Just a blank space.
No Sienna.
My stomach tightened.
I stepped closer to make sure I was reading it right. Last I checked, this trip was supposed to be another dual-guide weekend. We had two more together trips, not that I was counting.
But someone had erased her name.
Or rather, someone had written mine alone in neater handwriting than my own, but not quite neat enough to be Violet’s.
Sienna’s handwriting.
She’d penciled herself out.
I stared at it longer than I should have, as if a hidden message might appear in the erased smudge next to my name.
Why would she remove herself?
We’d agreed, awkwardly, silently, but still agreed, that we’d talk later. That our tension was going somewhere, even if neither of us knew exactly where. Last night’s almost-moment on the trail had felt… different. Like, both of us were finally acknowledging we weren’t imagining this thing that kept pulling us together.
And now she was ditching the trip?
A dull thud of disappointment landed in my chest.
This wasn’t how I expected the space she needed to look.
I exhaled, leaning on the edge of the counter, trying to think rationally. She was probably overwhelmed. My presence did that sometimes. Hell, her presence did the same to me. Maybe she thought giving me solo leadership was a gesture of confidence.
Or maybe she was creating distance because it had all moved too fast.
Before I could sink any deeper into overthinking, someone stepped behind me.
A low whistle slid through the room.
“Well, that looks suspicious.”
I turned.
Liam Harper leaned against the doorframe, sipping from a travel mug the size of a cauldron. His hair was pulled back in a loose bun, and he looked exactly how every person who grew up near a lake looked: unfairly relaxed.
He nodded toward the calendar. “Didn’t peg her for handwriting-based communication, but that’s definitely her work.”
I grunted. “You’re sure?”
“She draws her R’s like she’s holding the pencil with oven mitts.”
I didn’t smile, but the corner of my mouth tried. “I guess that checks out.”
Liam took another sip. “So what’d you do?”
“Nothing,” I said quickly.
“Mhm.” He folded his arms, amused. “Then she’s doing what she always does.”
“And that is…?”
“Backing up emotionally like someone threw a spider at her.”
