Chapters (51)
- Cover
- Praise for Sara Shepard
- Also by Sara Shepard
- Dedication
- PART ONE
- —
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- PART TWO
- Piper
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Piper
- Eighteen
- Piper
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Piper
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Piper
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Piper
- Thirty-Four
- Epilogue
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- What’s next onyour reading list?
Ronnie squeezed his hand. Lane had an interview with the Raisin Beach public school system; a kindergarten teacher was retiring, and they needed to fill her spot. A lot of Silver Swans teachers were jumping ship; it wasn’t even certain if the school would be able to continue past this year. There was no leadership. The dwindling board of directors—who were in hot water for overlooking the fact that Piper and Carson had set up a separate account to siphon cash from the parents—scrambled to find a replacement for Piper, but no one qualified had applied. And since Piper and Carson had spent all the money they’d stolen on things for themselves, the school was in a mountain of debt. An inspector had been called in; the place needed new windows, stairways brought up to code, and a mural contained lead paint.
Ronnie was sad that this was the end of an era, but maybe Esme didn’t need a Grammy-winning songwriter to teach music class, and an occupational therapist on staff, and a guy who came in weekly to show them how to write Japanese characters with long-tipped brushes. Those seemed like such privileged, trivial things; she was focused on the big picture. Esme was going to turn out fine.
She kissed Lane again, standing on her tiptoes to reach his high forehead. She thought, too, of the box in her dresser drawer with the ring Lane had bought for her. She could say yes now. They could start planning something. She smiled to herself, forming a plan. Later today, when Lane came home and announced he’d gotten the job—because surely he’d get it—she would tell him the good news.
After Lane was gone, Ronnie went to sit next to Esme, who was on the couch paging through a book that listed all the My Little Pony characters in the world of Equestria. “How you doing, baby?”
“Good.” Esme pointed to a blue pony with multicolored hair called Rainbow Dash. “I love her.”
“I know,” Ronnie said. She cleared her throat. “Did you and, um, your auntie Vanessa play ponies, too?”
Esme gave her a side-eye, like she couldn’t quite remember who Auntie Vanessa was. “Not really,” she said. “But she did give me a Popsicle.”