“We married so soon because she got pregnant. Emma and I just grew close after you left. Complete serendipity.”

Sydney had to laugh. “You’re being naive again, Hunter John.”

She could tell he didn’t like hearing that. “She is the best thing that ever happened to me.”

He was saying that because he gave up Sydney his life was great. She didn’t like hearing that. “Did you go to Notre Dame? Did you travel around Europe like you wanted to?”

“No. Those are old dreams.”

“Seems to me you gave up a lot of dreams.”

“I’m a Matteson. I had to do what’s best for my name.”

“And I’m a Waverley, so I get to curse you for it.”

He gave a little start, like she meant it, and it gave Sydney a curious sensation of power. But then Hunter John smiled. “Come on, you hate being a Waverley.”

“You should go,” Sydney said. Hunter John stood and reached for his wallet. “And don’t you dare leave money for a pretend haircut.”

“I’m sorry, Sydney. I can’t help who I am. Obviously, neither can you.”

As he walked away, she thought what a sad thing it was to say about herself, that she’d only ever loved one man. And that man had to be that man, one who had from the beginning relegated her to a youthful indiscretion, when she thought it would be forever.

She wished she really did know a curse.

“I was getting worried,” Claire said when Sydney came into the kitchen that evening. “Bay’s upstairs.”

Sydney opened the refrigerator and took out a bottle of water. “I stayed late.”

“How was your day?”

“It was fine.” She walked over to the sink where Claire was rinsing a bowl of blueberries. “So, what are you making? Something to take to Tyler again?”

“Yes.”

Sydney picked up the bouquet of blue flowers laying on the counter by the sink and put them to her nose. “What are these?”

“Bachelor’s buttons. I’m going to sprinkle the blueberry tarts with their petals.”

“And what do they mean?”

“Bachelor’s buttons make people see sharper, helpful for finding things like misplaced keys and hidden agendas,” Claire said easily. The power came so naturally to her.

“So you’re trying to make Tyler realize you’re not what he’s looking for?”

Claire smiled slightly. “No comment.”

Sydney watched Claire work for a while. “I wonder why I didn’t inherit it,” she said absently.

“Inherit what?”

“That mysterious Waverley sensibility you and Evanelle have. Grandma had it too. Did Mom?”

Claire turned off the spigot and reached for a hand towel to dry her hands. “It was hard to tell. She hated the garden, I remember that much. She wouldn’t go near it.”

“I don’t mind the garden, but I guess I’m more like Mom than anyone in the family.” Sydney grabbed a few blueberries and popped them in her mouth. “I don’t have a special thing like Mom, and Mom moved back here so you had a stable place to live and go to school, just like I did for Bay.”