“I’ll go inside and get Mira and Connor,” Aunt Maureen said.
“Did I miss the annual Monroe Christmas light ceremony?”
Izzie turned around and grinned. Brayden was walking up their front path.
“You know about the Christmas lighting, too?” she asked.
“The whole town knows,” Brayden said.
“See?” Izzie’s dad said proudly. “People really like our holiday display. Come on, Hayden, let’s get ready to fire it up.” Hayden shook his head and walked off to test the circuit breakers in the garage.
“Your family’s lights are famous for their power surge,” Brayden whispered. “Once the Monroes light up, I can barely power my laptop.”
“Cute,” Izzie said. “Very cute.”
Brayden shrugged. “I know I am. People tell me that all the time.”
Izzie punched him in the arm. His orange parka took the hit for him. “How did you get here, anyway? I don’t see your Jeep.”
“My mom dropped me off,” Brayden said. “She said to tell you hello.” Izzie gave him a look. “Seriously. She is anything but impolite.”
“True. Still, I can’t believe she dropped you off.”
Brayden wrapped his arms around her, and instantly she felt warmer. “We’re together now, and she knows that is not going to change.”
“Is that an official statement?” Izzie asked. “Because maybe I should call the press and…” Brayden drowned her out by kissing her softly. She could get used to that. “That will work, too.”
“Good.” He started to kiss her again, and she closed her eyes, thinking about his warm lips.
“Is it safe to come out?” Connor interrupted. Izzie and Brayden pulled apart. “Mom said to wait till you stopped kissing.”
Aunt Maureen was standing in the front doorway with a tray of hot chocolate and cookies. She smiled apologetically. “I didn’t say that…. Okay, yes, I did. I always tell Hayden and Mira not to, um, you know, in front of him.” She coughed. “Cookie, Brayden, dear?”
“Thanks, Mrs. Monroe.” Brayden took one from the tray and side-eyed Izzie. “These look great.”
She needed permission to kiss? Izzie wasn’t used to having so many people have an opinion on her dating life. The rules of dating that came along with family seemed to be very different from the rules that came with living with her grandmother.
“Bill! We’re all here!” Aunt Maureen yelled. “Come get your hot cocoa!”
Kellen and Mira appeared on the porch behind Aunt Maureen. They were both holding hot chocolate, but they were staring hollowly into their marshmallows. They looked like they were in a trance. Something seemed off between them. Brayden walked over to talk to Kellen, but Mira still just stood there.
“You okay?” Izzie asked her, appearing at her side.
Mira nodded. “Fine.”
“Are you sure?” Izzie asked again.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Mira said, her voice cracking, “if you don’t mind.”
“Okay.” Izzie grabbed her sister’s arm and squeezed it through the down coat she was wearing.
Mira smiled at her sadly and squeezed Izzie’s arm, too. They stood there quietly, holding on to each other, as they watched Hayden walk over with a large extension cord.
“Everyone ready?” He looked like a little kid with a very expensive toy.
“Yes, please! I’d like to go inside, already,” Aunt Maureen said, rubbing her arms.
“Okay, here we go,” their dad announced. He plugged the extension cord into an outlet on the house, and the darkening late afternoon sky instantly lit up like a giant firecracker. The whole family cheered. Mira was the quietist, Izzie noticed.
“Whoa, that really is a lot of lights,” Izzie said to Brayden.
“You ain’t kidding. See what I mean about my laptop losing power?”
“What do you think, Isabelle?” her dad asked. He looked so pleased with himself.
“The house looks great,” Izzie told him.
He put an arm around her shoulder. “Good. I bought several new strands of lights, and I added that giant Santa sleigh on the lawn over there, and a lighted tree on the back porch that you can see from the family room.” He hesitated. “I wanted everything to be perfect this year.”
“Why is that?” Izzie asked.
He smiled at her. “This is your first Christmas with the family, and I want you to always remember it.”
Izzie didn’t want to get choked up in front of all of them. “I’m sure I will.”
