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CHAPTER 1

The night Veronica Cruz prayed for her ined herBut she didn’t She died in her sleep In the very house that Veronica was now destined to spend the rest of her life alone

That was six o Since then Veronica’s bane existence consisted of waking to a silent ho aimlessly about from her bed to the sofa in the front room to the kitchen table until it was tiain

Her mother had left her a substantial trust with the stipulation that the house would never be sold The hoenerations was to stay within the family for at least another hundred years or until there was no one left in the family to pass it on to Unless she lived to bekids requiredthe house forStill, she had promised her mother on her deathbed that she would never sell the house

Since she was an only child, the house that was now paid for was hers free and clear The closest relative she had was an aunt her mother had only spoken of a few times She’d never met her father so she had no idea if she had any family on his side

At twenty-eight Veronica felt like a spinster Sure,for a spinster, but the years leading up to her ed her in so many ways When Veronica found out about the cancer and how little ti She took a leave froe—a job she loved—to care for her mother full time Her social life became non-existent for over two years

By the time her mother passed, Veronica was forty pounds heavier and drained coy to return to the real world She had no desire to go back to work so worn and coed ten years and heavier than she’d ever been in her life, there was no way she was showing her face there again Not only did her mother’s death drain her physically, it had also taken her spirit She was no longer the vibrant young wooals and ambitions she once had been

Losing herher wither away hopelessly, in so much pain with no way to help her had scarred her forever She was angry with God and saw no reason to even try being a contributing ood did it do you anyhen it could be taken away just like that?

A loud knock at the front door jolted Veronica out of her dreary thoughts She already kneho it was and she rolled her eyes, dragging herself off the sofa to answer the door

Her best friend Nellie smiled widely as soon as Veronica opened the door “Guess what I got us?” She held up what looked like tickets of some sort

“I told you,” Veronica said, already heading back to her favorite spot on the sofa “I’ to anyaround other people I’m a cow, Nellie I don’t even have clothes that fit me anymore”