moment to join us; I saw him over Simon’s shoulder, walking up to our little group. Something must have shown in my face because Simon turned around just as Daniel walked up.

“Hey, good morning.” Daniel inclined his head toward Simon in greeting, but his expression was careful. He met my eyes and raised his eyebrows a fraction. The message was clear: were we public with our relationship? Canoodling at a wedding was one thing, but day-to-day was something else. This was my town, and these were my people. He’d follow my lead in this.

Well, the hell with that. I stepped up to his side and rose onto my toes, skating a hand around his ribs to steady myself. With me on my toes he only had to bend a little to kiss me, and thankfully he took the hint, brushing his lips over mine. “Morning,” I said around a smile. We were public. We were public as hell.

Simon coughed. “Morning, Daniel. Everything okay with the Kilts?” Emily elbowed him, and he gave her a what the hell did I do? look.

“He’s not here on business,” Emily said, and I pressed my lips together hard to keep from laughing.

Simon blinked at Daniel and me, then closed his mouth with a snap. “Right. Of course.” He shook his head. “I knew that.”

“It’s okay, Captain,” I said. “You’ve been a little busy.”

“Running Faire, getting married . . .” Daniel laid his hand on the small of my back as he spoke, further cementing the public nature of our relationship. “You’ve got a lot going on.” I felt the heat of his skin through the layers of my costume, and I instinctively leaned into him and his warmth. His hand curved around my back to rest on my waist.

“True.” Simon adjusted his hat as Emily grasped his arm to pull him up the hill. “Speaking of which, I need to get up front. Beatrice.” He touched his fingertips to his hat. “Thanks again.”

“Of course.” I waved him off. After they were gone, Daniel turned to me.

“So.” He leaned down for another kiss, a better one than that quick “people are watching” peck he had given me earlier. His hands explored the defined dip and curve created by the bodice I wore. “You ready for today? I’m thinking we need to hit the ax-throwing first. It seems to get busy quick. Lot of bloodthirsty people in your town.”

I sighed. “I have to take a rain check.” I filled him in on the missing Lily situation, and how my plans for the day had changed.

“Wait. You sing?” A slow grin came over his face. “You never told me that.”

“I used to sing. Today should be interesting. Wait.” My heart sank as something occurred to me. “I don’t even know what part Dahlia sings. Oh, God, I hope she isn’t the soprano.” I pressed my hands to my bodice-flattened belly, where butterflies had started to churn.

“You’ll be great.” He slid an arm around my back and held me close, his lips pressed to my forehead in a comforting kiss. “Don’t worry, okay? You’ve got this. I can’t wait to hear you.”

A nervous laugh bubbled out of me. “Oh, you don’t have to watch us. In fact, please don’t.”

But he shook his head. “No chance I’m missing this.” He laughed at my defeated groan. “Now go on. Marshal your troops.”

“Yeah.” I squared my shoulders. The girls were waiting, after all. One more kiss from Daniel, and I went to join the Gilded Lilies. They were still milling around, looking bored and a little lost now that the morning’s meeting was over and everyone else had moved toward their places for opening gate.

“Hey, Stacey.” Caitlin waved as I approached. “So, Dahlia’s not here. I told Mr. G, and he told us to wait here.” Her face scrunched up in confusion. “But gate’s like really soon. We need to do something, right?”

“It’s okay,” I said. “Dahlia told Simon she can’t be here today.” I stopped short when I realized that Caitlin wasn’t the only one of the Lilies that I knew. “Sydney?”

“Hey, Stacey.” She gave me a little wave and tugged on the bodice of her dress. “It’s Syd now, actually.”

“Oh. Of course,” The last time I’d seen Sydney Stojkovic she’d been five years old, sitting in the back of the minivan when Mr. Stojkovic picked Candace and me up from one cheerleading competition or another. Now she was in high school. Time really was passing by too fast.

“Hey,” I said, still trying to get my mind around Syd not needing a car seat anymore. Then I got my mind back on topic. “So you all know, obviously, that Dahlia’s out today.”

Syd rolled her eyes. “Dahlia got a new girlfriend a couple weeks ago. Betcha that’s where she is.”

“Probably.” I brushed that off. “The good news is, I used to do this, so I’ll sing with you all.” I wasn’t sure how this announcement would go over, and I reminded myself that I’d been cool when I was younger, dammit. I’d been a cheerleader. These girls would have been lucky to hang out with me then. Surely they could get through a day with adult-me without rolling their eyes.

Thankfully, Caitlin was on my side. “Oh, that’s really good!” She nodded vigorously before turning to the others. “Stacey helped me learn the songs this year. And she’s an alto, like Dahlia.”