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Sienna frowned. For as close as she was with Sherri, both Sherri and her husband qualified as people who were basically part of her own future in her mind—and that was a subject she wasn’t prone to seeing. Still, she supposed she had had a vision of him that one time, back when the couple had been only dating.But Sherri asked about recent visions.“Of course not,” she said. “If I’d seen anything, I’d have told you. Even if it was just so we could laugh about it together.”
Sherri exhaled heavily. “Right. I guess I knew that. It’s just … I just wanted…”
Fear gripped her heart and Sienna looked up at Fenn as Sherri’s voice trailed. She could only think of one reason Sherri would be asking something like that.
Fenn wore what she suspected was his natural frown, but when their gazes met he gave a short shake of his head.
Somehow, that only worried Sienna more. “Sherri, what happened? Is he okay? Are the kids—“
Sherri snorted so harshly it nearly made Sienna jump. “Oh, he’s fine. He’sgreat, even. What he is is a cheating, lying, cowardly scumbag!“ Her voice broke on the last word and several seconds of sobs followed. Because twenty-four hours earlier Brandon had also been her future.
Sienna drew a deep breath as a surge of emotions rushed through her. Pain lanced her chest in sympathy, immediately followed by rage, all on behalf of her dearest friend. In some ways she was more protective of Sherri than her actual sisters. Her sisters could defend themselves. Sherri was the truest kind of human, the most vulnerable.
Sherri sucked in an audible breath, gasping, and said, “He kicked me out of his mother’s house after breakfast. Said he’ll be filing for divorce on Tuesday.”
Sienna nearly tripped over her feet as she came to an abrupt stop. “Hewhat? You haven’t even been there a full day!“ No, by breakfast, it wouldn’t have even been twelve hours. What had been the point of even going? Her head spun and for a moment she thought she’d made herself dizzy, or worse, that her sudden onset of emotion had sent her tumbling into another vision. Then she was seated on a suspiciously snow-free bench and the hand that had been holding onto hers was settled like an anchor over her thigh.
She turned her head to look up at the man now sitting beside her. She hadn’t even seen the darkness that always came with his magic, but this bench hadn’t been anywhere near the sidewalk they’d been on previously.
He only smiled in silent reassurance.
It shouldn’t have been so heartwarming.
“Apparently,” Sherri said, oblivious of course to Sienna’s distraction, “Bran’s been having an affair formonths. He swears he’s in love. That she’s everything he supposedly gave up when hesettledfor me. His mother knew all about it. He didn’t cancel our reservations because she talked him out of it, he just promised her one more night with her grandbabies because—get this—he doesn’t even want his children. He said if I just let the divorce happen, he won’t push for custody. He’s talked his mother into letting go of them and everything.”
Sienna’s mouth dropped open as the horrifying words assailed her ears. For the first time in longer than she could remember, she had no idea what to even say. But she had to say something. “Where are you now?” Maybe she could talk Sherri into coming their way for Christmas, instead of being alone with a toddler who wouldn’t understand and a baby who wasn’t capable. She’d give up her third-floor privacy suite for Sherri and the kids.
Sherri sniffled again. “Heading home.” She made a sound like she’d tried to laugh but her voice was far too watery for that. “Back to the house, I mean.Thathe wants, but he wants us out by the end of the year.”
“That son of a bitch.” Sienna dragged in a breath. “He’s threatening to leave you all homeless? He really doesn’t care about his own children?” She inadvertently latched her free hand onto the back of Fenn’s, needing something to squeeze or claw at. Apparently. “They’re with you, then?”
“Sleeping, finally.” This time she definitely attempted a laugh. “I can’t—I can’t afford city living on my own, Sienna. The only place I have that I can afford is that house.”
Somehow, the words eased a little of Sienna’s tension. It wasn’t an ideal answer, but it was the beginning of a solution. The beginning of moving forward, from her perspective. “That’s really not so bad,” she said. “The neighborhood’s still nice. And I’m sure you could get a local job. Small towns were basically designed for this kind of thing, right?” The house in question was the one Sherri herself had spent her teenage years in, that still stood down the street from the Jacobsen residence. Sherri’s parents had chosen to move to a warmer climate a handful of years earlier, but they’d held onto it as a sort of vacation home for family. Or inheritance.
“You make it sound almost reasonable.”
Sienna did her best to put a small smile into her voice. “I’m just trying to be the most supportive best friend I can be, given the circumstances.” Circumstances that likely meant Sherri couldn’t spare the time to detour to Fort Veyelsa for what remained of the holiday weekend, either. “Do you want me to come back and—“
“No.” Sherri’s briefly raised voice lowered again and she cleared her throat. “Stay, celebrate, enjoy your weekend. I might call again to cry in your ear, but do not derail your entire Christmas to accommodate my cheating husband. I will pack what I can to be out before he gets back, and my first stop will be to whatever bank branch is still open so I can pull out money for a babysitter next week. I’ll figure it out.”
Sienna grinned a little at that. Sherri had a side job she ran from home. She didn’t bring in a lot of money. So pulling money out of the bank meant forcing Brandon to pay for his own children’s childcare, like heshould. But she said none of that. “You still have my spare? You can totally crash at my place. Don’t waste money on a hotel or anything like that.”
Sherri’s voice hitched again and for a second Sienna regretted her words. “Oh my god, Sienna, I appreciate that so much. That I think I will do. Thank you.” She hiccupped. “Anyway, I should let you go for now. Talk later?”
Sienna swallowed hard. “Drive safe, okay?” They disconnected and Sienna had to fight the urge to throw her phone into the street with a pointless shout.
Fenn moved his hand from her thigh and curled his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side. “For what it’s worth,” he said quietly, “your friend isn’t slated for reaping this holiday.”
That … actually did help her feel a little better.
Sienna adjusted to press her face into him. “What about her asshole husband?” She hated not adding ex to his title, but technically they were still wholly married. Emotions and legalities were complicated.
Fenn hummed. “I could speed his timeline up if you wanted.”
She choked on an inappropriate laugh. If he were anyone else, she would be mortified at her lack of immediate repulsion over what she suspected was a serious offer. Instead, she allowed herself a moment and finally said, “Just … promise me he won’t be responsible somehow for killing them. That would be too terrible.”
Fenn pressed a kiss into her hair. “Then you have my word.”
