PROLOGUE - New Year’s Day

Storm Phoenix yawned. The night before was a blur to her. All she remembered for sure was that it was New Year’s Day. She also thought she remembered her best friend Cale Black running around with a shovel, shouting, “The British are coming! The British are coming!” Cale then attacked Storm’s (British) boyfriend, Lucien Palmer.

“But then again, that might have been a dream,” she thought. “Although that does sound remarkably Cale-like, attacking Lucien with a shovel.”

Her eyes widened. Lucien! He proposed to her last night!

“Of course, that could have been a dream too.” She looked down at her hands. On the ring finger of her left hand, was a diamond ring, sparkling brightly in the sunlight that streamed in through her window. She grinned. “Or not.”

She sat up. “Where is he, anyway?” She stood up and fell back into the bed, dizzy. “Whoa. Feeling a bit lightheaded. Let’s try that again.”

She slowly stood up, and this time, she didn’t fall over again. She began to carefully take steps toward the kitchen area of the Manhattan loft that she and Lucien shared.

When she found him, he was making breakfast. Her eyes glowed. “Lucien!” She ran up to him and gave him a bear hug.

He laughed. “Good morning, Storm.”

“That’s it?” She looked up at him. “Seriously? No ‘get-off-me-you-nut-job’, no calling the nearest psychiatrist, just ‘good morning’?”

He raised an eyebrow. “That’s it. Why? Do you want me to call a psychiatrist?”

She laughed. “Nope, I’m good.” She hugged him tighter, and then let go, smiling contentedly.

Lucien laughed. “Happy, aren’t we?”

Storm grinned. “Of course!” She grabbed her cat Smudge and began dancing around. “It’s a beautiful day, the sun is shining, and I’m getting married!” She froze, as if the news had finally hit her. “I’m getting married.”

Smudge took this momentary pause in dancing to leap out of Storm’s arms and to the floor.

Her energy was only gone for a moment, and then it returned. “There’s so much planning to do! We need to pick a date and a location, and I need to get a dress, and we need bridesmaids and groomsmen!” She sank into one of the kitchen chairs, and then looked at Lucien. “Tell me you made coffee.”

He grinned. “I made coffee?”

Storm leapt out of her chair. “Is that a question?”

He laughed. “No, really. I made coffee. Here.” He handed her a mug.

She smiled. “Yay. Coffee.” She took a sip and sat back down. “No, seriously. We’ve got a lot of planning to do.”

Lucien groaned. “I was afraid you might say that.”

Storm and Cale had decided they needed a girls’ day out, and Storm had called her colleague and friend, Natalie Lucas, and invited her too. The three women were walking through Times Square, laughing.

Storm, quirky as she was, was wearing fingerless gloves for one reason - showing off her new ring.

Natalie shook her head. “Aren’t you cold?”

Storm grinned. “Not really.”

Cale laughed. “You know what they say, no brain, no pain!”

Storm glared at her. “No, I’m just not cold! And, I want to show off this.” She held up her hand.

Neither Cale nor Natalie had noticed the ring until now. Both women gasped.

Cale grinned. “Pretty!”

Natalie smiled. “Congratulations, Storm!”

Cale looked over. “We’re invited, right?”

Storm grinned. “No.”

Cale stopped dead in her tracks. “No? WHAT KIND OF ANSWER IS NO???”

Storm burst out laughing. “The sarcastic, smart-alecky kind. Of course you’re invited!”

“Oh.” Cale caught up with Storm and Natalie, who had continued walking. “Where are we going?”

“You know, I’m not entirely sure.” Storm said, smiling.

Natalie laughed. “I believe that.”

Storm was still smiling. “You should.”

Cale grabbed Storm’s arm. “We’re going in here.”

Storm grabbed Natalie’s arm, dragging her into the shop after her. “Wait, why?”

Cale grinned. “Bridal shop.”

Storm rolled her eyes, and Natalie laughed.

“Oh, Storm, try this one!” Cale whipped a dress off the rack and flung it at Storm.

“Cale, he only proposed yesterday! We haven’t talked about-” Storm was cut off by Cale tossing another dress at her - which covered her head.

Natalie helped Storm pull the dress off her head. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from you, it would be there’s no reasoning with Cale. Ever.”

Storm laughed. “Good point.” She whipped around and glared at Cale, who had hit her in the head with another dress. “Will you cool it?”

“You take the pieces of the dreams that you had ‘cause you don’t like the way they seem to be going…”

Cale stopped. “What the hell?”

