Addy had no one else. Literally, apparently. My mother was right about one thing. It was fucking heartbreaking.
“Are you okay?” I asked her once we’d pulled away from my mom’s house.
She shrugged, her gaze fixed on something outside the window. “I’ll be fine. Honestly, I will be. I’m used to getting a shock when people bring up my parents unexpectedly. It’ll blow over in a minute.”
“Even so.” I wrapped her hand in mine and kept it there when I moved it back to the gear lever. “I’m sorry she brought it up. Especially in that way.”
Addy shrugged again, her teeth sinking into the inside of her cheek. “I’ll admit they’ve never come up quite that way before. It was definitely new.”
“Fuck, Addy…” I trailed off. I didn’t have the first clue what to say to her, but I figured a good place to start was to share a part of my own painful past. “I have no idea what it must have been like for you not to have been raised by either of your parents, but we lost my dad. I know it’s not the same, but we’re not entirely clueless when it comes to loss.”
“It sucks.” She exhaled a heavy breath. “But constantly crying about it won’t bring them back. I really am fine. I just need a minute to process.”
“I get it.” I really did. “You know what else won’t bring them back, but what might comfort you anyway?”
“Ice cream?” she said with a spark of hope in her voice.
“Exactly. Do you want to go get some gelato? I know we didn’t eat much, so if you want to get dinner first, we can do that.”
“No, gelato is fine. I’m not really hungry.”
“Same here.” I’d lost my appetite when my stomach dropped as we’d pulled up to my mom’s house, and it hadn’t come back since. “There’s a small cafe on the east side of the river that has tables on a bridge. Have you been?”
“No,” she said, some strength seeping back into her voice. “But it sounds amazing. I’d love to see it.”
“Then we’ll go there.” I flipped on my indicator and made a U-turn.
The rest of the drive was silent. Addy definitely wasn’t as talkative as she usually was, but she also hadn’t started crying. It seemed like she’d simply retreated to a more thoughtful place, and that was okay with me.
If I wanted to get to know her better, which I did, I would have to get to know this part of her, too. I found a parking space on a narrow street near the cafe, and Addy and I strolled over the cobblestones hand in hand as we made our way there.
We walked slowly, leisurely. A slight smile played on her lips when I pointed the cafe out to her. “Wow. That looks like something that should be in a painting or a postcard.”
I nodded. “It has been featured on a few postcards, as far as I know.”
The shop sat right on the banks of the river. It was illuminated by a single bulb on the inside, the color of which glowed orange with age.
Intricate streetlamps from a bygone era and the umbrellas that were open above the few small tables dotted along the bridge gave it an artistic feel. There had often been photographers around when I’d come here at night, but it was quiet now. Only one of the other tables was occupied, and the shopkeeper sat on a plastic chair out front smoking a thin cigarette.
When he saw us approaching, he stubbed it out and went inside. I ordered our gelato and carried it out to where Addy was leaning against the railing facing the river.
“Thank you,” she said when I handed it over. “It’s really beautiful here. I’m glad we came.”
“Yeah, me too.” I dipped my spoon into the creamy snack, licking it off slowly to savor the taste.
Addy did the same thing, but she did it almost absentmindedly. Her head snapped to mine suddenly, like an important thought had occurred to her. “I do have family. My brother. He raised me. I’m not ‘gallivanting’ around the world to get away from him.”
I put one of my hands over hers on the railing. “You must miss him.”
“Every day.” She rolled her head back and examined the stars. “If there’s anything that would convince me to go back, it’s him.”
“Does he support you being here?”
She nodded. “He even loaned me some of the money I needed to get settled here at first. I’ve paid him back, but I don’t think I’ll ever stop owing him for giving me the opportunity.”
I squeezed her hand. “I don’t know him, but I doubt he thinks about it that way.”
“He doesn’t.” She smiled. “Kyle didn’t even want me to repay him. He said it was an investment in my future and he was happy to make it.”
“He sounds like a great guy.” I had definitely gained some respect for this brother of hers. Not only for having raised her by himself but for supporting her dreams as well. “I’d like to meet him sometime.”
Addy chuckled. “Maybe we can set up a video call, but let’s give it some time. There’s no need to rush the family introductions after what happened tonight.”
“Whenever you’re ready,” I agreed. “But somehow, I think the worst of the introductions are behind us. It can’t really get much worse than that.”
She groaned and covered her face with her free hand, shifting the cup of ice cream so she wouldn’t smear it all over herself. “Did you really have to go and say that? Jeez. Have you ever heard the word jinx?”
I laughed. “I’ve heard it. I just don’t believe in it.”
“But you believe in the twin superstition?” Her eyebrows rose.
“Hell, no.” I shook my head. “Mama’s been peddling that to us since we were kids, but neither of us
