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Alana sprinted over, shuffling past Leo, who was doing his best to position Sophie in a comfortable spot as she emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet.

“Oh Bean,” she murmured. She brushed Sophie’s hair back with her fingers, then reached a hand up to Leo. “Can you hand me that scrunchie on the counter?”

He silently did as he was asked. Alana tied back Sophie’s hair, then rubbed her back as her sister continued to get sick.

Leo disappeared for a brief moment, then wound up back in the doorframe with a glass of water.

Otto was beside him, looking worried.

“I-I-I’m so sorryyy,” Sophie cried, her face splotchy and red. Half of the glitter on her face was wiped off, some of it now smearing the toilet seat.

“It’s okay,” Alana replied. She looked up at the men. “I got it from here. Let’s give her some privacy.”

“Are you sure?” Leo asked, his expression hard. Protective.

It made her heart swoop. Even in the ugly moments, Leo proved to be reliable. He showed up. He took his convoluted role in this family very seriously. It made her want him even more.

She nodded with a smile. “Yes. I’ll let you know if I need anything.”

He nodded. “Good.”

Then he gently closed the door, and Alana spent the next hour taking care of Sophie. She slept on her sister’s floor, waking every twenty minutes to make sure she slept soundly through the night, wondering if it was truly the alcohol that had made her stomach so upset—or something else in the shape of an older, mysterious man who so easily held his little sister’s heart in his hands.

19

Harvest was fast approaching, and there was a lot of work to be done. There was also a lot of money that still needed to be raised, and Sophie was currently out of commission.

The morning after her party had been as worse as the night of. Alana and Freya managed to get her to shower before she bent back over the toilet bowl, except nothing came out. Sophie’s stomach was empty, and if they tried to feed her crackers or something bland, she couldn’t keep it down.

“I didn’t think she drank that much last night,” Freya whispered as they closed Sophie’s door. She managed to fall back to sleep on her bed. “I’m also a lightweight, and I didn’t feel much of a buzz.”

“Maybe they pregamed,” Alana commented. “I used to do that with Tess and Court.”

“I don’t think so,” Freya replied. “I asked both Penny and Chelsea, and they’re denying it.”

Alana peered through the crack in the door at her sleeping sister, and the silver bowl next to her bed. “Maybe she caught something.”

Freya sighed heavily. “Yeah, maybe.”

They stood there in silence, watching Sophie. Worrying.

“We have to keep moving,” Freya said, breaking the silence. “There’s so much work to do.”

“Sophie was handling the campaign,” Alana answered. “And the party.”

Freya nodded. “I know. But if she’s going to be sick for a few days, we don’t have time to waste.”

Alana rubbed her forehead and the impending headache that loomed. After a fitful night of sleep on the floor worrying about her sister and overanalyzing everything that happened with Leo, she was feeling it in her head and body. She hoped a cup of coffee would fix it. “I don’t know how to possibly do any of that, plus handle harvest. It’s too much.”

To her surprise, Freya rested a hand on her forearm. “I get it. I’ll take over the party and all of our online presence. How about you capture some content in the field.”

Her shoulders relaxed. That didn’t sound so bad. “What kind of content?”

Freya responded with a soft smile. “Anything you think would make the rest of the world fall in love with our farm. Show it to them through your eyes.”

Alana wondered if the magic from last night was still affecting this moment. It didn’t seem possible that Freya could be so empathetic in such a moment of crisis. Yet somehow her sister was surprising her. Or maybe it was the soil.

She smiled with a nod, deciding not to ruin whatever was happening, and took the blessing for what it was.