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and me. Tingles whispered over my skin when I remembered how nervous and excited I’d been that entire lunch hour.
    Eric and I, we shared a bond, right from the start. First, it had been over the piano, and then as we came to know each other better, over our shared loss. Charlie was always there, part of our group, but never all there. Part of the same orchestra, but playing different pieces.
    Like me, Eric kept his sadness wrapped tight around himself, but I could see it. I remember wanting to fix it, to help him. But despite the grief he carried with him every day, he had a confidence that I could never find in myself.
    Later, much later, I realized that instead of fixing him, he was the one to fix me.

Chapter Five
    Shopping was my family’s cure for everything. Depressed? Go shopping. Sad? Shopping. Need to celebrate? Shopping in Milan. Sick? Online shopping.
    I slumped through the mall, distracted and broody. The shopping cure never worked as well for me as the rest of my family. I must have been missing some Elliot gene.
    “It’s not that bad, you know.”
    I looked up. Lexi was holding a black bag covered in gold studs and grommets.
    “Ick.”
    “You don’t like it?” Lexi looked at the price tag and sighed. “Too expensive anyway. Even you couldn’t afford it.”
    I glared. “Way to make me feel better.”
    “Better? Why, what’s wrong?”
    I sighed. I hadn’t planned to tell Lexi about the Croft’s renting Kellynch until lunch. “Nothing.”
    She fixed me with a pointy stare. “Bull.”
    “We’ll talk about it later, promise.” I picked up a camel colored tote, stroked the buttery-soft leather. “What about this one?”
    “Nice try.” She grabbed the tag and then flicked it out of her fingers. “Fendi. I can’t afford that either.”
    “Oh, right.”
    Lexi picked up another bag, then set it down in disgust after a glance at the price. “Can we leave this store and go to the Gap or something?”
    Strolling through the mall, I ignored the shiny displays around me, the beautiful clothes, the annoying shoppers walking on my heels or cutting me off as if I was invisible. What would Eric think when he heard his sister would be living in Kellynch? Maybe he already knew. As far as I knew, Charlie had never met the Crofts. It was likely he’d heard they were looking for a place from Eric himself. I couldn’t believe Eric would recommend Kellynch to them. Then again, he knew what a beautiful home it was. And it had been eight years. We were both long over it by now.
    “ Ooh , Carter’s.” Lexi grabbed me by the arm and yanked me into a baby-clothing store. “Look how cute this is!” She held up a frilly, pink dress with white bows on it.
    “Cute. Maybe a bit small for Elle?”
    Lexi looked at the dress and frowned. “You’re right.” She searched through the rack. “Of course they don’t have her size,” she grumbled.
    I followed her around the store, oohing and aahing at the many outfits, sleepers and hair bows she held up for my opinion. In five minutes she had half the store resting over her arm.
    “Does Elle really need that much stuff?” Without any kids of my own, I didn’t have a clue, but one little girl probably didn’t need a wardrobe that would barely fit in my dad’s walk-in closet. She’d grow out of most of them in, what, two months?
    “I’m not getting all this. I’ll narrow it down.”
    “That ugly bag in Bloomingdale’s was probably the same price as all that.”
    Lexi snorted. “Are you kidding me? This is Carter’s. This dress alone is $9.99.” I gave her a sheepish look when she held up the tag. “Besides, when you have kids, you end up spending all your money on them instead of yourself. Trust me.”
    That life that could have been flashed through my head like some sappy home movie. I pushed aside daydreams of a little blond boy and girl squealing as their father chased them through a sunny park.
    Lexi sorted through her stuff, narrowing it down to