Chapter Nineteen
Ella
“Okay.” I glance down at my watch as we hide behind a giant, black SUV across the street from my childhood home. “She should be leaving for beach yoga any second.”
“She does beach yoga at five at night in December?”
“No. She goes to the pizza pub for all-you-can-eat pizza, but she always lies and says she attends yoga instead. She should be gone for at least a solid hour. Probably more.”
“And your sisters? Are they home?”
“No. They are also at the same pizza place. They just sit at the farthest booths from each other and pretend they don’t see each other.”
“Diabolical.”
“If you say so.” My eyes are trained on the door, and that’s when I see it fling open with Vienna barreling out with a pink yoga mat in hand. Two minutes later, my sisters sneak out the door and disappear.
“The coast is clear,” I whisper to Dallas as I emerge from behind the vehicle.
We cross the street to Vienna’s house, as I try to ignore the pit in my stomach.
“Hey, Ella!” a neighbor yells and waves to me, but then disappears inside.
“Hey,” Dallas places his large hand on my shoulder. “This is your home. You belong here. Don’t feel like you’re trespassing.”
“But I am.” My voice meek.
“Come, show me where you grew up,” Dallas places his hand into mine and tugs me forward until we reach the front steps and tug on a locked door. “We forgot about this step. We are such amateurs,” he says with a laugh.
I crouch down to the welcome mat and flip it up. A shiny key appears there, unmoved. “Aha!” I yell as I’ve just unearthed an ancient, buried treasure.
I hand it over to Dallas, and he places the key in the lock and twists the door open. “We’re in.”
Our heads flip from left to right as we enter. “My room is up these stairs,” I say, as I point to the wooden spiral staircase in front of us.
We tiptoe up the stairs. I point to the first door, and Dallas opens it. He turns around with confusion in his eyes. “Up here?”
“Yeah,” I say, a little breathy.
We ascend the next set of stairs, flimsy wooden ones with no handrail.
We step inside my bedroom, a dusty, unfinished attic with plywood flooring and no installation.
I did my best at making it homey, laying down an area rug and placing posters of my favorite athletes and figure skaters on the wall.
A few are torn and taped, thanks to Vienna’s rage on the rare times she visited.
There’s a musty odor in the air, and it’s several degrees colder up here, something I’m used to, but I know he’s not. He probably has a normal bedroom with a cozy bed and a temperature control panel. I feel a little silly bringing him up here now.
Dallas places his hand over my shoulder. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about. However, she does.”
“Okay,” I respond with a nod as my throat gets tight.
I search around the room for my rejection letters. I head to my end table first and then my dresser, no such luck. I can’t quite remember what I did with them. I know I stashed them away when I was upset one evening, but where?
Dallas is a few feet away, digging through my top dresser. He pulls out my favorite frame, buried deep: a picture of my dad and me at the ice rink together, bundled up with hot chocolate in hand, heads together with the biggest smiles.
“That’s my favorite picture of my dad and me. We must have skated for six hours that day. Faye took that picture during one of our rare breaks,” I say with a fond smile. I loved days like that with my dad.
Man, life was so easy and great back then. What I’d give to go back there…
“It’s a great picture,” Dallas adds.
“It is.” It’s also the last gift my dad ever gave me. This picture of the two of us is from my tenth birthday, paired with tickets for the two of us to an upcoming hockey game to cheer on my favorite team in Boston. We never did make it. “A present from him.”
He smiles as he fidgets with the thick gold frame and then fumbles it entirely. I watch in slow motion as my favorite gift in the entire world drops out of his hand and lands on the floor. The glass breaks into several pieces on impact.
I fall to the floor too, reaching for the last gift I had from my dad. The glass is completely shattered, and the frame is bent. My body is hunched over as I reach for the picture underneath, which is thankfully still intact. I hug the picture to my heart.
My hands shake and my lip trembles.
I will not cry.
“I’m so sorry,” Dallas’ voice sounds as broken as my frame.
I just nod once, my throat too tight for words. I know I shouldn’t get upset over this, but it’s the only thing left of my dad’s that was just for me. Mine.
I should know better than to expect anything in my life not to get ruined. To expect good things for myself. It hasn’t happened yet, so why would it now?
“Wait, what’s this?” Dallas asks as he bends down and grabs a folded piece of paper on the floor.
“I don’t know…” My words trail off.
He unfolds the dusty yellow paper as his eyes trail over the page.
“Oh, wow.” His mouth hangs open.
“Wait, what?” I stand up fast and glance over his shoulder to figure out what he’s looking at.
It’s a very formal document, very official-looking, with my dad’s name and signature all over it. My name is on it, too.
