77, The way home

Emma watched the city move outside the window of the car. Her aunt and uncle were chatting in the front seat about what they would do with the rest of the money. Her uncle must have hit the jackpot. But Emma was lost in her thoughts. She tried to push the pain away. She didn’t want her relatives to see it. Emma could cry when they got home, safely locked in the bathroom. She would let herself have one evening of self-pity and then she would rebuild her life. First step would be to call Simon and see if he still wanted her to live with him. She would take him up on his offer if he did. Then she needed to get a lawyer to evict her relatives and get her own place. She wasn’t as prepared for her new job as she would have liked. But she was sure she and Simon could work something out. But first she needed to get her feet back under her and that work would start as soon as she got back home. At that thought, she realised she didn’t recognise the area they were headed to.

“Uncle Jonas, where