Winter White (5 page)

An hour later, Mira waited in the club’s circular driveway. Her long, curly brown hair was damp and she’d only had time to apply lip gloss and eyeliner. At least she got a chance to shower and put on a cute pink strapless dress. She kept a few sundresses in her family’s club locker for just this sort of emergency. Lucas was all about the family image, and he would have freaked if Mira showed up at a restaurant in a beach cover-up.

“Sorry to pull you away from your tanning time,” her older brother, Hayden, teased as he pulled up in a red Audi convertible. Just seeing Hayden behind the wheel of the car made Mira envious. She was fifteen, but her parents wouldn’t let her get a learner’s permit till she turned sixteen. Hopefully, by that time, her dad would let her have the Audi and buy Hayden something new. “I’m sure Savannah was kicking and screaming about you having to leave,” Hayden added.

“You stalk my Facebook page, don’t you?” Mira joked as she slid into the front seat.

“Yes,” he said solemnly, and adjusted the collar of his white polo shirt, which showed off his tan. “I get a printout of your conversations and your day’s activities every morning at the office.”

She hit him in the arm. Her brother was so charming and good-looking, she couldn’t believe he hadn’t been scooped up yet. Every girl she knew had a crush on him (or Taylor), but Hayden was too focused on cross-country and working with their dad to notice. While Mira looked like their dad, Hayden and their younger brother, Connor, who was six, had their mom to thank for their good looks. Hayden inherited her pale blond hair, chiseled heart-shaped face, and her green eyes. With looks like that, it would be easy for Hayden to be vain, but he was the most down-to-earth guy Mira knew.

“Sorry you had to leave work early—and I mean that, since you probably hated to leave,” Mira said wryly. “I thought Mom would give me a ride. She usually is here on Tuesdays.” Tuesday was her mom’s tennis day. It said so on the family’s huge calendar in the kitchen. “But then I texted her and she said to catch a ride with you because she had an ‘appointment.’ ” Mira made air quotes after the word and smirked. “Maybe she finally went with the trend and got Botox?” she asked with a head tilt.

Hayden gave her a sharp look. “Nice. You’re just lucky cross-country practice was this morning. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to pick you up, either. And Mom, by the way, is already with Dad. They were together all morning, actually. Lucas said they had to attend to some personal matters.” His eyebrows rose slightly. “Of course, he wouldn’t say what those were.”

“Of course not.” Mira sighed. Getting an answer out of Lucas was like trying to break into Fort Knox. “You haven’t heard anything?” He shook his head. Mira put on her oversize black sunglasses and leaned her head against the seat. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”

“Top up or down?” Hayden asked before he put the car into drive. He didn’t give Mira time to answer. “I’m guessing top up. You probably don’t want to mess up your hair.”

She grinned mischievously as she felt her still-wet hair.

“I’m going to shock you and say—top down!”

“
Whoa!
New school year, new Mira Monroe.” Hayden smiled. “What’s next? Sneakers outside the gym?”

Mira shook her head. “Never.” What was the point of wearing sneakers if you weren’t a jogger? Mira didn’t get it. She did, however, understand what her dad’s tightly wound campaign manager would say if she showed up at dinner, in a public setting, with a wet head. She shook out her curls and prayed a ten-minute drive with the top down would do the trick.

Four

As they pulled up to the restaurant, Mira’s hair was still damp, and a less-than-appealing frizz had taken over. That’s what Lucas Hale got for giving her no time to get ready for a family powwow.

Mira had no clue what could be so urgent—a state budget crisis? Another oil spill? Hurricane Harold making land-fall? Lucas could find a way to turn any disaster into a Bill Monroe campaign opportunity, and usually the family was dragged along for the ride. Lucas was their dad’s unofficial campaign manager for his unannounced senatorial run, and he totally gave Mira the creeps. He kept their dad on such a tight leash that she rarely saw him unless she was scheduled in on his iCalendar or an emergency came up (like today) that usually required their dad to leave town ASAP for both crisis meetings and TV opportunities (“Good morning, America! Bill Monroe has something to say about North Carolina’s dwindling peach crop this year….”). The guy was like her dad’s own personal BlackBerry, whispering talking points in his ear, calling him at all times of day and night to talk about the campaign and to give advice. That advice extended to Mira’s and her brothers’ after-school activities and wardrobe as well. Lucas made sure every decision the family made gave the Monroe name more bang for its buck come election time. Mira hated all of it.

