Page 15

We hang up and I check my GPS to make sure I’m heading in the right direction. The location she’s at is on the outskirts of the town where I can’t recall any stores or houses being. My suspicions are confirmed when I arrive at the destination, which is quite literally in the middle of nowhere. The only places nearby are the railroad tracks and a storage building. Assuming, I have the address wrong, I pick up my phone to call my sister⁠—

“Harper!”

I startle, my gaze snapping to the left. Just outside my window, about fifty feet away from my car, is my sister. She’s standing by the farthest section of storage units, waving her hands at me.

I get out of my car and make my way over to her, the gravel crunching underneath my sneakers. “What’re you doing here?” I ask, my gaze nervously sweeping the desolate fields around us.

Unlike her behavior, Zoe’s appearance is typically flawless and today is no exception. Her dark hair is curled and hangs down her shoulders, her makeup is flawless, and she’s donning flashy jewelry. Her lavender wedge shoes match her top and she has on a pleated skirt that flutters in the breeze.

“I was just picking some stuff up from our storage unit.” She peers around while biting on her fingernails—her precious fingernails that she spends a lot of time getting manicured. Right now, though, they look awful; the fingernail polish is peeling off, and a couple of the nails have been bitten down.

That’s my first tip off that something isn’t right. Well, minus the fact that she’s out here.

“What stuff?” I eye her closely, measuring her reaction.

“Some of Will’s old baby items,” she tells me, her gaze flitting in the direction of the field. “We boxed them up, but now we’re going to let Penelope have them.”

“Right.” I’m not buying into this at all.

There’s no way Liam and her would rent a storage unit when they have a big shop in their yard with a ton of storage space. And they also wouldn’t use hand-me-downs on Penelope. It’s not how they are. They like new things.

I look around again in an attempt to figure out what is going on. I can’t see anything, though. “Where’s your car?”

She blinks. “Oh, it’s parked out back. Come on.” She gestures for me to follow her as she hurries down a path that goes between two sections of storage units.

But I still can’t see her car.

“Which one is your unit?” I ask as I continue to follow her.

“Um… Just a second…” She quickens her pace, practically jogging, another red flag.

I jog after her. When we reach the end of the section of storage units, the property opens up into open space, and I breathe in relief at the sight of her car parked near the back of it. Truthfully, part of me was concerned her car wasn’t even here with how erratic she’s acting.

“There it is.” She points at it.

“Yeah, I can see.” I watch her as we finish the last of the distance to her car.

And she bites her fingernails the entire damn time.

I dig the key fob out of my pocket and hand it to her before rounding to the passenger side of the vehicle. She drives this fancy SUV with tinted windows that she constantly gripes about having to drive, but Liam wanted it so they got it.

Through the windows, I can see Will and Penelope strapped in the car seats.

Penelope is asleep but Will is awake. When he sees me, a smile lights up on his face. I smile back and wave at him, and he starts clapping his hands.

“Sorry about this,” Zoe apologizes to me as she presses the unlock button on the key fob.

The car beeps and the locks click.

I open the back passenger door. “No worries. But I’m surprised this car doesn’t have that feature where you can’t lock your door if the key fob is inside it.”

“Well, the passcode thing was supposed to replace it, but we probably should’ve gone for the other option considering I can’t ever remember the damn code.” She has the driver’s side door open and is texting on her phone.

I shake my head at the fact that she didn’t even check on Will and Penelope. It’s not that she’s a terrible mom. She makes sure the kids are fed, cleaned, and have everything they need. But she can get distracted and at times, it’s like she’s living in another world.

“Hey buddy,” I say to Will.

He grins, kicking his legs. “A Harp.”