CHAPTERONE
AVERY
As I looked at my car, I secured my long waves on my head with a messy bun.
I wasn’t supposed to be leaving New York. I never planned to rent out my small but pricey Brooklyn studio apartment to go home to Lake Placid. I thought I’d make it big as a pastry chef, but thanks to my ex-boyfriend losing his cafe because he’s shitty with money, here I was.
Why did I ever date that loser to begin with?
He wasn’t even that good in bed.
I glanced up to see my best friend come down the worn stairs with a box in her arms. Her big brown eyes were red from crying just like mine and I told myself to keep it together.
“I think this is it. Are you sure you don’t want my couch from our old apartment?” Beth asked in a shaking voice as we slid the box into the back seat.
“I would just stick it in storage with my other stuff, Beth. You guys should keep it and use it for the new sitting room,” I urged her as she wrapped me in a hug. “I guess I should be happy that I didn’t sell this car like I kept threatening to do. It’s saving me right now.”
When I moved here, I knew I didn’t need a car, but I held onto the trusty vehicle that my parents handed down to me.
“No, it isn’t. You’re leaving me,” Beth cried as she buried her head on my shoulder.
“It’s temporary. My family needs help at the lodge and I don’t have a job. I can’t afford this place.”
My voice shook as I looked up at the building, I’d grown to love in the two months I’d lived here. “I’ll be back before you know it and you’ll be busy planning the wedding.”
My best friend Beth moved in with her fiancé two and a half months ago and I ended up in this charming little studio. I knew we’d never be roommates again, and our friendship changed when she accepted Rueben’s proposal, but she’d always be my best friend.
“You’d better be. Who’s going to go shopping with me for all my thrift store clothes now?” Beth pulled away and looked at me. “I’m going to miss you so much.”
“I’ll miss you, Beth. I’m coming back, though. There’s nothing holding me there and I am a city girl now.”
I smiled through my tears and looked around one more time.
I had everything I planned to take with me, and I needed to go if I wanted to make it there in time for dinner. Mom might worry about me if I went too late.
I hated Simon so much right now.
I slipped behind the driver’s seat and started the engine, making sure my Christmas cactus was secure in the passenger seat.
Sally traveled to every home I lived in for the last three years. It was a gift from my mom three years ago on the holiday it was named after, and I cherished it.
I blew Beth a kiss as I drove down the street. It hurt my heart to be leaving New York, after all my culinary schooling and my jobs in cafes as a pastry chef.
I had such hopes and dreams here and now I was leaving them behind.
I knew I had made the right choice now. Simon lost the restaurant, and I lost a job, plus the little of money I’d given him to help when things got rough.
Once everything was gone, I fell short on rent and knew I needed to leave for a while. My family always reminded me they needed help at the resort, and it was a busy time for skiing and snowboarding right now, so I’d keep busy.
The holidays were also around the corner, and I knew I’d be there for them, anyway. It made sense to move now and regain my footing.
I left the city streets behind and took the-87 to my hometown, taking in the nature views the further down I drove. I admitted to myself that it was pretty and relaxed a bit as I sang along to the radio playing in my car. Maybe I missed the peace that the green grass and the trees brought me, along with the snow piled on the sides of the interstate.
It would be good to clear my head with all the fresh air at the family business, Peaks Lodge & Ciderworks.
Life had been crazy since moving to New York with school and work. Spending time with Beth after we became best friends in college acted as my release, and we were roommates for four years before she met Rueben and fell in love. Beth would always be my person, even though I was happy for her.
There were no men in the city I’d miss. I’d dated a few that didn’t pan out to anything after a few months, with Simon being the most recent of the exes.