Page 139 of When You Wish Upon a Wideout

Wish list.

chaptertwenty-three

It’s supposedto rain tonight.

Peeking at her phone, Sienna rolled her eyes at Beau’s message.Now he wants to talk about the weather?Earlier it had been about their first Valentine’s Day together—which hadn’t gone as planned. Sienna closed her eyes, shaking her head at the memory while her heart sank.

It went even better.

Sienna reached to open her nightstand, retrieving the copper coin Beau had gifted her all those years ago. It had oxidized, gentle hues of turquoise now painting the edges. But the message on both sides remained clear even after all the time that had passed—I love you.

It hadn’t been easy to look at the coin after Beau left high school. Instead, Sienna kept it under her pillow and slid her hand beneath, palming the metal each night.It was real, right?Sienna would ask herself.He, me, us, we were real.Sienna couldn’t deny it as the memories of their year together struck her—rooftop nights, meadow picnics, drives to nowhere in his clunky truck, and the sound and feel of happiness after so much grief.

It took Sienna sixty-three days after Beau had left—and zero calls or emails—for her to remove it from under her pillow. She had erased all traces of him from her room—his shirt, the night light, and the coin especially. His departure smacked her so deep it left a scar she couldn’t see but could always feel. And that scar soured the precious memories so much that they began to feel like a dream instead of the past.

It hasn’t rained since December. Before we saw each other again.

You mean since before my daughter approached you and let you know what a headcase I’ve been—a sad, very lonely headcase, Sienna silently scoffed as she caught sight of the diary and sighed. She could forgive Grace—what could a child do that a parent couldn’t forgive? But Beau—who had swooped into her life and filled it to the brim with promise and magic under false pretenses for a second time—Sienna wasn’t so sure.Fool me twice,she said to herself, pushing off the bed,and it will be the last time you do.

“Come see our girl,” Emily called from down the hall.

“Finally,” Sienna exclaimed, leaving her room and heading toward Grace’s room. “Is it prom or the—”

“Or the what?”

Sienna was going to ask Grace if Emily had spent the last few hours getting her ready to walk the red carpet for the Academy Awards. But when she saw her daughter standing in the hall donning the green sequined dress, with just enough makeup to amplify her features—and replace the ones chemo had claimed and not returned yet, like most of her eyebrows—Sienna couldn’t say anything other than one thing.

“You’re beautiful.”

But Sienna’s observation had nothing to do with the dress or makeup or perfectly curled wig. It had to do with the scar from Grace’s old port that she didn’t care to hide—the reminder of all she had overcome and battled while smiling her way through.

If I’ve done one thing right,Sienna thought,it’s this girl right here.

The doorbell rang, pulling Sienna from her mind. Grace jumped and squealed. “He’s here! He’s here!”

Emily squeezed Grace’s shoulders as she walked toward the front door, but Sienna moved in the opposite direction toward her room.

“Let me get my phone to take pictures.” In her room, she grabbed her phone off her bed and hurried back down the hall where she found Grace’s date—notJustin, but an equally as cute, if not cuter, Billy—slipping a corsage onto Grace’s wrist.

“Mom,” Grace groaned, rolling her eyes as Sienna continued to snap photos for five minutes. “We’re going to be late.”

But Sienna didn’t want to stop capturing the moment—one she had feared might never come. “You can never have too many pictures.”

Standing behind her, Emily placed a hand on Sienna’s arm when her phone issued a warning about low memory. “They’re going to take more pictures right now,” her friend told her, and Sienna lowered the phone.

“Right,” she said with a sigh. “Okay, well. Billy? Speed limit, alright?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Billy nodded as he reached for the door.

Sienna tried to hide her eye roll as Emily snickered because she knew he was trying to be polite. “Grace, you text me when you get to Lilah’s—”

“Iwill,” Grace called over her shoulder before slamming the door shut.

Sienna held her breath, standing at the closed door before it flew open and Grace crashed into her.

“I love you,” Grace whispered as she hugged her mother tightly.

Sienna could feel her daughter’s grin against her cheek as she squeezed her back. “I love you too. Now go and have fun.” She guided her back out the door, watching Grace take Billy’s hand as he led her to his car.

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