Page 18 of Frozen Hearts
“Hey,” she greets, giving me a wave. “Sorry to interrupt, but I have a class in half an hour.”
“It’s your studio. I was just finishing up, anyway.”
“Cool. Come join me in my office. We can chat for a few minutes before I need to get set up.”
Grabbing my water bottle, I follow her into her small office at the back of the dance studio.
“How have you been?”
“Good,” I respond. “Busy. How’s Isabella?”
Ava is my next-door neighbor. We met the first day I moved in when her five-year-old daughter tried to swipe my feet out from beneath me while she raced down the stairs dressed in a bright pink tutu and lime green tights. Once Ava wrangled her child, we got to talking and became easy friends.
Ava chuckles to herself. “As energetic as always. She keeps asking when you’ll babysit again.”
“You know I’m happy to help you out any time.”
Shortly after I moved in, Ava’s mom slipped and fell in the shower, and Ava had to rush to the hospital. Out of desperation, she knocked on my door and asked if I could look after Isabella and, of course, I agreed. I was more than happy to help her out, and I adore kids, so it was no hardship.
Afterward, Ava kept asking me what she could do to repay me, and when I discovered she had a studio and told her how much I loved to dance, she gave me a spare key and told me to stop by anytime there wasn’t a class on.
I rarely take advantage of the opportunity, but some days I need the time to myself, to escape the world around me. I’m heading home tomorrow, a trip that will inevitably involve seeing my mother, so I needed the release dancing brings tonight more than ever.
“I was thinking you could come over for dinner, even. Perhaps tomorrow?”
“I would love to,” I say sincerely, “but I can’t tomorrow. I’m heading home for the day.”
“Oh, that’s lovely. Don’t worry. We can do it another time. Are you excited to be going home? I’m sure it’s been a major adjustment, moving away and starting college.”
“Yeah, it has. Home is… complicated, though.”
Ava nods. “I get it. No need to explain, but if you ever need to talk or drink wine and bitch, I’m your girl.”
Laughing, I thank her.
“How are you getting home?”
“I still need to sort it out. There’s a train from Springview early tomorrow morning that should get me in about midday. Then I can get the last one home tomorrow night.”
“And travel on public transport alone in the dark? Definitely not. Here.” She rummages in her purse before pulling out a set of keys and holding them out for me. “Take my car. I barely use it. It’s a heap of junk. The heating barely functions, and sometimes the windows have a mind of their own, but it runs.”
“I can’t do that,” I protest, refusing to take her keys.
“Yes, you can. I only keep it because it wouldn’t be worth anything if I sold it, and having a car in case of emergencies is handy. You helped me out when I needed it,” she tacks on when I don’t waver. “Let me repay the favor.”
Groaning, I reach out and take the keys from her outstretched hand. “Fine, but I’m leaving the tank filled, and I insist that when we do dinner, I cook.”
Ava grins. “Deal.”
The next morning, butterflies swoop in my stomach as I climb into Ava’s beat-up blue Honda with a coffee cup in hand and sunglasses perched on my head to combat the low sun. It’s October, and the days are rapidly growing shorter.
Setting my coffee in the center console, I start the engine and tune the radio to a station I like before setting out on my journey. It’s only a two-hour drive to where my mom lives. I deliberately chose a college that was far enough away from her but wasn’t so far that I couldn’t make the journey home when I needed to.
I’m only half an hour out of Halston when the ringing of my cell phone interrupts the song on the radio, and grabbing it from the passenger seat, I frown as my mom’s name flashes on the screen.
Pulling over to the side of the road, I answer it.
“Mom? What’s going on? Is everything okay?”
