She snorted, as if in approval.
I started a slow trek in Mom’s footsteps, letting my eyes wander over the grounds that practically screamed country. Everything here screamed country.
Like the gravel driveway to my right, and the dirt trail that sprouted off and led to the guesthouse ahead. Our new residence was a smaller, more modest replica of the vacant eight-thousand-square-foot, L-shaped main house that sprawled another half mile back. The same white paint with green trim, the same covered porch. No lounge chairs with their wrought-iron backs crafted into the shape of horse heads, but we did have our very own bronze horse-head door knocker.
The dirt path continued from our guesthouse and led to the tall, A-framed building to my right. The stables; part of the reason Mom and I were here. Apparently the owners had a sick relative in England and had to stay indefinitely, so Mom had been hired on as the resident vet and caretaker.
Lucky me.
I supposed some girls would be thrilled to move to a big ranch away from the city, to help care for the horses, to make a fresh start.
I rubbed Bliss’s oh-so-soft muzzle. So far, the horses were the only thing working for me.
TWO
Do these colors look right together, Mila?”
Kaylee’s high-pitched voice, so close to my ear, plucked me right out of a memory with Dad—a good one.
He’d been walking through Penn’s Landing, hand in hand with Mom, while I ran up ahead, taking in all the tourists and the skaters, the historic ships and the musty scent of the Delaware River. The air held a chill, in spite of my red-mittened hands, but his bellowing laugh had warmed me.
When I opened my eyes to the brown-and-tan interior of the Clearwater Dairy Queen, loss ripped through me. Back in the memory, I’d felt loved, a sense of belonging. A feeling that was hard to come by in a fast-food restaurant in a strange town.
Kaylee wiggled her alternating Purrrfectly Pink and Purplicious fingernails right under my nose, bouncing the entire booth with her enthusiasm. I forced my fists to unclench and fought back the urge to bat those colorful fingers away.
“They look great, right?” In typical Kaylee fashion, she jumped in and answered her own question before I’d even had a chance to respond.
“They look awesome,” Ella answered from across the table, genuine enthusiasm lighting up her narrow, mousy face.
“Awesome,” I echoed. Actually, I couldn’t summon even a speck of interest over nail polish colors and top coats. “How’d you get that scar on your pinkie?”
Kaylee stopped the finger wiggling. She frowned as she inspected the little fingers on both hands, squinting at the white line I’d noticed, near her first knuckle. “This tiny thing? I have no idea.” She shrugged. “Maybe I pricked it with a needle in my sleep—hoping I’d fall into a coma and wake up somewhere besides Clearwater.”
From across the table, Ella sighed. “Don’t forget the prince and the magic kiss.”
“As if.” Kaylee’s overzealous snort made Ella burst into laughter, and even I couldn’t hold back a smile.
Ever since the day I first met her four weeks ago, Kaylee Daniels had operated at that same breakneck speed. She’d been the first person at school to introduce herself: a leggy, freckled dynamo in high-heeled boots. After latching on to my arm in homeroom, she’d practically dragged me to the desk next to hers.
I remembered the exchange verbatim.
“You’re Mia Daily, right? The one who just moved into the guesthouse at Greenwood Ranch? The one from Philly, which, oh my god, has to be a billion times more exciting than here? I’m Kaylee Daniels, and I’m going to tell you everything you need to know about Clearwater. Which, unfortunately, isn’t much. First and foremost—we need more boys here. More. Boys.”
Once she paused to take a breath, I’d corrected my name—my parents had shortened Mia Lana into Mila as a nickname years ago—and then let her babble flow over me, even welcomed the distraction.
“So, what’s the emergency?” Back in real time, Parker’s Vanilla Skies perfume preceded her clomping, platform-shoed arrival. She carelessly tossed her fringed purse onto the table, almost taking out Ella’s Butterfinger Blizzard before she collapsed into the booth next to her.
Parker? Kaylee had invited Parker? I tried not to groan.
Beside me, Kaylee’s Purrrfectly Pink index nail tapped her Coke float cup. “Um, hello—ice cream?” But out of the corner of my eye, I saw her not-so-subtle head jerk in my direction.
“Ahhh,” Ella said knowingly. Just before a trio of pitying smiles landed on me.