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Chapter One
“Idon’t date.” I shrugged as Dylan opened the trunk of a cab before heaving my oversized duffle bag inside. He pushed my bag deeper alongside my sister’s.
“Ever?” he asked, twisting his head to face me, and hope swirled in his eyes. His thin lips parted as if he had more to say. He’d been asking me out on a date since the first day I’d moved into my apartment in Compton, California. Dylan was a nice guy, and I’d seen the way other women flirted with him. But us not dating had everything to do with me. I didn’t have time. My priority was my sister. Putting food on the table. Nothing else. Plus, we were moving away, so what were his intentions? A long-distance relationship? That wasn’t going to work. Though I figured after me turning him down for so long, he thought this might be his last shot.
“Ever,” I answered, dusting my hands on my worn jeans, the holes in my knees frayed and my pleather boots scuffed through at the toe from years of wear.
“So what will you do when you arrive?” he asked.
I shut the trunk with a thump, the sound echoing through the early morning street where the sun barely peeked over the ocean of apartment buildings. Cars were parked alongside the curb, crowding the place. “I’m going straight to the airport.” Not change my mind and come back here because sometimes it was easier to accept the devil you knew. “I’ll call you as soon as Britta and I land in Austria.” Just saying the word felt surreal. I wasn’t sure if the knot in my gut was excitement or fear at leaving this country for the first time.
Dylan dragged me into his arms, and I hugged him back.
“Thanks for seeing Britta and me off. You’ve always helped us,” I said, remembering when we’d moved in. Britta and I had a backpack between us. Dylan had brought dinner to welcome us to the building, and he’d been my friend ever since and had even occasionally checked in on Britta when I’d worked late at the pub.
“Gonna miss your door slamming and loud music.” He broke away, clearing his throat, and shrugged.
I’d gotten used to having him as a neighbor, but this wasn’t the first time we’d picked up and moved our lives, and not getting close to anyone always made it easier. But I’d let him into our world because he lived alone.
“Me too.” I patted down my T-shirt and wasn’t sure what to say. “I hate goodbyes.”
He chuckled. I’d miss his laughter. “Just promise me one thing, Nickie. When you’re making millions on the distillery you inherited, I better get a first-class flight to Austria.”
“It’s a deal!” I smiled, determined to keep my word.
With a comforting grin, he walked away, his hands deep in his pockets. My sister waved to him from the backseat. He strolled toward the apartment building that had flaking paint on the walls. Trashcans sat on the sidewalk waiting for collection. The railing on the front steps had rusted and someone had patched it up with duct tape. Like the rest of the neighborhood, it seemed as if it was barely holding itself together. And I wouldn’t be here when it came apart at the seams.
If everything went according to plan, Britta and I would never need to live in a rundown location again, and I had every intention to help out Dylan however I could. God, I was already tearing up about leaving him. My only real friend. But I wouldn’t miss the drive-by-shootings or the break-ins. No cop cars lighting up our place in the middle of the night when the police busted yet another drug den.
Britta shuffled out of the taxi and stared at Dylan, then me. “You know it’s gonna be just you and me for a really long time,” she said, pronouncing her ‘s’ as a ‘th,’ but today her lisp wasn’t strong. “Then when I meet someone,” she continued, “it’s gonna be just you.”
I smiled, pulling up the scarf around her neck to protect it from the brisk breeze sweeping through the streets, then held her by the shoulders, staring into her eyes. “You’re only twelve and that won’t happen for a long time. Until then, I’m not going anywhere.”
“Dylan’s nice, and he’s the best at building an epic blanket fort.”
With a quick hug, I nudged her back into the cab. “I’ll take that into consideration. Now get in. We have to go.” I climbed into the backseat with her and buckled up, waiting for Britta to do the same.
Nerves danced through my stomach like they did each time we moved location.
“Ready to go, miss?” The driver started the engine, and the motor roared to life.
I took one last look at the place we’d called home for the past two years. The front steps where we’d sat and eaten ice cream on those scorching hot days while the neighborhood kids had played tag on the street. That leak in my bedroom where I’d kept two buckets in my room to avoid damaging the flooring so I wouldn’t lose my deposit. The late nights I’d get home from work, passing the working girls and pimps on the street corners, hating that Britta lived here.
But that was all behind us now. Iprayedit was behind us.
“Yes, we’re ready to go,” I said.
My sister smiled and nodded. “I’ve been praying that in the next place we live in, the ice cream van will come down our street and not drive past.”
“Me too!” I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against me. I hoped I wasn’t making a mistake with this change of lifestyle because I’d given notice to the landlord and someone had already taken our place.
* * *
“Wanna hear a joke?”Britta’s joyful voice chirped as she stared out of the passenger window of our rented hatchback. A winter wonderland of the Austrian Alps surrounded us, snow layering pines, the wind shaking their branches. Brilliant white drifted down against the dark, mossy trunks. The trees glistened like winter decorations that belonged on greeting cards.
I had never breathed in such crisp air before. When I’d told Britta we were moving to a new location in the Alps, she hadn’t stopped talking about how many snow angels she’d make. While living in California, we’d had a hand-to-mouth lifestyle, meaning we lacked money to travel. Now my chest beamed in my joy because I still couldn’t believe we were in Austria, our tickets prepaid, our new home awaiting us. Dad had once said something about his ancestors being from Austria, but when I’d asked him to say more, he’d shut me down. And we’d never met other family members to find our ancestors.
“So,” Britta asked. “Want to hear the joke or not?”
