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Chapter 1
Sabrina
“You want to go to New York?”
Drew eyes widen in astonishment. This is the last thing my dad's best friend expects I'll do. Which is why I've put off telling him for as long as I could.
“Yes Drew, I feel it’s what Mom would have wanted.” The funeral was only a month ago but since my mother died, I’ve been feeling an undeniable pull to New York.
“But how do you know this for sure?” He folds his arms over his belly, looking at me as if I've gone mad.
I shrug. “I just know. Plus, Mom's brother is the only family I have left and that’s where he is."
Mom's cancer recurrence had come as a shock and she hadn't wanted anyone, apart from me and Drew to know, so we didn't tell my uncle until after she passed away.
My mother was grateful for the support she got from family and friends after the initial diagnosis two years ago, but she couldn't bear to put them through the emotional turmoil again. She wanted to go quietly and we had no choice but to respect her wishes.
I drop beside him on the couch and put my arms around him. "It's not that you aren’t family, because you are. You so are. And I love you.”
Drew had been devoted to my parents all through their tumultuous life and marriage. Never having married himself, he was the perfect friend, uncle, and wingman and I’ll always think of him as an extension of my parents.
“Of course kiddo,” Drew hugs me back, but he remains pensive.
“Okay, there is another reason.” I hold out a folded paper. It’s an email printout of a job offer from an art gallery in New York.
I knew Drew would never support my going to New York without good reason, so I started applying for jobs in there several weeks ago. I'd kept it a secret throughout the interview process, which thankfully was all online.
Drew opens it then whistles, his eyebrows shooting up. “Lead curator, huh? This here is a big deal kiddo.”
I nod in agreement. “I know.”
"But isn't Betty due to retire soon? There's no one more qualified to take her place when she leaves." Betty is lead curator at the Henderson Art Museum where I work as her assistant.
"Well, Betty won't retire for another year. And when she does, I'll have to apply for the position. Which means I might not get it Drew. Here's my chance right now." I point to the paper in his hand, "I'd be a fool not to take it."
He sighs. "I see you're bent on going. I couldn’t be happier to see your career taking off Bree, you’ve worked yourself to the bone for this.”
I can hear the wheels turning in his head and his pale eyes are full of doubt.
"But?"
Drew scratches his scruffy, graying beard and says carefully, “You know there are places I have spent my whole life avoiding. The Tri-State area is one of them.”
I know the reason why. It's Brendan Farrington. The CEO of Apex Energy. The man lives in New York.
Eight years ago, the company recruited temporary workers for its new solar energy plant in Henderson. My dad and Drew had just been laid off from their previous job so they grabbed the chance to make a ton of money and took up jobs as foremen.
It was the summer I turned eighteen. The summer I met Jordan Farrington.
The summer that everything in my life went downhill and some things never recovered.
What Drew is telling me now is that if I go to New York, he will not be visiting me.
“The entire Tri-State area is a huge metropolis, Drew.”
“And you think it’s big enough to hide in if fate decides to cross those paths again?”
“Come on Drew, you don’t even go out that much. If you came by, all you’d do is sit and watch TV. Unless your paths cross on the news, there’s a fat chance of that happening.”