“Excuse me? Is this the Monroe residence?” Izzie heard from behind her.
Her dad looked up, and Izzie felt him stiffen. She turned to see who was there.
Mom?
Her heart felt like it was in her throat as she stared at what had to be a ghost. A woman in jean leggings and a brown leather jacket was walking toward them. She looked exactly like Izzie remembered her mother to look, with her long brown hair and her bright green eyes. But it can’t be my mom, Izzie told herself rationally, even if the resemblance was uncanny.
“Zoe.” Bill said the name so softly that Izzie thought she’d imagined it. Zoe? That’s the name Grams called me that day in the nursing home. She felt ringing in her ears.
“Hi, Bill,” the woman said. Her eyes focused on Izzie. Her smile was so warm, Izzie could swear she’d seen it before.
“You can’t just show up here, Zoe,” Bill said, sounding short. “You should have called.”
The woman sort of laughed. “Called? After all these years? This couldn’t wait. I’m here to see Isabelle.”
Zoe smiled softly, and Izzie felt chills. That smile was her mother’s.
“Isabelle, I’m your mother’s younger sister,” she explained, and Izzie felt as if her heart stopped completely, if that were possible.
My mom didn’t have a sister, Izzie thought. Did she?
Acknowledgments
Winter White wouldn’t be what it is without Pam Gruber, who guided me through this next chapter and beyond, and helped make Izzie and Mira the belles of the ball. To the one and only Cindy Eagan: You will be sorely missed, but we will save you a seat at Tortilla Flats, okay? To everyone in the Poppy and Little, Brown family, including designer extraordinaire Tracy Shaw, Ames O’Neill, Andrew Smith, Mara Lander, Christine Ma, and Jodie Lowe: Thank you for all you do.
Much gratitude goes to my agent, Laura Dail. I wouldn’t survive a day without you! Thank you also to Tamar Rydzinski for helping me navigate the world.
Rory Cory made me sound smart in the area of politics (any errors are clearly my own), Christie Greff continues to help me be a great swimmer, and Miana Delucia’s knowledge of scavenger hunts, pranks, and sorority rules have all been shared while she’s riding a bike (quite a feat). Thanks to Alexa DeMartino for zinging the mean-girl comebacks in a way only she could.
Thank you to everyone who is in my corner, including my incredible parents, Nick and Lynn Calonita; Mara Reinstein; Sara Shepard; Elizabeth Eulberg; Sarah Mylnowski; Kieran Scott; Courtney Sheinmel; Joanna Philbin; Julia DeVillers; and my Beach Bag Book Club cohorts: Larissa Simonovski, Jess Tymecki, Kelly Rechsteiner, and Pat Gleiberman.
And to my family, Mike, Tyler, and Dylan (and let’s not forget Jack), for making this whole experience worthwhile.
They say you can’t choose your family.
When Izzie’s estranged aunt, Zoe, shows up on the Monroes’ doorstep, the already uneasy family dynamic is turned on its head. Amid preparations for Emerald Cove’s Founders Day and their own sweet sixteens, Izzie and Mira are longing to spread their wings beyond the tight constraints that come with being the daughters of a prominent public figure. Zoe’s artsy, laid-back attitude seems to be just what they need—but can she live up to her promises?
Look for the third book in Jen Calonita’s Belles series, coming in April 2013.
Other novels by Jen Calonita:
BELLES
The SECRETS OF MY HOLLYWOOD LIFE series:
Secrets of My Hollywood Life
On Location
Family Affairs
Paparazzi Princess
Broadway Lights
There’s No Place Like Home
SLEEPAWAY GIRLS
RealityCheck
Contents
Welcome
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Acknowledgments
A Preview of The Grass Is Always Greener
Other novels by Jen Calonita
Copyright
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2012 by Jen Calonita
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
Poppy
Hachette Book Group
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First e-book edition: October 2012
Poppy is an imprint of Little, Brown and Company.
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ISBN 978-0-316-21466-7
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