James

It was almost six by the time I pulled up to the Chase mansion. The lights burned brightly throughout, but there were no cars in the driveway. I didn't have her phone number, so I hadn't been able to let her know I was running late. When I knocked on the door, it took ages for someone to finally answer it. I'd been expecting hired help, so it came as a shock when Cora greeted me.

"Hey." She had yet to meet my eyes, and instead, stared at my feet.

I lifted her chin and noticed the red rim beneath her lashes and the bloodshot look around her irises. "I'm sorry I'm late. I didn't have your number to call."

"It's okay." She swiped her tongue along her lips, and I traced its movement until it disappeared back into her mouth.

"No, it's not." Running my hand through my hair, I tugged on the roots in frustration. "I got in trouble at school and then with the team. I came as soon as they let me out. I haven't even been home."

"I know. I saw."

Fuck. I'd hoped she'd left the cafeteria when I'd gotten up, and she'd missed the shitshow between Neil and me. "It's not a big deal."

"Look, I appreciate you trying to be nice, but I don't want to come between you and your friends."

I chose to ignore that comment. "Are you ready?"

Her eyes grew wide, and she glanced around and then back at me. "For what?"

"The beach." I didn't wait for her to turn me down. "Do you need to tell your grandparents you're leaving?"

"They're not here. No one is."

I stopped myself from asking the obvious. There was no way in hell this girl should be alone after what she'd been through in the last week, but who was I to judge? Maybe they'd gone to the store—although, that thought made me laugh. I doubted the Chases did any of their own shopping.

Instead, I snatched her hand. She pulled back just enough to grab the handle and close the door behind her. The Chase property sat directly on the beach. We just had to walk around the massive home to the back and out to the sand. The sky had grown dusky, although a slight bit of color still clung to the horizon just above the water. It would be dark soon, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the moon was full.

We both left our shoes behind her house and embarked on the evening. Cora didn't try to talk, and neither did I. I was perfectly content holding her tiny hand in mine, wandering the shoreline. I'd walk all the way up the Gulf Coast if she'd stay with me. When the sun had set completely, and the moonlight was all that lit the path, I finally took the chance on a conversation.

"Where was everyone tonight?"

"My grandparents left this morning for Prague. They'll be back in a couple weeks."

"What about the staff? I doubt they leave that place unattended."

"Most went with them, I think. Honestly, James, I'm not sure. When I got up this morning, there was a driver waiting to take me to school, a stack of cash and a credit card on the counter, and their itinerary."

I squeezed her hand, wondering just how lonely she truly was. The rest of us lived the same sort of life: drivers, cooks, maids, and allowances to tide us over while our parents ran around the world doing God knew what, leaving us to raise ourselves. I just couldn't understand anyone doing it after such an upheaval in her life.

"So you're alone in that enormous house?"

"It's not so bad. At least this way I don't have to talk to anyone. I don't have to pretend everything is okay. If I need to yell or cry or laugh uncontrollably, there's no one to stop me." She didn't let go of my hand. Instead, her grasp became a little tighter with that statement, as though she were afraid she might drift away if she let go.

"Have you eaten dinner?" I knew she hadn't eaten lunch, and from the sounds of it, there had been no breakfast, either.

"I'm not hungry. I'm doing good not to be a blubbering mess." Cora offered me a pitiful excuse for a smile, or maybe it was a grimace—either way, it was to pacify my need to comfort her.

"Were you close to your parents?" It was a tough topic I had to tread lightly around. If I pushed too hard, she might break down, and my hope was to get her to open up and share something she loved with me.

Her lips tilted up and then parted into the most stunning smile I'd ever had the pleasure of witnessing. The happiness reached all the way to her eyes, and even in the darkness of the night, I could see the vivid green almost glowing with love.

"They were my best friends. We were very close." She hesitated before saying anything else, and I waited. "I was supposed to be with them on that flight. I'd begged to stay home to see Coldplay in Manhattan. They'd reluctantly agreed to leave me alone for the first time. Well, as alone as a teenage girl can get with people always in the house."

I'd heard of things like this before, where fate intervened, although I'd never known anyone who'd been on the receiving end of it.

"I think my mom knew—well, not knew. Like a premonition that something was going to go wrong. I just think she thought it was going to happen to me. She left her assistant, Faith, behind to escort my friends and me to the concert. Faith got the call on our way home. She tried to keep it together until after we'd dropped everyone else off, except I could see it in her eyes, written all over her face. Even though she worked for my mom, she loved her, too. They were super close. When she finally broke the news, her soul shattered with mine. I think leaving her was worse than leaving my friends and my house and my school. She's been around as long as I can remember."

"Did she live with you guys?"

"Practically. Faith tried to get temporary custody of me, but she didn't have the money to fight my grandparents, and since my parents' will hadn't specified who got custody, I went with my next of kin. So here I am."

"Jesus. That's awful. Have you talked to her?"

"Not since the funeral. It's wrong; I should want to reach out to her, return her calls. It's just that she's a painful reminder of all I had to leave behind."

"I'm glad you're here with me." It was stupid, but I didn't have a clue what else to say. I'd never lost anyone close to me, and I wasn't close to my parents and probably never would be.

She stopped with her feet at the edge of the shore and let the water roll over her toes and up to her ankles. The glow of the moon highlighted her natural beauty and made her appear almost angelic. When she stared up at me, I couldn't stop myself from pulling her in. I needed to protect her, to comfort her, to ease her pain. Yet all I had to offer was a hug. Cora came willingly, wrapping her arms around my waist, her head resting on my chest. She was tiny in comparison, and somehow, I hoped that the difference in our size offered her reassurance.

For the second time that day, I'd experienced another one of those moments, one that would alter the course of my life. With Cora in my arms and the ocean kissing our feet, my heart fell, our souls collided, and I'd found the love of my life. At seventeen and a junior in high school, serendipity—no, fate—had delivered the missing piece of my rib in the form of Cora Chase.