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kept a few sundresses in her family’s club locker for just this sort of emergency. Lucas was all about the family image, and he would have freaked if Mira showed up at a restaurant in a beach cover-up.
    “Sorry to pull you away from your tanning time,” her older brother, Hayden, teased as he pulled up in a red Audi convertible. Just seeing Hayden behind the wheel of the car made Mira envious. She was fifteen, but her parents wouldn’t let her get a learner’s permit till she turned sixteen. Hopefully, by that time, her dad would let her have the Audi and buy Hayden something new. “I’m sure Savannah was kicking and screaming about you having to leave,” Hayden added.
    “You stalk my Facebook page, don’t you?” Mira joked as she slid into the front seat.
    “Yes,” he said solemnly, and adjusted the collar of his white polo shirt, which showed off his tan. “I get a printout of your conversations and your day’s activities every morning at the office.”
    She hit him in the arm. Her brother was so charming and good-looking, she couldn’t believe he hadn’t been scooped up yet. Every girl she knew had a crush on him (or Taylor), but Hayden was too focused on cross-country and working with their dad to notice. While Mira looked like their dad, Hayden and their younger brother, Connor, who was six, had their mom to thank for their good looks. Hayden inherited her pale blond hair, chiseled heart-shaped face, and her green eyes. With looks like that, it would be easy for Hayden to be vain, but he was the most down-to-earth guy Mira knew.
    “Sorry you had to leave work early—and I mean that, since you probably hated to leave,” Mira said wryly. “I thought Mom would give me a ride. She usually is here on Tuesdays.” Tuesday was her mom’s tennis day. It said so on the family’s huge calendar in the kitchen. “But then I texted her and she said to catch a ride with you because she had an ‘appointment.’ ” Mira made air quotes after the word and smirked. “Maybe she finally went with the trend and got Botox?” she asked with a head tilt.
    Hayden gave her a sharp look. “Nice. You’re just lucky cross-country practice was this morning. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to pick you up, either. And Mom, by the way, is already with Dad. They were together all morning, actually. Lucas said they had to attend to some personal matters.” His eyebrows rose slightly. “Of course, he wouldn’t say what those were.”
    “Of course not.” Mira sighed. Getting an answer out of Lucas was like trying to break into Fort Knox. “You haven’t heard anything?” He shook his head. Mira put on her oversize black sunglasses and leaned her head against the seat. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
    “Top up or down?” Hayden asked before he put the car into drive. He didn’t give Mira time to answer. “I’m guessing top up. You probably don’t want to mess up your hair.”
    She grinned mischievously as she felt her still-wet hair.
    “I’m going to shock you and say—top down!”
    “ Whoa! New school year, new Mira Monroe.” Hayden smiled. “What’s next? Sneakers outside the gym?”
    Mira shook her head. “Never.” What was the point of wearing sneakers if you weren’t a jogger? Mira didn’t get it. She did, however, understand what her dad’s tightly wound campaign manager would say if she showed up at dinner, in a public setting, with a wet head. She shook out her curls and prayed a ten-minute drive with the top down would do the trick.

Four

    As they pulled up to the restaurant, Mira’s hair was still damp, and a less-than-appealing frizz had taken over. That’s what Lucas Hale got for giving her no time to get ready for a family powwow.
    Mira had no clue what could be so urgent—a state budget crisis? Another oil spill? Hurricane Harold making land-fall? Lucas could find a way to turn any disaster into a Bill Monroe campaign opportunity, and usually the family was dragged