The Secret Diamond Sisters. Michelle Madow

she was hearing this right. “But our father wants nothing to do with us.” She turned to her sisters for support, but Peyton looked angry enough to shoot fire from her eyes, and Courtney’s expression was blank, as though she was fighting to hold on to an inkling of control.

      “Mr. Diamond has been aware of your living situation, and was about to take action himself when your grandmother called him,” Mr. Webster said. “He made some calls last night and arranged for your mother to receive inpatient treatment at a rehabilitation facility in Arizona. She was flown there this morning and is settling in, but the facility has given strict orders that your mom not contact anyone from outside until her doctors feel she is healthy enough to do so. They hope she’ll be ready to switch to outpatient status in a few weeks, but they warned it could be longer.”

      Savannah’s head spun. How had all this happened while she had been having a sleepover at Evie’s, gossiping about which girls at school they wanted to try to become friends with next year and what guys they thought were hot, while experimenting with daring makeup looks?

      “You didn’t let me say goodbye?” She looked at her sisters, unable to believe they could betray her like that.

      “None of us were able to say goodbye.” Courtney came over and wrapped an arm around Savannah’s shoulders. “Mom didn’t want us to see her like that. She said it would be easier this way, and you know she hates goodbyes. We just need to focus on being thankful she’s finally getting the treatment she needs.”

      “She was probably ashamed, and afraid we would ask her questions she wasn’t ready to answer,” Peyton said. “And she would have been right.”

      “But with Mom not here, where are we supposed to go?” Savannah wiped away a tear that had slid down her cheek. She was grateful her mom was getting help, but they still needed her around. Sure, she wasn’t always the best at taking care of them, but she was all they had.

      “You know I love you and your sisters, and would be happy for you to live with me if there were no other options,” Grandma said. “But you deserve more than sleeping on the couch and air mattresses in the living room, and I worry about the stress the changes would cause Aunt Sophie. Luckily, your father has generously offered for you to move in with him.”

      “Are you serious?” Savannah didn’t believe this. She and her sisters had never met their father. And now he was offering for them to move in with him? “Why now? I thought it wasn’t safe for us to be around him? And where does he even live?”

      Mr. Webster was the one to answer. “Mr. Diamond asked me to provide as little information as possible, because he wants to personally answer your questions, but I can assure you that your safety is his top priority. He’s sending a driver to pick you up tomorrow morning who will take you to the airport. I know this is short notice to give you girls to pack, but do what you can and Mr. Diamond will arrange for the rest of your belongings to be brought to your new accommodations at a later date.”

      A plane. Which meant if it took her mom longer than a few weeks to get better, Savannah would start her sophomore year at a new school, with people she’d never met. How was she going to break this to Evie? And how would she get through school without her best friend by her side?

      “What if we don’t want to go?” Peyton crossed her arms and glared at Mr. Webster. “I’m almost eighteen, you know. I should have a say in this.” Peyton’s birthday was in March, which hardly made her “almost eighteen,” but Savannah kept her mouth shut.

      “As it is now, you’re still a minor, so you have no choice,” Mr. Webster said. “With your mother unfit, it is in your father’s rights to insist you live under his care. You will pack your bags and be ready to leave by ten o’clock tomorrow morning.”

      “What about the apartment?” Courtney asked. “What will happen to it while we’re gone?”

      “Mr. Diamond will make sure it’s maintained,” Mr. Webster said. “I’m sorry to throw this on you all at once. I know this won’t be easy for the three of you, but he will answer all your questions when you arrive. Now, I imagine you need time to pack. Is there anything more you want to ask?”

      “I think you have it covered, Mr. Webster.” Grandma spoke for them. “Now if you wouldn’t mind, I would like some time with my granddaughters.”

      “Of course.” He nodded and let himself out.

      “You can’t expect us to do this,” Peyton said to Grandma once he was gone. “All my life you’ve said our father is dangerous and he doesn’t want us around. Now we’re expected to forget all that and move in with him? I won’t do it. I refuse.”

      “Your mother has her reasons for wanting to distance herself from your father, and while being around him can be dangerous for those close to him, he’s not a bad man,” Grandma said. “He’ll explain it all to you once he meets you. Just remember that your mother loved him once, and while it won’t be easy, I hope the three of you can find it in your hearts to give him a chance. Can you promise to do that? For me?”

      When she put it like that, it was impossible to say no. “Okay.” Savannah nodded, trying to swallow away the lump in her throat. “I’ll try.”

      Her cell phone buzzed in her pocket, and she took it out to check the text. It was from Evie.

      Any luck convincing one of your sisters to drive you tonight?

      Savannah stared blankly at the beat-up flip phone. The plans she’d made with Evie less than an hour ago felt like they’d happened in another life. She couldn’t wrap her mind around what she’d just learned, let alone tell someone else, even if that someone was her best friend.

      Can’t go tonight. Something big happened. Not ready to talk about it yet but I’ll call you when I am <3

      She pressed Send, then dropped her phone in her bag, not wanting to look at it again that night.

      * * *

      The next morning, they lugged their bags outside and tearfully hugged Grandma goodbye. The stretch limo that pulled up in front of their apartment looked foreign amongst the beat-up cars lining their street, and the sight of it sent Savannah’s ideas of who her father was out the window. He couldn’t be a homeless drugged-out loser if he’d sent a limo to pick them up.

      As of last night, the most expensive car Savannah had ever been in was the Volkswagen Jetta Evie’s mom drove when she brought them home from volleyball practice or to the mall. Now, she climbed into the sleek limo, her fingers grazing the soft leather of the wraparound seat. Lights lined the ceiling, and there was a wooden minibar across from the long side of the seat, an open bottle of champagne chilling in the ice bucket and three glasses on display. The label on the champagne read Dom Pérignon, and while Savannah had never tasted Dom before, she recognized it as a pricey drink from the television shows she watched.

      She wasn’t hugely into drinking, because she’d seen first-hand how destructive alcohol could be, but she wasn’t a prude, either. She didn’t want to be “that lame girl” at the party who refused to drink. And now she had the opportunity to taste Dom Pérignon! Her friends would be so envious when they found out. It was the sort of drink she imagined she would get to try if her dreams ever came true and she became a famous pop star. One glass wouldn’t be the end of the world.

      “Don’t even think about it,” Courtney warned as Savannah reached for the bottle.

      “But it’s Dom Pérignon.” Savannah hated when Courtney tried to boss her around. They were only eleven months apart, but Courtney was so responsible all the time. It made the gap feel wider. “It’s probably hundreds of dollars for this bottle. We have to try it.”

      “I’m not trying anything he buys for us.” Peyton scrunched her nose and plugged her headphones into her ears.

      Knowing Courtney wouldn’t physically stop her for fear of making a mess, Savannah poured herself a glass and took a sip, the tiny