“Oh, no.” She laughed. “It’s just rare to find someone like you. I know it’s hard to hear criticism, but I can assure you, Rory, everything you need to be great is already there. I’m here to bring you to the next level, so you can excel like you were always intended to.”
I could tell just in her tone that she believed every word she spoke, and that sparked something inside me. I wanted to make her proud, to prove to her that her faith in me was warranted. And I would make her proud. Someday.
“You know what, Mrs. M? No matter how I perform, I’m onlyvery niceuntil I’m sparkling like a diamond.”
She tipped her head up, smiling. “I’ll see you next week, Rory. You did very nice tonight.”
I found myself grinning as I headed back to my building. This felt like the start of something big. Like finally I had the upper hand. I had no doubt Mrs. M was going to get me where I needed to be, and when she was done, I’d have a real shot at my dreams. I’d only ever been good at one thing, and this was it. Drumming was all I had to offer. I’d do whatever it took to succeed.
Clicking my key fob against the pad, the outer door unlocked, and I was about to push it open when the flyer taped to the door stopped me dead. Flyers were all over the place, advertising different events, but this had just one phrase written across it.On the count of three. It hit me like a bolt of lightning. I swung around, my heart pounding in my chest as I scanned the area for the person who’d left the message. Because it was a message. And it had been left specifically for me.
Could it have been just a coincidence? Someone posting an inspirational quote? “On the count of three.” But what else could that mean? Nothing that I could think of. There was no way this was a weird fluke. They had to be taunting me, knowing the sentence would instantly bring me back to the times spent in front of their lens. It wasn’t just that they’d used the phrase often, following it up with a command and a three-finger countdown, but that I’d made my stand on those five words.
No,I’d bravely challenged.
No?
That message could mean only one thing: they knew where I was, and they wanted me to know it. Camden Place, my safe sanctuary, would never be safe again.
24
GRACE: THE START OF US
“So, how did it go with Kenzie’s siblings at the beach?” Mom asked, passing me the salad bowl. She was so innocent in her query. If she knew anything about Kyle’s girlfriend’s triplet siblings, the three C’s, as they were known, she wouldn’t have asked in the first place.
“It…” Quinn paused, exchanging an amused glance with me. “Went.”
Like pretty much every other teenager on earth, I loved the first days of summer. The sun, the surf, the freedom from studies. But after a difficult junior year where I’d lost Beats, almost lost Jake, and then had to watch every last member of my Dude Pack walk across the graduation stage, I was counting on this summer to bring some welcome relief. That was not going to happen with Kenzie’s siblings attached at the hip.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Mom asked, seemingly surprised though I wasn’t sure why. She’d seen them in action. Last night after dinner, she’d watched the water line in our pool drop to drought levels when the two boys got into a competitive belly flopping contest. “They seem fun.”
“Let’s just say I understand why they live in a cabin in the deep woods,” Quinn said.
“You cannot tell me you didn’t enjoy Caroline attached to your back in a bikini all day.”
“I wasn’t talking about Caroline. She can ride me like a fashion statement anytime. I was talking about your two homicidal admirers.”
“Uh-oh,” Mom laughed. “What did Colton and Cooper do?”
“They got into a fistfight over who would build me a sand castle. I would’ve accepted two.” I shrugged. “And then they used their spilled blood as the liquid in their moats, each one trying to fill theirs the fullest. Sand play should not be so bloody.”
“Those boys can be a little intense.” Mom’s diplomacy surrounding Kenzie’s younger identical brothers did not fully depict the reality of spending a day with them. Of course, I’d heard the stories. The afternoon Kyle and Jake had spent with the Williams triplets at their home in Northern California was seared into my memory forever. But I’d never experienced them myself until they came to visit their sister at the start of the summer break. And today on the beach, their dysfunction was on full display.
“I knew those two were up to no good,” Dad said, taking a break from his lemon chicken dinner to participate. “Last night, I caught them in the backyard workroom, and when I asked what they were doing, they said they were looking for a circular saw. What do you need one of those for on vacation?”
“What do you need one of those for in general?” Quinn asked.
“I hope you didn’t give them one,” Mom said.
My father held up his hands and wiggled his fingers. “You think I’d still have these if I had a circular saw?”
“Good point.” She laughed, grabbing her plate and standing up. “Anyway, I’ve got to run. I have a private lesson tonight.”
“Private lesson for who?” I asked.
“One of my students.”
Dad swallowed a bite. “The free ones?”