Hayden, on the other hand, liked being in the thick of the political machine. He was interning for their dad this summer and was more gung ho about politics than ever. Mira didn’t know how he could stand seeing Lucas that much, but Hayden said the internship was too good an opportunity to pass up. The Monroe name would get him far, even if Hayden was determined not to trade on it.

“I’ll bet you ten dollars tonight’s dinner has nothing to do with a natural disaster and everything to do with Emerald Cove’s centennial,” Hayden said as the two walked out to Buona Terra’s private patio overlooking the bay. Their family usually came to this Italian restaurant once a week; that’s how much their dad liked its lobster. “Lucas wouldn’t shut up today about ribbon-cutting ceremonies and two-hundred-dollars-a-plate state dinners, even though the centennial is over two years away.”

“I’d rather this dinner be about the centennial than Dad coming to tell us he has to go away for six weeks,” Mira said as they reached their regular table. “Lucas can talk about the centennial all he wants as long as he doesn’t try to stick me on some high school planning committee. I have enough going on, and school hasn’t even started yet.”

Between her honors classes, field hockey sessions, and her Emerald Prep charity club, the Social Butterflies, Mira’s schedule was overbooked. Sometimes she wished her commitments were things she actually looked forward to doing, rather than things she did just to look good. The Butterflies would give her brownie points on a college application, but Mira longed to find something she could claim as her own. She took the water goblet on the table and twirled it around, watching how the condensation pooled on the sides of the glass and wondering what it was that she was constantly searching for.

Hayden’s eyebrows rose playfully as he removed his tie. “I think you and Savannah would be perfect for a centennial high school committee. No one knows how to bend people to their will better than you two.”

Mira hit him in the arm with her linen napkin as their younger brother, Connor, walked in flanked by two of their dad’s drivers. The six-year-old looked like a pint-size version of their senator dad in his dress shirt and khakis—the standard uniform at his private elementary school, which started a few days earlier than Emerald Prep. Connor’s normally playful grin was replaced with a scowl.

“I can’t believe I have to miss soccer. Again.” He slumped down in a seat at the table. “Where’s Dad got to go now?” His eyes lit up for a moment. “Is it Africa? Do you think Mom would let me go, too?” Conner was obsessed with going on a real safari. The safari ride at Disney World’s Animal Kingdom, which he had ridden a dozen times, just wasn’t cutting it.

“Sorry, squirt,” said Hayden as he roughed up Connor’s mop of blond hair. “I don’t think it’s Africa. We have no clue what’s up with Dad.” Hayden looked at his watch in surprise. “Or where he is. Dad is officially late. This is a first.” He winked at Mira. “You and Dad are never even thirty seconds behind schedule.”

“Nope,” Mira agreed smugly. She was punctual to a fault and hated when others weren’t. She leaned back in her seat and stared at the choppy bay beyond the patio. From the terrace, it was easy to feel like you were on an ocean liner in the Mediterranean. Mira liked being surrounded by water. She just didn’t like being
in
the water. “If Dad’s late, blame Lucas,” she added. “He’s probably got Dad delivering puppies at an animal shelter.”

“That’s not a bad idea, Mirabelle.”

Mira heard Lucas’s even-keeled voice and froze as he appeared at their table. “The animal-compassion angle would work great at campaign time,” he added, revealing a mouth full of perfect veneers. “But as for today, the reason your father is
detained
,” he enunciated, “is because he had to sign some paperwork with your mother.”

“What kind of paperwork would that be?” Hayden pried.

