Kate slept late in the morning and then took a walk with Clare on the trails around Aidan’s house, where the sun had already melted most of the new snow from the night before. They were having lunch with Aidan when they heard a car pull up outside.

“Who’s that?” Clare asked.

Aidan shrugged and went to find out.

Kate shrieked when he came back with Jill and Maggie. She leaped up to hug her sisters.

“What’re you guys doing here?” Clare asked, raising an eyebrow at Aidan. “And how did you find us?”

Jill and Aidan exchanged guilty glances.

“We wanted to see Kate and surprise you,” Jill said. “Aidan might’ve helped us out.”

“Aidan’s quite sneaky,” Clare said, hugging Jill and Maggie. “Does your father know where you are?”

This time, Jill and Maggie exchanged glances.

“Where does he think you are?” Clare asked Maggie.

“Visiting Jill at school. For some reason that no one will tell me, he’s really mad at Kate, and he told me not to talk to her.”

Kate winced at that.

“Call him.” Clare pointed to the phone. “Right now.”

“Do I have to?” Maggie asked.

Clare gave her a look that left no room for negotiation.

Maggie shuffled over to the phone.

Aidan held up his hands in defense. “I didn’t approve that part of it.”

“I’ll deal with you later, buster,” Clare said under her breath.

“Oh, goodie,” he whispered.

Aidan went out to the garage the following afternoon to work on the Porsche so Clare could have some time alone with the girls before Jill and Maggie headed home to Rhode Island. Kate was flying back to Nashville the next morning.

Aidan marveled at how the girls had filled the house with noise, laughter, and chaos. Oh, and music, too. Clare told Kate he could sing, and she had cajoled him into playing the piano and singing with her. He couldn’t believe her voice. No wonder Buddy Longstreet was out to make her a star.

The door from the kitchen opened, and Maggie came out wearing a scowl.

“Hey,” he said. “What’s up?”

“They kicked me out.”

“Ouch. Why don’t you give me a hand? You’re not one of those prissy girls who’s afraid of a little dirt, are you?”

She snorted. “No.”

He handed her a distributor cap with instructions on how to work the gunk out of the part’s spidery legs.

“Do you know why everyone’s mad at Kate?”

He studied her bright blue eyes and tried to decide how he should answer that. “Maybe.”

“That’s not fair! I’m thirteen now. I’m old enough to know whatever it is.”

“Thirteen is practically an adult.” Aidan thought the light dusting of freckles across her nose was about the cutest thing he’d ever seen.

“See? You get that, so why don’t they?”