Chapter 4

"She passed away in child birth, but she made your father promise to take care of you and bring you back here before you turned 18. You were everything to your mother. She chose your life over her own," Nora said solemnly. I could tell that they loved me mother very much, and missed her greatly. I felt guilty for being the one who ripped her away from them. No parent should have to deal with the pain of outliving their child.

"Come on, we'll give you a tour of the house and then you can get some rest. You already missed the first few months of school here, but we enrolled you in Roosevelt. It's the local high school. Everyone from our quiet little town goes there. And our family has been going there for generations," Patrick said as he stood. I had to admit, I was a little nervous. Being an Ambassador's daughter, I never actually went to a public school. I was always going to private institutions with other ambassador's kids and kids of CIA operatives and whatnot. Public school would be new to me. I handed the picture frame back to Nora and stood to follow Patrick around the house.

The house was big as far as regular homes go. It was warm and welcoming though. I didn't feel out of place or foreign. I felt right at home. We ended the tour at my room. The walls were painted a dark blue. The room was spacious with cherry wood furniture. The bed sat against the middle of the wall on the left. The duvet was a portrait of two wolves on the edge of a cliff, howling at a full moon. It was artistically beautiful. There was so much detail; it looked so real.

"W-We can always change it if you want," Nora offered nervously. They were both nervous about making me feel welcome, I noticed. I smiled at them reassuringly.

"It's perfect," I assured them. It was the truth though. I loved everything about this room. And the wolf theme was different and unique and beautiful.

"You're mother loved that blanket. She took the picture herself. She loved it so much we had it made into a blanket for her 18th birthday," Nora said, deep in thought. My eyebrows raised in surprise. The picture was so perfect it was almost unreal. It was amazing. There was so much about her I didn't know. So much I wanted to know.

"Bathroom?" I asked.

"Through that door there," Patrick pointed out a door inside the room.

"Dinner will be ready in 15 minutes if you're hungry," Nora added. I thanked them before they left me alone to settle my things. I sighed and checked my phone. I had two texts. The first was from my friend Jannah.

Jannah: Miss you boo! You better text me updates and FaceTime me tomorrow!

I chuckled silently to myself as I shook my head at my crazy friend. With super curly brown hair, caramel skin, mischievous brown eyes, and a body to die for, Jannah was the only friend I made that I knew would stick. She lived in Australia when I did. She was the daughter of the Ambassador of Brazil. There was a lot of space between us, but I had a feeling that it wouldn't restrict our friendship much. The second text made me frown in worry. It was from my dad.

Dad: I'm so sorry Dani girl. I was only trying to protect you. I love you.

It sounded eerily like a goodbye that meant he wasn't coming back and I hated that feeling. I called and it went straight to voicemail. Even though I was mad at him, I still loved and cared about him. He was my dad after all. I was just upset that he lied to me. After trying to call him two more times, I settled for sending him a text.

Me: I love you too, Dad.

I pulled my clothes out of my bags, put them in drawers and hung them in the closet. The rest of my things were already neatly in place. I set my toiletries in the bathroom before finding a soft, plush towel and setting it aside for a shower. I liked it here so far. My grandparents were loving and kind, but tears still blended with the water as the hot water assaulted my body. I sighed and tried to calm my trembling body. Once my body was heated and scrubbed, I stepped out and dried myself off before changing into a long sleeved shirt and pants pajama combo.

I climbed under the covers that used to be my mother's. It smelled like lilac and lemons. It was a mild but beautiful smell. I wondered if it was how my mother used to smell. I liked to think so. It made me feel like I could have known her. She was probably a kind and caring person like her parents were. I smiled gently and closed my eyes with every intention of taking a short nap before dinner.