Either way, Henry wouldn’t be doing anythingwrongby tutoring Kennedy. He was allowed to have other friends. And Kennedy had as much sway around school as her father had around town. If she and Henry became friends—or more than friends—maybe the school would finally accept the brothers again.
“I guess,” he said, fiddling with his glasses to give his fingers something to do.
“Okay, great!” She smiled and clasped her hands together. “Will your brother be there?”
“Brother?” Henry felt like an idiot for not thinking of it sooner: Kennedy probably wanted to avoid Adam. After the school board fallout, Dr. Russo had essentially dropped Adam as a patient, and Henry was sure his brother didn’t want anything to do with the doctor’s daughter, either. “Maybe we should meet somewhere else,” he said.
He watched Kennedy’s face fall. Maybe this girl only wanted to see the inside of his house, he thought. It wouldn’t be the first time aschoolmate befriended him just so they could brag to everyone else that they got inside the “castle.”
Just then he remembered that Adam had a physical therapy appointment after school. “You know what? My house is fine.”
“Thanks so much, Henry. You’re the best.” This surprised him; as of a moment ago, he wasn’t aware she even knew his name. She hugged him, which surprised him even more—especially because he liked it, the feel of her arms wrapped around him, her hair brushing the side of his face. But what surprised him the most was how her scent tugged at his memory. It was cloyingly sweet, like brown sugar and blackberries. There was a hint of vanilla that made her smell almost like one of the berry crisp desserts Hayden sometimes made, freshly removed from the oven. Only that wasn’t quite it.
She pulled back, and the scent picked and pulled at the strings wound deep in Henry’s memory, giving him an unsettling sense of déjà vu. He felt frustrated that he couldn’t pinpoint it.
“Just, uh, don’t mention it to your brother, okay?” Kennedy said.
Henry nodded, knowing she was right. They had to keep this tutoring session to themselves. Maybe he could take her to his room, or they could work under the gazebo. It was a nice day outside after all.
As Kennedy waved goodbye and headed off to class, Bram made his way down the hall. “What was that about?”
“Nothing.” For some reason, Henry didn’t want Bram to know about Kennedy. Maybe because he knew it was a betrayal in a way, considering Adam’s feelings about the Russos.
“Nothing,” Bram repeated, clearly unconvinced.
As he eyed Henry suspiciously, the scent memory finally came to him. Mariana had worn this same perfume. Henry had once smelled that scent on Bram in the car the year before; he remembered teasing Bram about how good he smelled after spending time with her. He got a silly sense of relief now that he’d put it together.
“Be careful with her,” Bram said in his annoying older-brother voice. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
“Yeah,” Henry said, though irritation needled at him. Of course no girl could pay anyone butBramthe time of day.
***
Henry instructed Kennedy to meet him at the gate. He waited for her and, when she arrived, offered to carry her backpack. “You’re such a gentleman,” she said, and for the first time in his life, it sounded like a compliment. It wasn’t like when his brothers said the same thing to tease him.
She handed the backpack to him, smiling with red-painted lips. “I’ve never been inside your house before.”
Henry’s heart sank; maybe she really did only want the castle tour. “I was actually thinking we’d hang out in the backyard.” He waited for the look of disappointment.
“That sounds perfect,” she said, her arm brushing his as they ambled side by side on the walkway.
They wove through the gardens, pushing aside the massiveovergrown branches of the magnolia tree that no one ever bothered to trim. As their feet crunched over the once-pink blooms, now withered brown and scattered over the path, Henry half expected Kennedy to start snapping photos, the way Adam’s middle school girlfriend had. But she simply took in her surroundings, periodically looking back over her shoulder at the mansion, almost like she was overwhelmed or nervous.
“Adam isn’t here,” Henry assured her.
“Oh, I know.” She smiled, and he helped her get settled at the gazebo table.
“I’ll grab some snacks. What can I get you to drink?”
She smiled at him like he was a cute little puppy dog. “You’re just the sweetest thing, aren’t you?” Henry wasn’t sure how he felt about this. “Water would be great.”
“Be right back.” Henry strode back to the house to gather refreshments, still going over her words.
But when he returned to the gazebo, Kennedy wasn’t there. Her backpack was on the seat, math textbook spread open on the table, its pages flapping in the wind. A red spiral notebook and pencil lay there too, and Henry wondered if she’d gotten bored and decided to wander the gardens.
He didn’t want to call out her name in case it drew Bram from his dark cave of a room. Instead, he set out the snacks and water bottles, and sat down in the seat adjacent to hers. Another gentlemanly move; he wouldn’t sit directly beside her unless she asked.
When he reached for a chip from the bowl, Henry spotted atube of lipstick wedged in between the textbook and the notebook. The tube looked familiar, and this time, Henry didn’t have to rack his brain for where he’d seen it before.
