Silence hung between us for too long. If she wasn’t over her little fit, there was nothing else I could say to settle her. But when I peeked back over my shoulder, I was met with shifting feet and a rigid posture. Something else was up.

I turned slowly, my hands full of tubes and brushes, and caught the nervousness clouding her expression. I leaned back against the table, readying myself for the worst. With Julia, it could be anything from her maxing out the credit card I gave her to revealing she was knocked up. There was never any way to call it early; she was always dropping grenades.

“Might as well get it out,” I recommended.

I watched as she inhaled deeply through her nostrils, exhaled through barely parted lips, and straightened her shoulders. “Listen, hear me out before you say anything, okay?” Her voice was oddly soft—one she saved for getting out of trouble.

I rooted myself in place, making no promises.

“I’m not going to the university here.”

I didn’t move. “Is that so?” I replied calmly. She swallowed, nodding.

That wasn’t the worst news. She’d been acting dramatic as always with her terrified-kitten routine.

“All right.” I pushed off the table and strolled over to Oliver’s easel. “That’s fine. There are plenty of other suitable universities out there.” I moved back, starting toward the armoire that housed Oliver’s painter shirts. “You do need to start getting applications in, though. Graduation will be here before you know it, and you don’t want to miss any opportunities by waiting till the last minute.”

Suddenly feeling alone in the conversation, I peered up to see her staring at her feet. “What?” I asked, irritation heavy in my tone.

She looked up, sucked in a breath, and blurted out, “I’m going to go to school in Harmony.”

Before I could fully process what she’d said, laughter enveloped me. This had to be a joke. However, the pinch in her brow expressed otherwise. I cleared my throat, cutting through my amusement and clearing it away.

“You’re serious?” I asked.

“Yes.” She stood tall.

Unable to look at her as my anger grew, I began pacing the room. I didn’t need another fight with her. I had to play this just right and as delicately as possible to convince her to see reason. My hand scrubbed over my tense jaw.

“Harmony, as in where Mom and Dad grew up?”

She nodded. “I’ve already been accepted. It’s fully accredited and has all the classes I need, plus it seems like a cute little town. I can hang out in the same library Mom and Dad did when they was younger—maybe eat at the same restaurants they went to on dates. I don’t know…it just feels right, not to mention it’s a safe place for a young, impressionable girl.” Her voice softened to meet the pleading in her eyes.

“Don’t try that act on me. I’m not Lawrence.”

“I know, I just—” she started, but I wasn’t interested in what she had to say.

“I am, however, the brother kind enough to not only foot the bill for your higher education, but also to provide you with the means to enjoy the next few years so you don’t have to work.” My blood began to boil with every word I spoke.

“And I love you for that, but it doesn’t mean you get to control where I go, Logan!”

“Never thought I needed that control—I thought you had more sense than to go to some off-the-map school just because you’ve romanticized some nonexistent connection with a town. And, by the way, I highly doubt our father spent much time at any library. Think about this—really give it some thought. You could go to so many other schools!”

“I have thought about it. I don’t need some high-priced university to make me feel like I’m getting an adequate education. I’m—”

“Oh, save it,” I interrupted. There was more to this. She’d been planning to go to the university near home since before high school. Harmony had nothing to offer—that was the reason we moved from there when I was still a kid. “Tell me the real reason why.”

“I am!” She held up her hand, ticking off a list on her fingers. dpg “The classes are smaller, which means I’ll get more attention from professors. I’m over the city—I’ve lived here my entire life, and a little country atmosphere sounds like heaven.”

“Bullshit! It’s a guy, isn’t it?” I shook my head, releasing a frustrated growl.

“No! How could you think that? I want to be a journalist, run a good-old-fashioned-but-uber-successful newspaper someday. No guy is going to distract me from that.”

I eyed her skeptically. She seemed so damn sincere, but my sister could lie better than anyone I knew. Did she really want this? Even with a seven-year age difference between us, we were as close as she and Jax, her twin, were—mainly because she’d followed me around ever since she’d started walking. And now here she was, wanting to move to the middle of nowhere?

The buzzer rang from the front door. Oliver was home.

“The answer’s no. You don’t have to stay in the city, but you will go to a reputable university or I’m not paying.” That was my final word on the subject, and I left it hanging for her to make the right decision. I left her in the room, convinced she’d see it my way soon enough. I only wanted the best for her.

Chapter 2

Futile

As the week drew on, I had to admit I found myself waiting for my sister’s determination to stampede me into relenting. Instead, it seemed I’d misjudged her stubbornness. There wasn’t so much as a single text, even unrelated to the school topic, sent my way. I took it upon myself, however, to e-mail her multiple website links to some of the best universities in the country. If she wasn’t going to stay in the city, then she sure as hell was going to a top-notch school.

I’d pay whatever it took to schmooze her through the doors. If not for the run-in with Julia at Katherine’s the previous day, I might have started to grow concerned with her lack of communication. My sister didn’t do the silent treatment; she preferred loud-mouthed, feet- stomping tantrums.

I rocked back in my chair, staring out at the bustling city below my office window and recalling how Julia’s spine had stiffened and her gaze had shot in the opposite direction when I entered the living room at Katherine’s to take Oliver home the previous evening. She’d decided on the mature game of ‘If I don’t look at you, you’re not really there.’

I took it for what it was: humorous.

She’d see my way, in time; of that I was confident. My sister was a clever girl, and she knew what she stood to lose.

I glanced out over the mindless afternoon gridlock, mentally rerouting my usual commute to avoid it. News choppers hovered in the distance like flies on the latest tragedy.

The longer I stared at the chaos below, the more I despised sitting there. Every day, it was a similar picture. I always did better outside the office—hands-on with our projects.

My cell phone vibrated inside my suit-jacket pocket. I took my time retrieving it, certain it wasn’t work related. No one had my cell number except those I actually enjoyed speaking to on a personal level, which left very few numbers saved in my contacts.

It was my father, which wasn’t too surprising; the older I got, the closer we became. Despite my parents’ divorce shortly after Julia and Jax were born, my father was supportive to my mother and us as a family unit. I decided I’d call him back over the weekend and tucked my phone back in my pocket.