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Chapters (48)
  1. 1. One
  2. 2. Two
  3. 3. Three
  4. 4. Four
  5. 5. Five
  6. 6. Six
  7. 7. Seven
  8. 8. Eight
  9. 9. Nine
  10. 10. Ten
  11. 11. Eleven
  12. 12. Twelve
  13. 13. Thirteen
  14. 14. Fourteen
  15. 15. Fifteen
  16. 16. Sixteen
  17. 17. Seventeen
  18. 18. Eighteen
  19. 19. Nineteen
  20. 20. Twenty
  21. 21. Twenty-One
  22. 22. Twenty-Two
  23. 23. Twenty-Three
  24. 24. Twenty-Four
  25. 25. Twenty-Five
  26. 26. Twenty-Six
  27. 27. Twenty-Seven
  28. 28. Twenty-Eight
  29. 29. Twenty-Nine
  30. 30. Thirty
  31. 31. Thirty-One
  32. 32. Thirty-Two
  33. 33. Thirty-three
  34. 34. Thirty-Four
  35. 35. Thirty-Five
  36. 36. Thirty-Six
  37. 37. Thirty-Seven
  38. 38. Thirty-Eight
  39. 39. Thirty-Nine
  40. 40. Forty
  41. 41. Forty-One
  42. 42. Forty-Two
  43. 43. Forty-three
  44. 44. Epilogue
  45. Afterword
  46. Also by
  47. Acknowledgments
  48. About Author

She shrugged her tiny shoulders. “I’m just curious if she has talked to you at all.”

“We talked briefly yesterday. I just am not sure what she could say that would make us go back to normal.”

Mom nodded. She knew every part of my old self was ripped out the last time I spoke to Sarah, and one conversation wouldn’t bring that back.

“Maybe you should go shopping or something with her. Clear the air a little?”

I had no interest in clearing any air with my sister, but I knew Mom would keep pushing if I didn’t say yes.

“I’ll consider it.” She saw through every bit of me, as always.

“I’m not taking her side. I am merely a neutral party who wants to see her children getting along.”

I nodded my head. “I know, Mom.”

I sat with her for almost an hour, laughing and catching up over the missed time. When I was in Florida, we spoke every couple of days, but there were so many things I didn’t realize I needed to say until I saw her in person. And being the precious mother she was, she sat and listened with no judgment or unsolicited advice.

My phone buzzed and saw a missed text from Finn.

Hottie from 15B: Is it possible to die of a caffeine deficiency?

I chuckled to myself.

Me: Maybe. What are your symptoms?

Hottie from 15B: Exhaustion. Fatigue. Crankiness with a group of children.

Me: Sounds fatal. What is the treatment?

Hottie from 15B: A coffee date with a certain green-eyed blonde that hates Christmas.

My heart skipped a beat, and I felt my smile creeping back up.

Me: You’re in luck, I happen to know one of those.

An idea crossed my mind, and I hugged mom briefly and asked to borrow her car before slipping out the door.

25. Twenty-Five

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“Okay, everyone! Up and down and up and down!” I shouted across the group of kids as they copied my movements.

Some stumbled as they practiced raising and lowering their legs with their skis attached. Several of them had helmets and goggles on that were too big so they looked like tiny aliens—it was adorable.

We had already run our practices for the day and were wrapping up what they had learned in the last week. When we finished our final exercises, the kids were dismissed, and I was wrapping up by picking up the orange flags we had placed down earlier in the morning. But I’d be lying if half my mind wasn’t thinking of what Olive was doing.