“Is this…” No. I shake my head on instinct.
“Your dad’s will.” He huffs out a laugh. “Yeah.”
What?
I blink as my heart races a million miles a minute. It can’t be.
“But there was no will…that’s what Vienna said.”
“That’s what Vienna said?” His eyebrow raised, skepticism all over his face.
Right.
Vienna is a terrible human being.
I always want to give people the benefit of the doubt, but I guess we are way past that point with her now.
“So, the ice rink?” I question.
“It’s all yours.”
My heart is beating outside my chest. I sit down on my lumpy mattress, and Dallas does the same. He places his large, warm hand over my knee and rests it there as I let everything sink in.
Wow.
A few minutes later, or is it hours, a door slams in the driveway.
“Shit.”
I run over to the small attic window and peek outside.
“Vienna’s home,” I announce. “Crap. We have to get out of here.”
“Why?” Dallas shrugs.
He shrugs!
Vienna is going to tear me a new one, and he just casually shrugs on my bed like it’s no big deal.
I pace back and forth in the small space until Dallas approaches and pulls me into a giant hug. His body is warm and his scent of pine and a hint of lemon capture my senses as I get lost in his arms.
“Hey.” His voice is soft and strong in my ears. “This is your house,” he reminds me. “She shouldn’t be here.”
Oh.
He breaks away from the hug, but he clasps his hands into mine.
“Where is she!?” I hear Vienna’s high-pitched voice from a distance and then her stomps as she draws near.
“I know you’re in here!” That familiar voice that haunts my dreams is close, just outside the door.
“We got this.” Dallas squeezes my hand, but doesn’t let go.
The door swings open and slams against the wall.
Vienna points her finger at me. “You,” she spits. “I told you never to come back here. Don’t worry, I already called the cops.”
“Good,” Dallas retorts.
Vienna steps in front of Dallas and eyes him up and down. Lust fills her gaze as my stomach churns.
“You know, I’m single, too.” She sucks her finger.
Gross.
“Um.” Dallas coughs into his free arm.
“And I’m filthy rich.” Her laugh that follows is a little maniacal, and I hope it’s the last time that noise infuriates my ears.
“Not much longer,” Dallas mumbles under his breath, and I elbow him in the side.
Vienna doesn’t seem to hear it over the inner thoughts of herself, however.
In the distance, sirens start to blare, and the sound increases until there are bright lights shining into the tiny window of the attic.
“Finally,” she sighs, and then she descends the stairs, huffing all the way down.
“Ready?” Dallas asks, as he squeezes my hand again, and I nod.
We step down the stairs, Vienna already several steps ahead.
There’s a loud knock on the door, and Vienna swings the door open as we’re on the spiral staircase.
“Finally! Officers, I have two intruders,” she bellows, and points directly at me. “She’s not welcome here.”
Two male officers are standing in their full dark blue uniforms with neutral expressions.
“Ma’am, can we please come in?”
“Ma’am? Who are you calling ma’am? I’m not that old.” She presses her hand over her heart, but adds a wink to one of the cops before ushering them in.
They step farther into my dad’s house when Vienna starts to rant about me invading her space.
“Okay.” The shorter of the two states after a solid minute. “Miss, can you please tell us why you are here?”
“I’ll tell you why she’s here—”
The taller officer holds up his hand. “It’s her turn.”
All eyes turn to me. Dallas’ eyes are kind and gentle, but Vienna’s are the polar opposite.
“Um.” I cough into my sleeve. “Well, this is my home.”
“This—” Vienna starts, but the hand goes up again.
“Let her talk. We are going to remove you if you refuse to cooperate.”
All eyes return to me again. My throat feels tight and scratchy, and my head starts to feel dizzy. A warm hand loops through mine and stays there.
I exhale. “My parents bought this place when my mom was pregnant with me. This is my childhood home,” I state.
Dallas slides me the tainted yellow piece of paper as I take a deep breath.
“And he left this to me.” I hand the paper over to the officer closest to me. “I just didn’t know it until today.”
He opens the paper and his eyes scroll through the text.
“Let me see that!” Vienna comes from behind and snipes the will from the officer and runs out the door. She rips the paper as she runs down the stairs, but as soon as she touches the grass, the tall other officer grabs her from behind, holding her two hands together.
“Shit,” I whisper to myself, mostly as I take in the scene. I’m glad they got her, but can that paper be taped together?
Dallas leans into my ear and says, “Don’t worry, I took a picture of it and sent it to my dad as well for backup. He’s a lawyer.” He shrugs like it’s no big deal, but it is to me.
“Wow, you are amazing,” I say, looking into his eyes.
He returns the gesture. “No, you are. Truly.”