‘What happened?’ Any residual tiredness from being awoken by the phone ringing at 3 a.m. left Briar at the sound of her sister’s panicked voice.
‘I got the date wrong,’ Hazel said. ‘I thought I had another week, but my bio final is due today and I haven’t even started.’
Before Briar’s brain could fully understand the problem, she said, ‘We’ll figure it out. It’s gonna be okay.’
‘I can’t fail this,’ Hazel cried. ‘I won’t graduate.’
‘You’re going to graduate,’ Briar said emphatically, her gaze flicking up at a creak in the floor, catching Alice’s eye as she peered into the hall.
‘You said it was a bio final?’ Briar said, as Alice came over. ‘Luckily, I happen to know an expert.’
Alice took the phone from Briar, turning the speaker on. ‘How can I help?’
Hazel launched into a complex explanation of spore patterns, talking so fast it made Briar’s head spin. But Alice just nodded along, slipping into the office to grab a pencil to take notes. Briar left them, heading toward the mess hall.
She heated water on the stove, then rummaged through the pantry for snacks. She stuffed what she could into a bag and poured the boiling water into a mug, grabbing teabags on her way out the door.
By the time she returned to the director’s cabin, Alice was wide awake, pencil tucked behind her ear and hands steepled as she rapidly dictated into the receiver. From the furious clicking sounds on the other end, Briar could only assume that Hazel was typing every word.
She laid out her bounty on the floor. Alice’s face brightened at the sight of Twinkies, and she made a grabbing motion. Briar tossed it over.
It occurred to her that she should probably be angry. She’d reminded the twins they needed to finish their schoolwork, and she’d raised them to understand that leaving it until the last minute was irresponsible. But hearing Alice’s calm tone made it impossible to feel anything but safe; she knew everything would work out. Briar could be disappointed in Hazel at a more reasonable hour.
She pulled a knee up to her chest and rested her head on it. Tiredness returned to her bones, and her eyes slowly shut as she listened to Alice’s voice.
‘Briar?’ Briar hummed in response, just on the edge of sleep. She felt a hand on her shoulder. ‘Hey, go back to bed. I got this.’
Briar blinked up at Alice. The light in the hall had shifted slightly, and Briar had no sense of how long she’d been asleep.
‘Haze?’
‘I’m still here,’ Hazel’s voice sounded small over the speaker, but there was no longer any panic in it. ‘Ally gave me an outline. I think it’s gonna be okay.’
‘It definitely will be,’ Alice said, grabbing Briar’s hand and pulling her up. ‘You basically had all the research done. You were in a much better position than you thought. You just needed some help organizing it.’
Briar’s heart clenched at the warmth in Alice’s tone, her sleepy brain supplying her with pictures of Alice working with her students, of what her life in academia must be like. She found herself jealous of Alice’s future Royal Botanical Society colleagues, of the people who would benefit from her brilliance every day. They didn’t know how lucky they would be, how they had taken her from someone an ocean away.
Then she crawled back into bed, wrapping the blankets tightly around her and hugging a pillow to her chest, feeling safer than she had in years, but at the same time, intensely scared of what she was about to lose.
Chapter 27
Briar
‘Ally,’ Briar groaned, leaning her head against the car window, sure the cool glass was the only thing saving her from heatstroke, ‘it’s too hot to have sex.’
Alice laughed as she sped down the highway. ‘Who says you’re getting any?’
‘But it’s my birthday,’ Briar grumbled. She didn’t mention that it was Alice’s last day. They’d successfully avoided discussing her flight the next morning, though it left a weight in Briar’s stomach.
Alice tutted. ‘There’s still work to do on the house.’ She reached over and grabbed Briar’s hand, giving it a squeeze. ‘I’ll take you out for ice cream afterwards.’
‘Oh, boy,’ Briar deadpanned. She’d been in a foul mood since the tour. Sonny had been true to his word, and Briar was getting inundated with calls from Mr. Lavish, trying to discuss the offer.
She had spent the last week feeling like she was nursing the worst hangover of her life: bleary-eyed, often nauseous and plagued by an aching sense of dread that wrapped itself around her chest and squeezed tighter with each passing day.
It had been a relief when Alice had finally taken pity on Briar by suggesting a drive. Briar had assumed they were going to her mom’s house. The to-do list taunted her from the office bulletin board, so if she was in for a day of manual labor, it wouldn’t be the worst thing.
Alice pulled into the driveway, and they climbed out of the car. As Briar squinted at the monstrosity that had eaten away at all her free time for the summer, she couldn’t help but think it didn’t look anywhere near as bad as she remembered.
