PROLOGUE
VANESSA
Today is my graduation day.
He’s not here. He never is. He promised me he would be here, promised he would see me on one of the best days of my life. My friends, the few that I have, say he has a secret family. Well, jokes on them—I am the secret family. He made me promise that once I graduated from nursing school, I would move to New York to help his business, and we could be a family. I still don’t know how he is going to pull that off. Someone will be suspicious of a random woman showing up. But right now, I don’t want anything to do with him. He’s left me alone on what should be my special day.
“Vanessa, are you ready to go?” my Uncle Kevin asks as he stands next to my Aunt Lucy.
He isn’t actually my uncle. He’s a bodyguard my father assigned to me when I was a kid. Poor guy. I guess not poor guy considering he fell in love and married my nanny, Lucy, and we acted like a family 95% of the time. Most people think they’re my parents anyway, and sometimes I believe it myself.
“Yes,” I answer quietly.
“I know if he could’ve, he would’ve been here.” He sighs, glancing over at me.
“Yeah, okay,” I whisper, tears in my eyes as we walk across the field to the black sedan with tinted windows.
We get in the car, and Kevin backs out of the parking spot and begins driving. We ride in silence as we head to the house we’ve been living in. I glance over at him in the front seat, and I can tell he wants to say something, but he keeps it to himself.
We park outside of the small bungalow we’ve been renting since I was in elementary school. It’s a three-bedroom, two-bath house that has been a nice place to live over the years. The house is spacious with an open floor plan, and I will miss this place. I’ve had birthday parties, sleepovers, and heartbreaks in this house, and I will never forget it.
My Aunt Lucy gets out of the car and heads inside. Kevin looks over to me and asks, “So, did you apply to any jobs in New York?”
“Yes. I’m hoping to hear back soon,” I mumble back.
“Good. Listen, I know he hasn’t been around, but you understand, don’t you?” He tries to give me a reassuring smile.
“Yeah, I know. It just sucks. He promised he would be here,” I say, hurt evident in my voice.
“I know kiddo, we’ve had this conversation many times over the last few years, so I won’t bore you too much with it.”
That puts a smile on my face.
“You better get some rest. We’re leaving early in the morning.”
“Okay, I’ll see you in the morning.” I give him a kiss on the cheek, open the car door, and I head inside and right upstairs to my room.
As I pack up the last of my belongings, we will head to New York City tomorrow for me to find a job and eventually work formy father. My father met my mother after his first wife died, and he came to Utah for a short trip away from his life in New York. He met her at a bar. They started dating, and she eventually got pregnant.
My father promised to take care of me, which he has. But my mother died when I was two, and ever since then, Kevin and Lucy have looked after me.
When she died, my father was heartbroken after losing another woman he loved, or at least that’s the story I have been told. Kevin always said he needed time, but I don’t know if that’s the full story anymore. My father would visit once a year on my birthday and would never stay more than a few days.
The next morning, as we pack up the car and head to the airport, Kevin looks off. He looks slightly nervous. He never looks nervous. We pull out of the driveway, and I ask, “Uncle Kevin, are you okay?”
“Yes, sweetheart, I’m just excited to see your Aunt Lucy.” She left yesterday after my graduation ceremony to set up the apartment they’ll be living in. All of our stuff in Utah, outside of necessities, has been packed and moved, and another truck will take the final pieces of furniture and boxes we’ve been using.
“She’s been gone less than a day.” I roll my eyes.
“I know, but you know I don’t like being away from her for long.” He pulls the car out, and we drive to the airport, neither of us saying a word.
Once we get on the plane, he still looks nervous, like something is bothering him. He isn’t afraid of flying, so my warning bells go off.
“Your father has bought an apartment for you in the city, just over the Hudson River. Your Aunt and I will be living a few buildings down, so we’ll be close by.” He says it like he’s been dreading telling me this.
“Why am I not living with Dad?” I ask.
“He wants you away from the house. His place can be chaotic, with people coming and going all the time. He and I spoke about it over the last few weeks to decide what the best plan is.”