Storm laughed. “It’s my phone.”

“Oh.” Cale went back to searching through the racks. Storm pulled her phone out of her coat pocket and answered it as Cale threw another dress at her. “Hello? Cale! Do you mind? Sorry about that. Hello?” Her eyes lit up. “Hey Lucien! No, I’m out with Natalie and Cale. Cale took me to a bridal shop and has nearly impaled me with a couple of dress hangers. Yes, I’ll tell her. Lucien says not to skewer me with a hanger. She says she won’t. No, I don’t trust her either. Yep, see you later. Love you too. Bye.”

Cale glared at her. “He doesn’t trust me? I’ll have to chase him with the shovel again.”

Natalie raised an eyebrow. “Again? You mean you’ve chased him with a shovel before?”

Storm, Cale and Natalie were sitting in a coffee shop in Manhattan. They were laughing and joking, when Natalie turned to look out the window and smiled. “It’s starting to snow!”

Cale looked at her watch. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

Storm took a sip of her coffee. “What sounds right?”

“The weatherman said it’d start snowing around 12:30,” Cale said.

Storm nearly dropped her coffee. “What? What time is it?”

“12:15.”

“Oh, God!” Storm grabbed her wallet, ran to the counter and paid for her coffee. “Bye guys!” She bolted out the front door.

Cale looked at Storm’s recently vacated chair - her coat and purse were still hanging there. “3…2…1.”

Storm burst through the door again. “Cold. Snow. Need my coat.” She grabbed it, put it on, and headed for the door again. She got about halfway before turning back. “Bag.” She snatched her bag off the table and grinned to Cale and Natalie. “Bye!”

Storm ran down the sidewalk, skidding to a stop in front of the door to the Big Brothers Big Sisters building. “Am I late?” she asked, bursting in the front door and nearly crashing into the front desk.

“No, Miss Phoenix, you’re right on time. Actually, you’re a minute early. It’s 12:29,” the receptionist said, laughing. “Kasai, this is Storm.”

A girl with dark blue hair and pale blue eyes popped up from behind the desk. “Nice entrance.”

Storm was shaking the snowflakes out of her hair and brushing them off her coat.

The receptionist laughed again. “Storm, this is Kasai Komosaki. She’s your new little sister.”

The girl, Kasai, rolled her eyes. “I was afraid of that.” She looked at the receptionist. “Traci, how come I always get the nut jobs?”

“Luck of the draw, I guess.”

“Hey!” Storm exclaimed indignantly. “I’m perfectly sane!”

Kasai rolled her eyes. “Yes, that’s exactly what that entrance said.”

“Would you rather have me be late, or do something like that?” Storm retorted.

Kasai smirked. “Be late.”

“Oh.” Storm paused. “Right then. Noted.” She smiled again. “Come on, Kasai. Let’s do something!”

“Um, okay…I guess I’ll see you later, Traci.”

Traci smiled. “Bye Kasai! Happy birthday!”

“Thanks.”

Storm’s eyes lit up. “It’s your birthday?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Cool! How old are you now?”

“Fourteen.”

Storm nodded as they stepped out onto the sidewalk. “Hmm. Thought about what you want for your birthday? ‘Cause my birthday’s coming up too, and my pets are getting me this awesome pair of shoes…”

“You mean you’re getting you a pair of shoes?”

“Well, yes, but when my fiancé asks, I’m going to tell him that Juno, Smudge and Alaska gave them to me for my birthday.” Storm chuckled. “Although I don’t think I’d want Alaska or Juno giving them to me because they’d probably be covered in slobber.”

Kasai looked up at her. “Dogs?”

“Yep. And Smudge is a kitten.”

“Two dogs and a cat? Where do you live?”

“Apartment in Manhattan.”

Kasai paused. “Then it’s either really big or really crowded.”

Storm shrugged. “It’s a good sized apartment. But that’s beside the point. It’s your birthday; so seriously, what do you want to do? We could go to a museum…maybe the Museum of Modern Art? Or we could go to the wax museum? Oh, I know! How about ‘Ripley’s Believe It Or Not’?”

Kasai shrugged.

Storm glared at her. “Come on, humor me!” She sighed. “We could just go shopping.”

Kasai nodded. “Sounds good.”

Storm’s smile returned. “Awesome. Then after, we’ll go to my place and I’ll bake you a birthday cake! We can decorate it and everything!” She stopped. “Wait, when do you have to be back?”

Kasai checked her watch. “Six hours.”

Storm grinned. “That’s enough time! Come on!”