Chapter 1 - Four Tickets on the Coffee Table
The first-class tickets to Hawaii were spread across the coffee table when fourteen-year-old Nia Cole walked into the living room carrying a basket of clean laundry.
Her stepmother, Renee, had arranged them beside a glossy brochure showing white beaches and blue water. Renee's daughter, Brielle, was studying the flight information on her phone. Her younger brother, Cameron, was sprawled across the couch, asking whether first class meant they could order anything they wanted.
“Within reason,” Renee laughed. “And you're both going to behave yourselves. This is a special trip.”
Nia shifted the laundry basket against her hip.
“Did my ticket come too?”
The conversation stopped.
Renee continued smoothing the corner of an envelope.
“What ticket, sweetheart?”
“My ticket to Hawaii.”
Brielle looked down at her phone.
Cameron sat up a little straighter.
Renee finally raised her eyes.
“Oh, honey. We talked about this. Someone needs to stay here and look after the house.”
Nia blinked.
“No, we didn't.”
“Well, I'm telling you now.”
“But Dad said we were all going together.”
Renee gave a little laugh, the kind that could pass for affection if nobody listened carefully.
“And we are. It's a family vacation.”
“I'm family.”
Renee's smile disappeared.
“Don't start making everything difficult, Nia.”
Nia's fingers tightened around the laundry basket.
“I just want to know why there's no ticket for me.”
Renee leaned forward.
“Because this trip is for my family. I think you're old enough to understand the difference.”
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Brielle's phone screen went dark in her hand.
Cameron looked from his mother to Nia, waiting for someone to explain what he had just heard.
Nia swallowed.
“My dad is your husband.”
“And I'm his wife,” Renee replied. “That doesn't mean every single thing has to revolve around you.”
Nia took a step backward.
The bottom of the laundry basket struck the doorway.
Then someone spoke from behind her.
“Renee.”
Daniel Cole stood in the entrance to the living room.
He was still wearing his work clothes. His car keys hung from one finger, and his expression was so still that Renee immediately sat upright.
“Oh! You're home early.”
Daniel looked at Nia first.
She was staring at the floor.
Then he looked at the tickets.
“How many are there?”
Renee hesitated.
“Daniel, before you get upset—”
“How many tickets?”
“Four.”
He set his keys on the narrow table by the doorway.
“Give them to me.”
“Baby, listen.”
“Every ticket, Renee.”
His voice remained quiet.
That made the room feel even smaller.
Renee reluctantly gathered the printed itineraries. Brielle handed over the one she had been holding. Cameron passed his mother the envelope beside him.
Daniel took all four.
He read the names.
Daniel Cole.
Renee Cole.
Brielle Watkins.
Cameron Watkins.
He looked through the pages again.
There was no Nia Cole.
He took out his phone and called the travel agency that had arranged the vacation.
“Hi, this is Daniel Cole. I'm calling about our Honolulu reservation.”
Renee stood.
“Daniel, don't.”
He continued speaking.
“Yes. Four first-class tickets. I need all four canceled.”
Cameron jumped off the couch.
“Wait! We're not going?”
Daniel turned slightly away so he could hear the agent.
“I understand there may be cancellation penalties. Please cancel the entire reservation.”
Renee stepped toward him.
“You cannot punish everyone because she's upset!”
Daniel ended the call after the agent confirmed the cancellation request and promised written details.
Then he looked directly at his wife.
“If my daughter doesn't go, nobody goes.”
Renee stared at him.
“You're choosing her over us?”
Daniel's face tightened.
“I thought I married someone who understood she was part of us.”
Nia was still standing by the doorway.
Nobody had taken the laundry basket from her.
Daniel approached her slowly and lifted it from her arms.
“You were really supposed to stay home?”
Nia nodded.
“For the whole week?”
Another nod.
“Who was going to stay with you?”
She looked toward Renee, then back at her father.
“I don't think anybody was.”
Daniel turned toward his wife.
For the first time since entering the room, genuine alarm replaced his anger.
May you like
And when he looked back at Nia, she whispered something that made his stomach drop.
“Dad, this isn't the first time she's told me I'm not really part of the family.”
