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Prologue
THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN AT THE EXCLUSIVE BRIARWOOD School was the worst day of Regan Hamilton Madison’s life It was such a disaster she o back
She had started out the day believing the new school would be wonderful And why not? She’d been told so by her brothers and her mother, and she had no reason to doubt them Seated in the back of her family’s limo for the ride to Briarwood, she proudly wore her new school uniforray plaid pleated skirt; a white blouse with mandatory pointed collar; a navy blue tie, knotted just like a old emblem of the school’s initials on the breast pocket Her curly hair was pinned back with school-approved, navy blue barrettes Everything she as brand-new, including her white knee-high socks and navy blue loafers
Regan had thought school would be fun For the past two years, she and nine classmates at her posh preschool had been pampered and told hoonderful they were by teachers who never lost their smiles She fully expected her first day at Briarwood to be about the same Maybe even better
Her mother was supposed to ride with her to the new school, just like all the other mothers—and sometimes even fathers—of new students did, but due to circumstances she assured her she couldn’t control, her mother had to stay in London with her new boyfriend and couldn’t get back to Chicago in time
Grando with her, but she, too, was out of the country, visiting friends, and wouldn’t be home for two more weeks
When Regan had spoken to her mother over the phone the day before, she’d told her she didn’t need Mrs Tyler, the housekeeper, to take her to school Her an knew that if she had asked her oldest brother, he would have done it He was seventeen and wouldn’t like going with her, but he would have … if she had asked He would do anything for her, just like her other brothers, Spencer and Walker
Regan decided she didn’t want anyone to walk her to her classrooirl now The uniforot lost, she would si teachers
School, as it turned out, wasn’t at all what she had iarten at Briarwood lasted all day She hadn’t been warned about the huge nu the school, either, and she certainly hadn’t been warned about the bullies They were everywhere But she was irl in particular who liked to tor
By the ti to disan was so distraught and worn out she had to bite her lower lip to keep fro
There were cars and liot out of the car and started toward her
Regan spotted him but was too tired to run to him, so he hurried toward her, alar on strands in her face; her necktie was undone; her shirt-tail was out, and one of her knee-high socks was down around her ankle The five-year-old looked as if she’d gone through a tumble cycle in the clothes dryer Evan opened the back door for her as he inquired, “Everything all right, Regan?”
Head down she responded, “Yes”
“Hoas school today?”
She dove into the car “I don’t want to talk about it”
That specific question was asked again by the housekeeper when she opened the front door for her “I don’t want to talk about it,” Regan repeated
The housekeeper took her book bag “Thank you,” Regan said She ran up the circular staircase and down the south hallway to her bedroom, slammed the door shut, and promptly burst into tears
Regan knew she was a disappointh she did, she couldn’t keep her emotions under control If she fell and scraped her knee and it stung, she just had to cry, no matter where she was or as around to observe her behavior
When she was unhappy, she broke all the rules her ain to be ladylike, but she wasn’t sure what that entailed, except, of course, to keep her knees together when seated in a chair She didn’t like to suffer in silence, no olden that rule was in the Madison household She didn’t particularly care about being brave either, and if she was miserable, then her family needed to hear all about it
Unfortunately, the only family member home at the moment was Aiden He was the least sympathetic, probably because he was the oldest, and couldn’t be bothered with the worries of a five-year-old He hated it when she cried, but that didn’t stop her
She blew her nose, washed her face, and changed her clothes After she removed her uniform, she carefully folded it and then dropped it into the wastebasket Since she wasn’t going back to that terrible school, she wouldn’t need those ugly clothes ever again She put on shorts with abarefoot down the hall to her brother’s room
She timidly knocked on the door “Could I come in?”
She didn’t wait for an answer but opened the door, ran across the room to his bed, and jumped up on the soft co her legs underneath her, she pulled the dangling, school-approved barrettes from her hair and dropped them in her lap
Aiden looked irritated Dressed in his rugby clothes, he was sitting at his desk, surrounded by textbooks She didn’t notice he was on the phone until he said good-bye and hung up
“You’re supposed to wait until I say it’s okay for you to coe in” Then, when she didn’t respond, he leaned back in his chair, studied her face, and asked, “Have you been crying?”
