Chapter One
It was the worst day of her life.
Okay, so maybe not the worst. Maybe the second-worst day…no…well, it was definitely the worst day this month. Allison Barrington squinted at what remained of her apartment building, her eyes burning from the smoke. The orange blaze of the fire had mostly died down to an eerie gray smoke. It was still dark despite it being morning, but the red glare from the fire trucks and ambulances lit the sky, and the rush of emergency personnel buzzed around them.
“What a freaking disaster.” No truer words had ever been spoken. Said words were uttered by her eternally sarcastic teenaged sister and roommate.
She turned to look at Danielle. “At least no one was hurt,” she said, pleased that she could actually muster up something positive to say. It was all they had left, really. She glanced down at her dog, Captain Hook, who was currently peeing beside a lamppost.
“Hook,” she said, giving his leash a gentle, but authoritative, pull. He looked up at her, his one eye locking onto hers before obediently ambling over. The eye patch on the other side had a smudge of soot on it. Deciding she needed to act confident and reassuring, she put her arm around her sister’s shoulder.
“It’s going to be okay, Dani.”
“You say that about everything. This is not going to be okay. We have no apartment, no clothes, and seriously”—she paused to give Allison a once-over—“you are in desperate need of something else to wear. If this entire situation weren’t so disastrous, I’d be humiliated for you. I mean, really Allie, flannel reindeer jammies and that ratty U of T sweater? Ugh. And that coat? At least button it up.”
Allison didn’t need to look down at herself to know what she looked like. But it was eight o’clock in the morning, and she hadn’t been planning on standing outside in the crowded street while wearing it. She looked over at her sister, noting she was already decked out for the day. “Why are you dressed? The fire alarm went off at three a.m.”
Her sister blushed slightly. “I was just—”
“Sneaking in, even though you promised me you’d be home by ten?”
Their conversation was interrupted as two young police officers walked toward them. “What a missed opportunity this is for you,” Dani whispered in her ear. “Men in uniform everywhere, and you’re standing here looking like a troll with a degenerate dog.”
Captain Hook lifted his leg close to Dani. You couldn’t ask for more loyalty than that.
“Gross!” she yelled, backing up a few steps. “So what are we going to do? Where are we going to stay?”
That was the million dollar question. She hadn’t bothered getting renter’s insurance, which meant everything would have to be replaced at her own expense. And yeah, she didn’t have anything of huge value, and she wasn’t on the brink of broke, so she could slowly replace things—key word being slow.
After a quick chat with the police and providing them with her contact info, she looked over at her younger sister.
“So now what? I’m not going back to Mom’s.”
No, of course they couldn’t go there. Their mother was a train wreck, and they’d probably end up giving her money instead of the other way around. When she’d taken Dani out of there a few years ago, she’d promised her she wouldn’t ever have to go back.
“What about the shelter?”
Allison shook her head. “We can’t go there. They’re beyond capacity, and now that they’ve been told they have to close…no.” In the last decade of being on her own, she had learned how to survive. She’d built up her own life, gotten her dream job, and found friends she considered closer than most family. But since learning the shelter she worked at was being forced to close because of some big corporation wanting to use the property for its real estate value, it seemed she couldn’t quite shake off the feeling of being tired. Tired of the fight, of the constant uphill battle she was facing. She never regretted for a second that she’d brought her sister to live with her, but it was another mouth to feed, more responsibility. And now this; everything in the world she had worked so hard for had gone up in smoke. Literally.
“Hello? Allie? Now what? I’m freezing.”
Now what? She buttoned up her coat, knowing where they’d go. Maybe she’d known the minute it had happened. Maybe she’d been dying to call him the second she’d managed to get them out into safety. Maybe she’d wanted to hear his voice, reassuring her. He was the one person they could go to, and he’d take them in without question. The only problem was she didn’t want to be indebted to him, or anyone. She also knew she could rely on no one but herself. She had learned that lesson at a young age, and being the optimist she prided herself on being, she could say it had given her backbone. Really, if she only relied on herself, then no one could disappoint her. She had no expectations of anyone, except herself. This theory/policy of hers did complicate relationships, because if you were used to always taking charge and never needed anything from anyone, well, the relationships became very one-sided.
Nevertheless, this was one of those times she was going to have to reach out, but it wouldn’t be for long, and of course if he said no then she’d come up with Plan B. Always have a Plan B, Allie. Now they’d go to Ethan because…Ethan was Ethan. Ethan Dane was the guy she’d been trying to keep at a distance ever since her best friend and his best friend had gotten married. Their relationship was purely platonic only because she insisted it remain that way. She was either a saint for being able to resist a man like Ethan, or she was an idiot.
She looked down at her ensemble and cringed. Well, she had no choice; she needed to see him. “Let’s go,” she said to Dani and started walking away from the commotion outside the building.
“Uh, hello?” Dani said, catching up to her. The sidewalks were slushy, and the farther they went from the building, the quieter it became. Luckily, she’d been able to snatch her purse before evacuating the apartment. “It’s like eight o’clock in the morning; where are we going? A hotel?”
Allison gave Hook’s leash a little tug when he started lingering near a fire hydrant. This was not the morning for fire hydrant loitering. “No, we’re going to see Ethan.”
“Ethan? Yes! It’s so great you have loaded friends.”
“We’re not going to overstay or take advantage. Just a couple of nights until we can get a new place.”
“Perfect, then we can go to Hannah and Jackson’s.”
“No, they’re at the cabin until New Year’s.”
“There’s a bigger problem we need to address—you’re about to walk into your hot, rich friend’s condo looking like that.”
“It doesn’t matter what I look like.” Though she did cringe at the thought of Ethan seeing her looking like a bag lady…or troll. “Besides, Ethan’s not at home now anyway.”
“Where is he? And why are we walking?”
“He’s at work, I’m sure—”
“At this time of the morning?”
“Most people work for their money, Dani.” Ethan may have come from a very privileged family, but she knew how hard he and Jackson Pierce—his business partner and best friend—worked. It was one of the traits she admired about him…among others. Not that it mattered. Different worlds, different problems. And despite her turning him down three times, they had managed to maintain a friendship. They would be completely wrong for each other.