At dinner that evening, Serena found herself eating baked chicken with rice and steamed veggies, feeling like no time had gone by at all. It was as if she had never left. She sat next to Grams, who chatted away about her garden, and watched Courtney relax little by little as the conversation went on. Every once and awhile Austin would lean over and mumble something to her friend, causing Courtney to beam a girly grin as if she'd known him her whole life.

Broken as it may be, ...