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SUMMER
PRESENT DAY
“I’ve just droppedOphelia to the sitter, much to her disgust. That daughter of mine is a damn demon child, I swear.”
Anna Devon, the woman who’s taken me under her expansive wings since I first walked into her diner in Brooklyn fifteen years ago, enters my apartment like a steamroller. Her love-hate relationship with her twelve-year-old daughter never fails to make me smile.
“Now, what do you need me to do, love?”
Oh, this woman. She kills me with her kindness.
“Calm down, Anna. I’m already packed. I’ve got everything I need. And this time, I won’t be going anywhere until I’ve seen him.”
Goosebumps scatter across every inch of my body at the thought of seeing the man who still haunts my dreams after all this time.
Caden North.
Of course, I see him on billboards or magazines, but the idea of seeing him again, in the flesh…
“If you don’t stop chewing that lip, it’ll fall off!”
Realising I’m worrying my bottom lip between my teeth, an unfortunate habit of mine when I’m deep in thought, I quickly stop and spin about to finish checking that my handbag has everything I need.
“I’ve left a list of numbers on the fridge. There’s a guy coming to fix my shower on Wednesday. His number is at the top, but he has a key, and the super knows to let him in.”
When I face Anna, she nods sharply, allowing me to retain control.
“Could you please water my plants too? They’re in the tub in the main bathroom.”
Another nod.
“Also, if Jesse calls—”
“Summer.” My old friend speaks sharply, cutting me off lest I spiral again. Once this week was more than enough.
My stomach lurches when I remember the reason for my spiral, yet simultaneously my purpose behind this trip is renewed.
I straighten my spine, finding Anna’s eyes spearing me intently.
“Do you need a ride?”
I blow out a shallow breath. “Stop wasting your money on a sitter and go pick your kid up, lady. I’ve called an Uber.”
My phone chimes at that precise moment, alerting me to the driver’s arrival.
We both laugh softly before she opens her arms, allowing me to step into her calming, motherly embrace. One final piece of comfort before I leave for waters unknown.
“You know you need to do this.” Her mouth rests by my ear, her words soothing my soul, even as tears prick my eyelids. “You have no alternative, love.”
* * *
The trip to JFK takes almost an hour, thanks to traffic, but as I’ve allotted more time than required, I still have plenty of time to nurse a coffee in the departures lounge.
Time alone isn’t something I generally have these days, and I soak up the luxury in its entirety.
When I’d arrived in the U.S., I’d initially gotten a job working for Annalise at Anna’s Place as I’d known, even at sixteen, that the money I’d been left after my parents’ deaths wouldn’t last as long as I would need it to.
My long-seated dreams of attending medical school were put on indefinite hold. Life in the city that never sleeps, where one can also disappear as though they never existed thanks to some phoney documents I’d been given, was expensive even when I was doing it on the cheap.
