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Chapter One
“Mission control to space shuttle Jen, do you read me? I repeat, do you read me?”
Jennifer Wallace blinked and looked up at her sister, Kristen. “Sorry. Did you ask me something?”
Kristen nodded and held up a tomato. “I’ve asked you three times if you want tomatoes on your sandwich. Where were you?”
“Thinking. And no thanks, I’ll skip the tomatoes today.” She should’ve stayed home this afternoon, but she’d thought a change of scenery and some company would keep her thoughts off her upcoming meeting.
At the counter, Kristen put the finishing touches on their lunches and then called in Bella, Jen’s niece, and her friend who was over for the afternoon. “Why don’t you girls eat these on the deck,” Kristen said, handing each girl a paper plate. “If you’re still hungry later, we have ice cream in the freezer and peanut butter cookies.”
Neither girl argued, and they quickly disappeared back outside.
“Do you want to talk about whatever has you so distracted? Maybe I can help.” Kristen set down their sandwiches and an unopened bag of barbecue-flavored potato chips, their favorite flavor.
There was no way Kristen or anyone else could help, but maybe talking about it would get it out of her head for a bit. “Do you remember me telling you about Brett, the man I’ve been exchanging letters and texts with for the past year and a half?”
“Actually, it’s been almost two years. We sent the first care boxes to Keith’s unit at the start of our second year as Girl Scout leaders. This September will be our fourth year,” Kristen said, referring to their older brother.
Jen ground her back molars together. She loved her sister, but the woman didn’t understand the concept of approximation. Even in school she’d never been able to estimate the answer to a math problem. Nope, she had to get the exact answer. Jen, as well as perhaps everyone in the family, found it Kristen’s most annoying characteristic. Often they teased her about it when it reared its ugly head—like now. This afternoon, Jen ignored it. Sometimes it was easier.
“But to answer your question, yes, I remember. You’ve talked so much about him I feel like I know him,” Kristen said.
“I’m supposed to finally meet him this week after work.”
Kristen tore open the chips and added a handful to her plate before passing the bag to Jen. “In a public place I hope.”
Although really her adopted sister and only six months older, Kristen had always played the role of the protective big sister. “Yes, of course. We’re meeting at Ambrosia.”
“Awesome. What’s the problem then? You’re already half in love with the man. I’d think you’d be excited about finally meeting him face-to-face.”
Unfortunately, her sister’s assessment wasn’t far from the truth. She’d never admit Kristen was right though. Kristen’s belief that she was always correct no matter the topic was her sister’s second-biggest flaw.
“Well, let’s see,” Jen said. “To start with, I’m about to sit down and have coffee with Brett Sherbrooke. You may have heard of his family. They own this small, insignificant hotel chain, but if you haven’t, I’m sure you’ve heard of his uncle, President Sherbrooke. You know, the man who lives in the big white house on Pennsylvania Avenue and travels in Air Force One.”
Her sister’s mouth opened and closed several times. She’d had a similar reaction when she finally found out just whom she’d been corresponding with for months too.
“Wait, a minute. Back up.” Kristen pointed a potato chip at her. “You never told me any of this before. Does Keith know?”
Since Brett and their brother had served together, Jen guessed he knew, although Keith had never mentioned it to her. “Probably, but I never asked him. I’m not even sure Keith knows Brett and I have been communicating all this time. I never told him. Did you?”
Kristen shook her head. “Why didn’t you tell me before now? I mean it’s not like you never talk about the man.”
“At first I only knew his first name. Later, I thought it was just a coincidence his name was Brett Sherbrooke. A lot of people have the same name. I knew a guy at Northeastern named Anderson Brady, and he wasn’t the actor.”
“Fair enough. But you must have learned the truth long before this month. You’ve been writing to him for almost two years!”
Jen toyed with the napkin near her plate and nodded. “Yeah, but when I figured it out, he was halfway across the world in some place I can’t even pronounce. It didn’t seem like a big deal.”
“How did you figure it out anyway? Did he actually tell you in an e-mail or something?”
She remembered very well the moment she put it together. “Not exactly. Last year he mentioned how disappointed he was that he wasn’t going to make it to Providence for his cousin Trent’s wedding.”
Jen could accept there was more than one man in the world with the name Brett Sherbrooke. She couldn’t accept there was more than one who also had a cousin named Trent living in Providence who was getting married.
