Ice (43 page)

Kavick suddenly noticed Carter’s glaring eye. Kavick put a protective arm around me and glared back. He then tipped his head back down to my ear and said, “It’s what your grandpa wanted. He had plenty of time to change it and chose not to. He remembered how you looked after him and knew how much you loved him.”

It all seemed so strange, and so much had happened in the last month….

I remembered the drive to her house from the airport.

“Have you talked to your friend Marcus since he came back to California?”

I remembered what Marcus said before he left
Alaska.

“You’re aunt definitely won’t be happy to see me back. The condition of her sending me here was that I would talk you into moving back to
California.”

And then I remembered what my mother had told me once.

“You’re aunt has always been very sly. She was often plotting schemes when we were children….”

It all made sense, why she sent Marcus to California, why she was trying to talk me into moving back and to live with her when I had been in Alaska for so long, and why she had asked my friends about me. She must have figured grandpa had left everything he had to my mother, and she knew about the mineral rights in
Texas.

Suzanne came walking back into the kitchen. I immediately stood, Kavick following suit. We couldn’t wait to get out of her house. Now that the lawyer was gone, the boys had returned to their old ways of running around and screaming at each other.

“Can I convince you to stay, Christine? It’s so cold and miserable this time of year in Alaska….” She had composed a sad look on her face and took on the saccharine tone she had mastered like an art form.

“I really need to be getting back. My uncle’s waiting for me,” I said evenly.

“He should have come with you. I wonder why he didn’t,” she said, frowning a little like she didn’t approve.

I immediately felt offended, but tried to hide it. “He couldn’t afford a second ticket.”

She looked at Kavick, staring at his hair for a moment. I thought Kavick looked amazing in the suit, and he had part of his hair pulled back so that it looked a little neater (and showed off his handsome cheekbones and jaw line), but she still didn’t like his appearance. She then snapped her gaze back to me. “I really wish you would stay. I’ve missed you so much.” She dabbed at her eye with her handkerchief, like she was starting to cry. “You’re like a daughter to me,” she said in a quivering voice.

“Thank you for letting us stay with you, but we really need to be going,” I said, patting her shoulder briefly as I passed. I didn’t have it in me to give her a hug. I suddenly found her repulsive and dirty, just like the crooked businessman she had married. There had been a few rumors in the family about Suzanne’s husband in the past, that he liked to make deals under the table. Before today, I had always assumed she didn’t believe the rumors and that she was clean from all of that. Now I second guessed everything good I had thought about her.

As I headed for our suitcases that were already packed and lined up beside the couch, she said, “But, before you leave, though, I think we should discuss what all your grandpa left you. It’s all very complicated and a lot to take in.”

I picked up my suitcase and Kavick picked up his. I forced a smile and said, “I think I understand everything just fine.”

Her face fell and she stared at us as we stood waiting with our suitcases. “Well…” she said, sounding uncertain and pitiful, “I guess I should take you to the airport then.”

She turned her head and hollered, “BOYS, SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR COUSIN!”

The four troublemakers came running, taking their screaming arguments into the living room. After they said goodbye quickly, Suzanne marched to the door like when she was marching to scream at one of her children for breaking something.

The entire drive to the airport she tried to convince me to let her “help” me manage the mineral rights. I kept telling her I would do just fine on my own.

When I got out of the vehicle at the airport, she gave me a hug and said, “I really wish you would reconsider staying with me. I can make Jake and Joseph share a room so that you can move in.”

“Thank you, but I like living with Justin. He’s been there for me through so much, unlike some other people I know,” I said with a
little smile.

Her eyes went wide for a second, but then she told me to take care, pretending the comment had just flown over her head.

As Kavick and I walked away, he said, “I bet you hate to leave California. It’s so sunny here, and warm.”

I scoffed.
“Are you kidding me? It’s
way
too hot here. I can’t wait to get back home.”

Acknowledgments

First of all: thank you to anyone who picks up this book an
d reads the words I wrote, and rewrote, and obsessed over for so long.

Without
question, I must thank my parents: their constant encouragement and support were crucial. Whenever I doubted myself, I remembered what they always told me, that they truly believed I could accomplish whatever I dreamed.  And special thanks to my Mom, for helping me edit it, and catch the typos I missed. I feel so blessed to have them as parents.

T
hank you to my sister for reading that first chapter I ever showed to others; your love for it invigorated me to write more. Thank you for your input, and for taking my picture for my blog.

Thank you, Laura, for letting me photograph your dog, Juno, for the cover.

Thank you to the girls at work and all my family and friends for your words of encouragement and excitement along the way.

I must give a shout out to Tokio Hotel, for I
never would have even thought of the story if it weren’t for one of their songs. Coldplay was a huge source of inspiration, as well.

And, of course, an enormous thanks to God for giving me the passion to write
and the opportunity to fulfill my dream.

About the Author

Elissa Lewallen is an obscure twenty-something Oklahoman who loves art, learning foreign languages, and writing (of course). She has several relatives who live in Alaska, so she was familiar with the unique state when she wrote her first novel,
Ice
. You can follow her on Facebook, and on her blog at http://elissalewallen.com.