Chapter One
“No peeking!”
Sienna covered her eyes and tried not to laugh. Someone whispered on the other side of the wall. The refrigerator door opened and closed. More whispering, a cabinet door knocking, silverware rattling. A cell phone chirped with a notification. Abruptly, the lights turned off, and then she didn’t have to worry about peeking, because she couldn’t have seen a thing even with her eyes open. But the whispers continued.
“Almost—”
“Is everyone ready?”
“Hang on, is Jason here?”
A twinge poked between Sienna’s shoulder blades. They’d invited Jason? They shouldn’t have. She’d broken up with him months ago.
The lights flashed on.
“Surprise!”
“Congratulations!”
“Open your eyes!”
“Get her picture. Frank, are you getting her picture?”
Voices shouted one over the other as Sienna blinked into the sudden brightness of her parents’ living room. Balloons and streamers hung from every lamp and piece of furniture. Her father stood in the doorway to the kitchen, holding his cell phone three feet from his face and punching buttons as he tried to record the moment. Her mother beamed over an enormous chocolate cake. Her younger brother lounged on the sofa, looking bored. Nate Hunter and his daughter Autumn stood on the stairs holding a handwritten banner proclaiming London or Bust! And Jason Kingsley stood just inside the front door, hands in his pockets, an uncomfortable look on his face.
The whole house vibrated with energy and excitement and the smell of her mother’s cooking. It was too warm, as always, with the woodstove in the corner kicking out heat. And it was too small for the crowd of people jammed inside for this belated celebration. Still, for just a moment Sienna felt a pang of longing. How could she leave all this, even for the prestigious Allbright Award? Yes, it was given to only four people each year. Yes, she’d beaten out three thousand other applicants to win the chance to work in another country. But she’d lived in Whispering Pines her entire life. How could she just pick up and move to the other side of the ocean?
“Are you surprised?” her mother asked. “You didn’t guess, did you?”
“No,” Sienna lied. “I had no idea.”
Nate grinned as he handed her an envelope. “From Max. She can’t wait until you get there.”
“I’m not leaving for another six months.” Against all odds, Sienna and her best friend Maxine had both won fellowships to work in London, but while Max had left the week after Christmas to work as a research librarian, Sienna’s teaching position didn’t start until July. “Not that I’m counting the days or anything,” she added.
“I know. But look inside,” Nate said, pointing at the card. “I’m pretty sure it’s a list of must-dos before you go.”
“Of course it is.” No one made more or better lists than Max did. “When do you both leave?”
“Next week!” Autumn said as Nate curled one broad arm around his daughter. “We get to fly on a big plane and everything.” Her cheeks shone, and Sienna hoped she’d feel the same enthusiasm when it was her turn to board. She’d never flown anywhere, not even to Florida on spring break.
“Well, I can’t wait to hear all about it,” Sienna said.
“Here, sit down so you can open your gifts,” her mother said. She set the cake on a side table. “Louie, please get the forks and plates from the kitchen. And a knife so I can cut this.”
Louie rolled his eyes. At sixteen, everything bored him. “Do I hafta?”
“Yes, you have to. Stop asking me that. And stop using slang, like you weren’t taught proper English in this house. When your mother asks you to do something, you do it.”
Louie shrugged and ambled into the kitchen.
“You know he won’t be able to find anything,” Sienna said. She waited one, two, three seconds, then pointed at the kitchen.
“Ma!” Louie called. “Where are they?”
Her mother groaned. Everyone else laughed.
Later, after Louie had begged off to a friend’s house and Nate had taken a sleepy Autumn home, Sienna sat on the couch next to Jason. Her parents were doing the dishes, a joint effort that her father insisted on every night. She could hear her mother singing under her breath in Spanish and her father banging around pots and pans like he still hadn’t learned where they went. It was sweet, really, the way they still enjoyed each other’s company after all this time. They called each other sweetheart and honey and kissed like they meant it. Sienna wondered if she’d be lucky enough to find someone like that someday. In Whispering Pines? Probably not. But maybe in England...
“You didn’t have to come,” she said to Jason. “You know what my family’s like. They make a big deal about everything.”
“You getting the Allbright is a big deal.” He looked at his lap as he said it, and his ears reddened. He had a rash on one side of his neck from shaving, and his hair needed trimming. He dug one hand into his pocket and pulled out a small, wrinkled envelope. “I got you something.”
Sienna flushed. “You shouldn’t have.”
He shrugged. “I know we aren’t together right now.” He gave her a hopeful look out of the corner of his eye.
I don’t think we’ll be together ever again. She couldn’t say those words out loud. They’d wound him too deeply. But she knew Jason Kingsley wasn’t the guy for her. He dreamed of staying in Whispering Pines and raising a family and becoming the minister at the Valley Presbyterian Church, and there was nothing wrong with any of that—except none of it was Sienna’s dream.
He handed her the envelope. “I wanted to get you something practical. Something you could use while you’re in England.”
A credit card? A pass for the Tube? She opened the envelope and pulled out a small slip of paper. Introduction to Self-Defense. Six Week Course. Springer Fitness.
“Self-defense?”
“I thought it might be helpful in case...” He reddened even further. “I don’t know, in case...I mean, you’ll be living by yourself. I don’t know how safe it is over there.” He reached over and squeezed her upper arm. “You aren’t exactly made of muscle.”
DASHIELL SPRINGER GRUNTED and shoved up the chest press bar one last time. His arms shook and sweat ran down his face, but he got it all the way up.
“Hell, man, two ninety-five.” Zane Andrews, Dash’s best friend, took the bar and set it on the rack. “Nice job.”
Dash sat up and mopped his face. “Thanks.” He took a long drink of water and draped the towel around his neck.
Zane surveyed the gym, half full at four o’clock on a Sunday afternoon. “It looks good in here. More and more people all the time.”
Dash stood, his legs still wobbly from the squats they’d done earlier. “New Year’s resolutions brought in a bunch of new ones.” He hoped they wouldn’t stop coming by the time February rolled around. “I got some new classes I’m tryin’ out, starting next week. Pilates on Saturday mornings and kickboxing Tuesday and Thursday nights. And that six-week personal training course, heavy on the self-defense depending on who shows up to take it. Figured I’ll give it a go. Couple people bought gift certificates for it over the holidays , so that’s somethin’.”