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PROLOGUE

Four months after

MY HAND IS SHAKING as I ja me even more nervous I’ve never driven a car this expensive Actually, I’ve hardly driven any car of any value I’m not sure I can safely drive Jiuess I can thank ile heart

I turn the key and the engine huas pedal, then I nearly pass out when the car ju into the block wall separating the beach house fro out of the front door I quickly switch gears and peel out of the driveway onto Sandpiper Street, then I head toward Lumina Avenue

I don’t know if anyone will follow et away

For eighteen years, I was the sickly, fragile daughter of Brian and Lynette Jensen Now… I don’t knoho I aical parents, I don’t feel like the frail girl I was eight weeks ago I’irl as strong enough to captureand hold thehteen years

That’s the girl I want to be I don’t want to be fragile anymore

I turn left on Lurips the slick asphalt beautifully Racing forward, I turn right onto Highway 74 and draw in a deep breath I don’t knohere I’ht now I need to think withoutme Or the look of disappointment and hope in Chris and Claire’s eyes

I touch the power button on the touchscreen and Jiins to play I listen to the beachy, acoustic melodies and think of the past feeeks Flashes of my parents’ hopeful faces flicker in my mind Caleb’s face materializes, andback toas a smile curls my lips Caleb is my constant

Even when I’ pulled this way and that way, it’s Caleb’s face, his sturdy hands, his breath so soft on ile in my hands… Caleb is the rope that keeps et through this

A buzzing noise pulls lance at the cup holder between the seats My phone is flashing I pick it up and glance at the screen It’s Caleb

I heave a deep sigh and answer “Hello?”

When I turnThe lane has moved Or… Oh, no It’s not the lane It’sI hear is Caleb screa my name before I drop the phone

CHAPTER ONE

Two months after

THE HAIRS ON MY ARMS stand on end the h As if I can feel every tihteen years See the ghost of their footprints trailed across the speckled tile

Caleb squeezes my hand as we head for the line of patrons queued up in front of the teller s I want to s is okay, but I’ like a snare drule and I know I should stop and take a few deep breaths, but I can’t stop ers a little and Caleb tightens his grip, stopping in the ns

I look up into his green eyes and his eyebrows shoot up as he draws in a deep breath I copy hi it out slowly throughuntil the tingling in one Then I blink my eyes to stanch the tears It’s not fair to Caleb that he has a broken girlfriend He deserves a girl with a healthy heart who can keep up with his lust for life

“Better?” he asks, his voice soothing and hopeful

I nod and he kisses my forehead “Thank you”

What is it like having a defective heart? Sort of like having a defective TV that only displays a few channels You’re forced to listen to your friends talking about all the cool shows they’ve been watching Shows you’ll never be able to watch And you try to pretend you’re perfectly happy with your defective TV, but everyone knows you’re just trying to be a good sport

Sports That’s one thing you can’t watch on a defective TV I learned that when I was thirteen That also happens to be the age I learned about the safe-deposit box that brought me to Fidelity Bank today

“I can help the next person in line”

I look up and the wo me that impatient, eyebrows-raised look I step forith Caleb and slip my driver’s license into the curved slot on the counter

“I’m here to… to look at my safe-deposit box” Look at? She must think I’m crazy

She takes h a machine She types in a few commands, then she looks back and forth between the picture on my ID and my face

“Do you have your key?”

?

?Yes,” I reply quickly as I begin digging in the front pocket of ave o

I slide it into the slot and she smiles “You can hold onto it” She slides my ID back to ive et my supervisor to help you”

She disappears behind a curved wall and cole of keys on a chain as he walks They arrive at the tellerand the man smiles at me

He nods to his right “This way, ma’am”

Ma’auess this is what it feels like to be an adult

We reach an unmarked door that buzzes softly before it’s pulled inward The man with the keys smiles as he waves us inside He closes the door behind us, then he leads us to an enormous circular vault door He slips a key into a lock, then he places his thumb on a print reader A soft beep sounds and he enters a code on a touchpad A heavy click sounds inside the door and he turns the wheel to open the door and pull it out

The vault door opens onto a corridor, which runs perpendicular Straight ahead of us is a rooular vault door stands open, revealing a narrow roo with brass safe-deposit boxes I look right and seeto other places The man with the keys leads us forward to the room with the safe-deposit boxes There aren’t any tables, just a single plastic chair with ainst the back wall of the narrow room I may need that

“Do you knohich box is yours?” the man asks

I look up into his dark eyes and ht”

I nod in agreement and the man smiles as I hold up my key, still unable to speak

He leads us to the middle of the roo back toward the door “Go ahead and take your tiht here and someone will come back to let you out”

I nod again “Thank you”

He nods as he closes the rectangular vault door, closing us into the roole them I don’t want to worry Caleb

I hand him the key “You open it”

“Do you want me to look inside and tell you what I see?”

“Yes, please”

He looks at me for a moment, then he heads for the back of the room He carries the chair back to e to wring my hands

“Deep breaths, Abby,” he reminds me

“Just open it I need this over with”

He quickly slides the key into the lock and turns He pulls box 15508 out of the slot and I lean forward to put my head between my knees I don’t want to see until I knohat’s in there