“Dummy,” Will said without missing a beat, grinning at his sister.
Sissy shook her head with a soft laugh. “Will, stop calling your sisters names.”
The kids all started chatting over themselves, showing off their gifts and what they’d made. I stepped into view so Gabe and Sissy could see me.
“So this is the famous Maren,” Gabe said, eyes sparkling.
I froze. “Famous?”
“Reception’s so spotty out here,” he explained, leaning back in his chair. “My brother can barely get hold of me, but the times he can, I have to sit through him gushing over you.”
Ethan’s face went red. “I don’t gush. There’s no gushing.”
Adrian tilted his head toward Ethan, smirking. “He totally strikes me as the gushing type.”
I grinned, shaking my head at the easy camaraderie spilling across the screen. Emma waved her art supplies, Sadie held up her panda for a proper dinner blessing, and Will occasionally chimed in to correct someone or anything that didn’t make sense. Typical big brother.
“I can’t believe you told them about me.” I lowered my voice so the iPad’s speaker wouldn’t pick it up.
Ethan looked sheepish, fiddling with the edge of his napkin. “For the record, there was no gushing.”
I had to bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from grinning. Liv had been right. Not just about my feelings for them, but theirs for me. Clearly.
Sissy’s soft coo carried over the table. “I know you must miss us an awful lot, but we’ll be home soon. Promise.”
“I mean, we do miss you,” Emma said, sounding bad about it and I only realized why when she continued with, “but Maren’s so great. She takes us places and does fun stuff—”
“And she loves all my animals and bought me a fish!” Sadie jumped in.
“Yeah, and I got these killer headphones for when I’m gaming…”
Their voices overlapped in a tangle of enthusiasm, and I felt something squeeze in my chest. This all felt so… normal. Farfrom the life I had planned, but suddenly I couldn’t imagine things being any different.
My hand found Ethan’s hand under the table, and I gave it a squeeze.
“They love you,” he murmured, thumb brushing over mine. “And…” He hesitated, eyes dipping to the table, then flicking up, caught in something unspoken.
My pulse picked up, heart guessing at what he was about to say before I could think it.
“And what?”
There was a few seconds of consideration before he shook his head as if to shake off a thought. “I was just going to say that gift we got you… it’s not your real gift. It was a joke.”
Disappointment lodged in my chest, but I smiled anyway. “You’re kidding. I never would’ve guessed.”
“Just you wait, Calloway,” he said with a knowing smile. “Just you wait.”
30
Maren
“Okay, open your eyes,” Miles said, tugging gently at the blindfold.
I blinked against the morning light and took in the street in front of me. My gaze landed on the building, and confusion curled in my stomach. Then I read the signage, crisp against the red brick: Calloway Academy.
I stepped back, heart in my throat. “Wait. What? What do you mean? What?”
Ethan grinned. “Exactly what it looks like.”
