“What happened to it?” Madi cringes again.
“Some idiot spilled soda on it at the party last night.” Siena’s eyes are on me, and there’s something in them. It’s not a we’re-sharing-this-funny-situation face. It’s a… I don’t know, but it’s not good. “It must have dropped out of my bag when I got home.”
“That’s awful! Howwasthat party, by the way? Aside from the soda thing.”
“Incredibly lame,” she says. “I would have rather gone to your photography club.”
Ouch. Granted, I deserve it. But it can’t help but make me wonder whether she reallydoesthink that. I guess it doesn’t really matter. Siena is completely off-limits if I want to keep my sister in my life.
12
JACK
“Just say it.”I turn the steering wheel to take us away from the third parking lot we’ve unsuccessfully checked for free spaces.
“I have no idea what you mean.” Siena’s voice is too calm to be believable.
“Really? Because the vein in your forehead is starting to pop, and I’m afraid you might blow a gasket if you keep your feelings in any longer.”
She rubs at her forehead while giving me the stink eye. “Fine. Ifyouhadn’t overslept, we wouldn’t be having such a hard time finding parking.”
I rub her arm in a way I know will drive her insane. “See? Don’t you feel better now?”
She smacks my hand. “No, I don’t. You clearly don’t feel bad about it.”
“Sure I do,” I say. Idofeel a little bad. But not too bad because I’m pretty sure Siena overslept, too. “You could have woken me up, you know.”
“Oh, turn right here,” she says, pointing to her phone, which is on the dashboard acting as our GPS again.
“Fourth time’s the charm,” I say, scanning the small lot for spaces.
“There! In the second row.”
“Nope, there’s a Smart Car there.”
She clicks her tongue in annoyance. “Stupid baby cars. There!” She points again, and she’s right. There’s an open spot, albeit a small one, near the end of the row.
“You really think I can fit in there?”
“C’mon, Jack. Have a little faith. Besides, that’s just how small parking spaces are in Europe, and you have no other option. We need to get to the market before the vendors close. The market only happens on Thursdays, and we need to get the guest favors decided on, or I reallywillblow a gasket.”
“Okay, okay,” I say, even as my heart rate climbs. This space issmall, and, unlike the Smart Car a few spaces down, our vehicle is not. We’re in the monster van we drove from Paris, and it has a manual transmission and a terrible turning radius.
Siena shakes her head. “You’re going to have to turn wider than that. Caaareful.”
Clenching my jaw, I press the brakes hard enough that she jolts forward. “Oops.”
She stares me down. “Real mature, Jack.”
“Shall I just…?” I take the steering wheel in hand, then pretend to pass it over to her.
“Okay. Point taken. I’ll be quiet.”
It’s touch and go for the next couple of minutes, but Siena keeps her word—and her mouth shut—as I pull forward, reverse, pull forward, reverse, and pull forward to get us into the spot.
“The vein’s there again,” I say as I turn off the car.
“No surprise. That took an eternity.” She pushes the door as far as it will go before hitting the car beside us. It gives her about a foot of space to get out.
