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CHAPTER ONE

"Never fret, my love, the universe always balances the scales Her ways may be mysterious, but they are always just"

Isabelle Dallaire, "Gram"

Kira

In a long history of bad days, this one was at the top of the list And it was only nine a out of my car, I took a deep breath of the bal toward Napa Valley Savings Bank The sultryshi lass front door of the bank The peaceful beauty see somehow—the bleakness of ant idea, I supposed As if the weather should express itself according to my mood

"May I help you?" a cheery brunette asked as I approached her teller

"Yes," I said, withdrawing s book from my purse "I want to close this account" I slid both toward the teller A corner of the savings book was folded back, revealing nu me how to keep track of our deposits The memory tore ats the account number

I thought back to the day we'd opened the account I'd been ten, and ram had walked iven hout the summer We'd made trips to this bank over the years when I'd stayed at her house in Napa She'd taught me the true value of money—it was meant to be shared, used to help others, but also represented a type of freedom The fact that I currently had little money, few options, and every material possession I oas stuffed in the trunk ofbut free

"Two thousand, forty-seven dollars and sixteen cents," the teller stated, glancing up at me I nodded It was even a little ood I needed every cent Letting a deep breath out slowly, I joined ether on the counter and waited for her to count out the cash

Once the money was safely tucked into ood day and turned to leave the bank, stopping at the drinking fountain

As the cool water hit my lips, I heard faintly from the office around the corner, "Grayson Hawthorn, nice to meet you" I froze, stood slowly, then used my thumb to distractedly wipe the water off my bottom lip Grayson HawthornGrayson Hawthorn? I knew that na sound of it, the way I had repeated it to myself on a whisper to hear it on ht back to the quick glance at the file my dad had slid closed as I’d placed a tray of coffee on his desk Could it be the same Grayson Hawthorn?

Peeking around the corner, I saw nothing more than a closed office door, the shade on thepulled down I walked around the corner to the restroom on the other side of the corridor from the office Grayson Hawthorn occupied

Once inside the restrooainst the wall I hadn't even known Grayson Hawthorn lived in Napa His trial had taken place in San Francisco, so that must have been where the criht have been, only that my father had taken a brief interest in it I bitat myself in the mirror above it as I washed and dried my hands

I opened the door quietly and tried in vain to listen to the conversation in the room across the hall, but I could only hear muffled voices Suddenly, I heard the door open and peeked out to see another man in a suit, most likely a bank executive, enter the office He closed the door behind hihtly ajar, allowing ain, I stood at the cracked bathroo to listen

Really, Kira? This is shamefully nosy An invasion of privacy And worse, so my own reprimand, I leaned closer to the crack in the door

I'd leave this less-than-stellar moment out of my memoirs No one needed to know about it but me

A feords drifted ivethis bankunfortunately" Felon? It had to be the Grayson Hawthorn I thought it was What a strange, rando about him All I really kneas his name, the fact that he’d been accused of a cri him as a pawn Grayson Hawthorn and I had that in common Not that it was likely my father reularly and with so little afterthought In any case, as I eavesdropping fro to listen in on his private conversation? I wasn't sure, however an abundance of curiosity was one of my confirmed faults I took a deep breath and went to open the bathroos and paused The words from across the hall were clearer now that they had probably opened the door wider "I'm sorry I can't approve a loan for you, Mr Hawthorn" The retful "If you orth more"

Another male voice, Grayson's I assumed, cut the other man off "I understand Thank you for your time, Mr Gellar"

I caught the brief gliray suit and leaned back inside the restrooain I washed lanced at the office Grayson Hawthorn had been in as I passed, and saw abehind the desk in a suit and tie, his attention focused on so That ray suit, and apparently he'd already left the bank