“Finish school, and the day you get to walk the stage, come get me.”

The muscles in his neck stretch and he shifts closer.

“Ransom, you do so much for me, you’re here almost every day.” She pauses to take a few breaths before continuing, “You made happen what you said you would. I don’t have to worry anymore about what Anthony will do to you.”

A strained chuckle leaves him and he shakes his head. “I knew you were worrying about me when I was worrying about you.”

Her eyes soften and I imagine if she had use of her left hand, she would squeeze his.

I watch as he squeezes hers.

“Sienna, I can’t. I want you with me, you belong with me.”

“You promised,” she whispers and his face twists. “I’m okay, Ransom. It’s only a couple months, do all the things a senior is supposed to do, lame or not,” she teases him. “And then we can do what you said. Start fresh somewhere else. As a family.”

Her eyes briefly meet mine and my lips twitch.

He pulls in a long breath, sitting up straighter, and with forced movements, her request the sole thought in his mind, he agrees.

It takes him several moments to accept the answer he gave, but once he perceives the happiness in her eyes, it’s enough to erase his concerns, at least for right now.

He grins, sitting back and while his shoulders seem to fall, I think it’s with ease, not weight. He knows she’s okay, and her deciding to stay a little longer lets him know it’s the truth, she’s being honest, not telling him what he hopes to hear as he thought she might.

His baby sister is okay, and soon, she’ll be more than that.

I scoot closer on the bench, and Ransom’s right arm falls behind me, bringing me closer to him.

I take a deep breath, nervous for some reason.

“I brought you something.”

Sienna looks my way as I pull the long, velvet box from my bag.

I open it, and her lips part, Ransom’s hand clamping on my hip in the same moment.

I didn’t tell him what my surprise was, only that I had something she would love, and judging by her reaction, I think I was right.

“Oh my god...” she breathes, and her glossy gaze flicks to mine, but only briefly, before falling to my hands again.

“They’re Blue Nile, South Sea,” I tell her softly, pulling the pearl necklace from its case, the necklace my mother spent more on than I’ll ever admit to Sienna, and the same one that I took from around her neck the day she was arrested.

I had it cleaned, polished, and reclasped with a sensitivity link, just in case. It’s sixteen inches long and has a total of eighty-five perfect pearls.