Lucas answered Hayden’s question with one of his own, a habit that drove Mira nuts. “They don’t make you wear ties at school anymore?” He touched Connor’s shirt, and Connor stuck his tongue out at him when Lucas turned around. “Hayden, at least, had one on earlier, I believe.” Hayden fumbled for the crumpled tie in his pocket as Lucas looked Mira up and down with disdain. “No time to dry your hair at the country club? You three better step up your act before this campaign gets in full swing.”

“It’s a family dinner, Lucas,” Mira said, keeping her tone light. She was polite with adults, but at twenty-nine, Lucas didn’t really feel like her elder.

Lucas nodded approvingly as Hayden knotted his tie again. “That’s a little better,” he said, and placed his hands in the pockets of his expensive suit. “So, now that we’re presentable, let’s catch up. How was the rest of your summer?”

Connor rolled his eyes at Mira. None of them liked talking to Lucas. They didn’t get why their dad liked the guy so much. Okay, so maybe he had led two other state senators to victory in their U.S. Senate bids and he’d only been on the job for three years, but Lucas was still a complete snake. Their dad, however, loved the guy’s ambition.

“Summer was fun once we actually got to do stuff,” Connor muttered. Lucas laughed.

“Touché. I did keep you guys busy. But it’s all for your dad, right?” Lucas patted Hayden on the back. “We want to get him to Washington, don’t we?”

The patio doors opened before Mira could really think about her answer to that question. Mira’s parents walked in looking like they were ready for a meeting with the governor. Her mom wore a fitted navy dress with pleats, and her long pale blond hair was pulled back to show off the simple trinity diamond pendant she wore almost every day. Their dad was in a suit (shocker) and his slightly graying brown hair had its usual Kennedy-style pouf. The only thing that looked off about her parents was their strained smiles.

“Cute dress, Mirabelle,” her mom said, sounding unusually tired. “Sorry I couldn’t give you a ride here. I had to cancel everything on my calendar today, including the EC Greeters meeting and tennis.” Mira’s mom pushed her hair behind her ears. Mira knew her mom did that only when she was getting ready to relay bad news. But then her mom’s green eyes lit up. “But I ran into the school headmaster this morning, and guess what? They are changing your uniforms next year! I told him it’s about time. They really need something more flattering for the girls.” Her mom’s BlackBerry vibrated, and she quickly started typing something as she walked over to greet Connor and Hayden.

“Hi, sweetheart.” Mira’s dad kissed her on the cheek. “How was the club?” He folded his large arms across his chest. “Did Mr. Connick like my gift?”

The joke in Emerald Cove was that Bill Monroe was more in demand today than he had been fifteen years ago when he played for the Atlanta Braves. He was known for telling great sports stories, and he had so many trophies, World Series rings, and Hall of Fame photos in the house that every guy Mira knew wanted to meet him. That he had gone from having a successful sports career to running a multimillion-dollar business group that led him to become a North Carolina senator only made his appeal greater.

“Mr. Connick flipped for the autographed Chipper Jones baseball,” Mira told him. “But he still said he misses seeing you at your weekly tee times.”

“That makes two of us.” Her dad made a face. “But there’s a lot going on….” He looked at Lucas.

“Yes, maybe we should get started.” Lucas motioned for everyone to sit as a waiter appeared with menus. “They’ll be at your house around nine o’clock, Bill.”

“Who will?” Connor asked.

“Let’s order,” Mira’s mom said. “Should we order first, Bill? I think we should, don’t you?” Mira glanced at Hayden. Since when did their mom get all worked up over a menu? She barely ever ordered more than fish and salad.

“We’ll have our regular, please,” Mira’s dad said, and handed the waiter back his menu. Once the waiter disappeared, he turned to the group. “Your mom and I have some big news. Huge, actually.” He exhaled slowly. “We’re hoping you’ll be understanding.”

The sound of the water hitting the pier under the patio magnified as Mira waited for the bomb to drop. She was sure she was about to hear about how she was getting a private tutor and would have to sleep on an uncomfortable tour bus for the next three months. Lucas had mentioned taking the family around the state that fall once the campaign was announced. Mira and Hayden would have to drop their sports; Connor would have to quit soccer. And what would Taylor say? He would freak if she missed any of his games.