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“You should write it down and frame it.”

“I might.”

For a few moments, neither of us spoke. My father’s voice carried faintly from the study while Leanne turned the stem of her glass between her fingers.

Then she went quiet in a way that made me look over.

“What?” I asked.

She didn’t answer right away.

“Leanne.”

“I heard back from New York.”

I lowered my glass. “The agency?”

She nodded, and the smile she’d been trying to hide finally broke through.

“I got it!”

“You got it? Oh my God. Leanne!”

“I know.” She laughed, but there were already tears in her eyes. “I’ve been trying not to say anything all night.”

I set my glass on the table and hugged her before she could finish. She wrapped her arms around me.

“When do you leave?”

“A few weeks after graduation. I have to go to New York first, and then they’re sending me to Europe.”

I pulled back. “Where?”

“Paris first. Then Milan. Maybe London after that.”

Everything she’d told me in the car suddenly wasn’t some possibility anymore. It was happening.

“You’re going to be modeling in Paris.”

“I’m going to be modeling in Paris.”

I should have kept celebrating. I should have been thinking about everything she had worked for since leaving acting behind and deciding she wanted a career of her own.

Instead, the first thing I felt was the hollow space her leaving would create.

“How long will you be gone?”

“At least a year if everything goes well.”

I swallowed.

Leanne’s smile faded. “Sam.”

“No, don’t do that.” I pointed at her. “Don’t look at me like you kicked me.”

“I know the timing is awful.”

“The timing is not awful. This is exactly what you wanted.”