Chapter 1
"Let your sister have it, Nora. "
My mother said it lightly, as if she were asking me to pass the salt.
Vanessa stood beside the kitchen island with the silk scarf I had bought that morning draped over one shoulder. Pale blue fabric caught the afternoon light. I had bought it for myself after finishing a client presentation I had spent six weeks preparing.
"I'm only trying it on. "
She pinched the edge between two fingers and checked her reflection in the glass door.
"I didn't realize it would look this good with my coat. "
"You already own three blue scarves. "
My father looked at me over his coffee.
"You've always been the easier one. Let your sister have it. "
For a second, I was fourteen again, watching Vanessa walk away in the dress I had saved for months to buy. Or eight, standing at my own birthday party while she cried until our parents put my new doll in her arms.
The objects changed.
The sentence never did.
I picked up my coffee.
"Fine. "
Vanessa smiled immediately, folded the scarf, and slipped it into her bag.
Most arguments in our family ended that way. Not because anyone convinced me, but because I had learned how exhausting it was to be the person accused of making things difficult.
On the drive back to my apartment, I told myself it was only a scarf.
I could buy another one.
At twenty-nine, I had a job I was good at and a title I had earned. At work, when I spoke, people listened. No one asked me to hand over something I had worked for just because someone else wanted it more.
And I had Ethan.
We had been together since we were teenagers. College took us to different states, and work later kept us in different cities. Over the years, we had learned the rhythm of airports, weekend flights, and dinners eaten together through laptop screens.
I had always believed the distance was temporary.
Because we weren't.
Six months earlier, my company transferred me to the West Coast. Vanessa's lease ended around the same time, so she moved in with me temporarily.
It was practical.
It was supposed to be temporary too.
On Friday evening, Ethan arrived with a carry-on and two small gift boxes.
"One for each Hayes sister. "
Seeing him in the doorway eased something that had been tight in my chest all afternoon. He kissed my forehead, and for a moment the scarf and my parents felt far away.
My box held a leather notebook with my initials pressed into the lower corner.
Simple. Useful. Perfect for client meetings.
"I love it. "
I ran my thumb over the embossed letters.
Vanessa had already dropped onto the sofa and opened hers.
Inside was a bottle of niche perfume.
Months earlier, she had mentioned the brand once, complaining that one particular scent was almost always sold out.
Her face brightened.
"You found it? This is impossible to get. "
Ethan shrugged, though he looked pleased with himself.
"You said that store in Portland sometimes restocks on Thursdays. "
Vanessa sprayed a little into the air.
Orange blossom and cedar spread through the room.
I looked down at the notebook on my lap.
It was a good gift.
A thoughtful one, even.
But a question had already lodged itself in my mind.
When had Ethan started knowing what day Vanessa's favorite perfume came back in stock?
And when had he started knowing my sister that well?