She thought about it and decided to break another rule She lied “No,” she said, her gaze glued to the floor
He knew she wasn’t telling the truth but decided not to press the honesty issue now His little sister was clearly distraught “Is so full well there was
She wouldn’t look at hi the word out
He let out a loud sigh “I don’t have ti to have to leave for practice in a couple of ”
She lifted her shoulders in a shrug “Nothing’s wrong Honest”
She was ertips on top of the co her He bent down and put on his shoes He suddenly rean’s first day at Briarwood and casually asked, “Hoas school?”
He was totally unprepared for her response She burst into tears and threw herself down, burying her face in his co her eyes and her nose on his duvet She told hi up since recess The problem was, she didn’t make a lick of sense
It all ca, barely coherent, sentence “I hate school and I’ back, not ever, ’cause they didn’t let us have snacks and I had to sit
still for too long and there was this girl and the other big girl et us too and I didn’t knohat to do so I went by the building with the girl at recess and I helped her cry and now I’ain ’cause toain”
Aiden was astonished Regan ailing for all she orth Had she not been so ot that trait from the Hamilton side of the family All the Hamiltons wore their emotions on their sleeves He and Spencer and Walker fortunately took after the Madison side They were far more reserved
Regan wasso much noise Aiden didn’t hear the knock on the door Spencer and Walker ca inside Both brothers were tall, lanky, and dark-haired like Aiden Spencer was fifteen, and of the three brothers, he had the softest heart Walker had just turned fourteen He was the daredevil in the fah a war His arms and face were covered with bruises Two days before, he’d climbed up on the roof to retrieve a football, had lost his footing, and surely would have broken his neck if he hadn’t grabbed hold of a tree branch to slow his descent His friend Ryan hadn’t been as fortunate Walker landed on him and broke his arm Ryan had been the junior varsity quarterback but noould have to sit out the season Walker didn’t feel uilt about the accident He bla it iet out of Walker’s way
Walker noas looking for bruises on Regan None were visible, so why then was she crying? “What’d you do to her?” he asked Aiden
“I didn’t do anything,” Aiden answered
“Then what’s wrong with her?” Walker asked He leaned over the bed and inspected his little sister, unsure what to do
Spencer nudged hian to aardly pat her shoulders
She was finally calh Maybe the stor his shoes as he said, “There, she’s feeling better Just don’t ask her about—”
“So hoas school?” Walker asked at the same time
The wailing started all over again “—school,” Aiden finished He lowered his head and turned toward the desk so his sister wouldn’t see his, but Lord, was she loud Considering her size, the noise she ht impressive
“She had a bad day,” he told his brothers
“You think?” Spencer responded
Regan stopped crying long enough to say, “I’ back there”
“What happened?” Walker asked
Regan recited her litany of complaints in between her sobs
“You have to go back,” Spencer said
It was the wrong thing to say “No, I don’t”
“Yes, you do,” Spencer said
“Daddy wouldn’t o”
“How do you knohat he would do? He died when you were still a baby You can’t possibly remember him”
“Yes, I can I reood”
“Your gra,” Aiden remarked
“Which is why you need to go to school,” Spencer pointed out He had to raise his voice to be heard because his sister was once again crying
“Damn, she’s loud,” Aidento be late for practice if I don’t leave soon, so let’s get to the botto your nose on my sheets and sit up”
He tried to make his voice stern Neither his order nor his toneuntil she was good and ready
“Listen, Regan You need to calm down and tell us what happened,” Walker said “What exactly did the big kid do?”
Spencer dug into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled Kleenex “Here,” he said “Wipe your nose and sit up Come on We can’t fix this proble kid did, okay?”
Aiden was shaking his head “Regan’s going to fix the problem,” he said
She bolted upright “No, I’ back to that bad school”