Siren by Tricia Rayburn

doesn't seem to hear any voice but hers. And I really can't come home." I pictured the ambulance from yesterday, the stretcher, the disbelief on Simon's face that had stayed there into the night, after we'd finally made it back to Winter Harbor. "Not yet, anyway. Can you please let her know in a way that only you can?"
    "Don't give it another thought," he said. "I'll work my Big Poppa magic."
    "Thank you. I have to go. Please tell her I'll call her tomorrow."
    "Parents!" Paige declared as I dropped the cell phone in the cup holder.
    "More like parent. Dad's a saint, but Mom's a bit of a handful."
    "I hear you. Wait until you meet Raina--King Kong's hands couldn't contain that." She leaned forward and wiped the steam clouding the inside of the windshield with her apron.
    "Sorry." I ducked my head to try to see under the fog, which reappeared the second Paige wiped it away. "She runs better than she looks. The defroster's the only thing that doesn't work.
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    And the air-conditioning. Oh, and the gas cap sticks, and a back window doesn't roll down."
    "Who needs the back window? And anyway--are you kidding? It was so nice of you to give me a ride."
    "I'm happy to help."
    "I just don't know what Zara's thinking. Look at it out there!" She shook her head. "They're going to be lined up around the building in no time, and she just drops me off and leaves? My guess is we've got twenty minutes to find her, get her in the car, and drive back to town before the insanity starts."
    "Did she say she was going home?" I wasn't about to admit it, since Paige was so determined to find her, but I hoped our search turned up empty. I knew Betty's would suffer without Zara there to wait tables, but I was also wary of witnessing the sparks that were sure to fly between the two of them. Plus, if we didn't find her right away, maybe we could look for her all day. That would definitely help keep me from thinking about Justine.
    "She said she had some stuff to take care of, and she'd be back soon. Soon . And now it's two hours later. Do you think two hours qualifies as 'soon'?"
    "No."
    "Me either." She leaned forward and peered through the cloudy windshield. "It's like a monsoon out there."
    I rolled down the driver's-side window for a better look. After driving along miles of narrow, twisty roads, we'd finally reached a large clearing that started level with the tree baseline and rose
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    to a rounded peak. In its center was a two-story turquoise house surrounded by rosebushes blooming thousands of blossoms in every color. There were so many flowers I could smell their sweet fragrance from where we sat.
    "This is ridiculous. I'm making a run for it." Paige yanked the hood of her jacket over her head, sending a light shower across the dashboard. She grabbed the door handle and looked at me. "Do you have any sisters?"
    I opened my mouth to say yes ... and then closed it. Because I wasn't sure. Did I have any sisters? Or did I become an only child the second Justine hit the water at the base of Chione Cliffs?
    Fortunately, there was a slight lull in the rain then, and Paige ran for the house. I rolled up the window, turned off the car, and ran after her, slowing only slightly when I reached the first clump of rosebushes. The flowers were dark purple, with yellow running around the petals' edges. I glanced around as I continued up the hill toward the house, noticing that all of the roses were at least two colors, and sometimes three or four. I would've thought they were fake if my jeans hadn't caught on a thorny stem right before the porch steps.
    "Her bark is worse than her bite," Paige said when I reached her. "Just hang back and you'll be fine."
    Assuming she referred to Zara, I was tempted to hang all the way back in the car--but she was in the house before I could offer.
    I followed her into the living room, which was done in shades
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    of blue and cream. The couch and armchairs were covered in navy and aqua blue tapestry. Hanging over the