Mum looked around before entering the house. I followed her silently.

“The last time I was here, the garden fence was still standing. A storm must have taken it down.”

I wouldn't be surprised if the next storm took this whole ramshackle place with it.

Only now did I realize the meaning of Mum's words.

She had been here once before, a year ago. The thought that she had slept here gave me the creeps.

To my surprise, inside, it looked normal. The hallway was small but clean and tidy. A stone sculpture of buddha stood on a corner cupboard next to the wardrobe. When I looked closer, I realized it was not a Buddha but an elegant woman.

Going further into the house, we came to an attached living area with furniture covered by white sheets. There were no pictures on the wall, but it seemed as if some had once hung there because lighter, small, square spots stood out from the wall. A few flower pots with no contents and natural decor decorated this area of the house.

I followed Mum across the pale floorboards, and we came into a kitchen that looked very modern.

“Have you had the kitchen redone?” I asked, and Mum nodded. She inserted a plug into a socket, whereupon the fridge began to make squawking noises which, to my reassurance, faded into a loud buzzing.

“Don't worry. It's only like that at first. After a while, the noise will stop.”

The ground floor was an open area, and connected to the kitchen was a dining room with a dining table for six.

It was cozy here, but nothing like our old modern flat. I missed it already.

“Come on, I'll show you your new room.”

Mum smiled at me encouragingly.

Something told me I'd end up like Harry Potter in an old lumber room under the stairs, the plaster crumbling off the walls every time someone moved heavily above me.

Oh man, what had I given up my nice big room with its huge bookshelves for?

I followed my mother, hoping she would be merciful in the distribution of rooms.

An angled wooden staircase with surprisingly non-creaking steps led us up to the first floor.

It was not as bright here as downstairs, as there was only one large window at the end of the corridor, which looked out into the garden. Four doors—two on one side and two on the other —probably led to the former flat-sharing rooms. In the middle of the hallway was a railing around the stairs.

“Where do you sleep?” I asked Mum.

She gestured to one of the white doors.

“And you will sleep here,” she said to me as she led me to the front door on the opposite side.

As I entered the room, I immediately noticed that it was very bright. A large floor-to-ceiling window spread the evening sun's rays throughout the room, which didn't look unattractive at all with its cream-colored walls and wooden floorboards. A carpet of the same color with cushions lay in front of the window, and a white wooden bed stood in the middle of the room. There was also a desk and a large wardrobe.

It was a spacious room, but something was missing.

Anyway, I would only be here on weekends, as far as I had understood.

“I'll quickly get the suitcases and the shopping in. Have a look around in the meantime,” Mum said, turning around and leaving the room.

“I can do that too, Mum,” I said loudly and followed her out of the room as quickly as I had come in.

There were a lot of suitcases, and I definitely wasn't going to let her carry them up the stairs by herself. Especially not with all that was in one of my suitcases.

“You should take it easy. Remember what Dr. Copeland said,” I added, to which she rolled her eyes in mock annoyance.

But I was serious. If I wanted to get out of here quickly, I had to make sure that Mum got well again. And that was only possible if she didn’t overdo it.

I hurried down the stairs and made my way back through the house to the car.

The trunk was still open, and I was afraid that something was missing, but luckily everything was still there. In front of me were the black hard-shell suitcases and a large shopping bag.

Oh dear, what had I intended to do?

But I would make it because our former neighbors in California had made it, too, and they were around fifty.

Determined, I grabbed the first suitcase and pulled it out of the car. The suitcase landed in my arms, but somehow, I lost my balance and stumbled backward with no chance of stopping. I expected to slam onto the hard pavement, but suddenly, I felt a warm hand at my back, supporting me forward again.

After finding my balance, I wheeled around and looked into the face of a young, grinning man.

His olive-green eyes contrasted sharply with his tanned skin and dark brown, slightly curly hair. He was relatively tall and had broad shoulders. The navy-blue shirt he wore accentuated his arm muscles, which I was sure he got from a gym.

I must have stared at him for too long because the grin on his face widened even more.

“Uhm...sorry. I... I must have slipped,” I replied awkwardly.

God, that was embarrassing!

I quickly bent down to pick up the suitcase with one hand, but I failed.

It had to be my books.

“Do you need any help?” the young man asked me with a teasing undertone.

I looked up at him in surprise. A strange feeling spread through me.

I knew guys like him. They would go after anything that didn't run away in time. And they pretended to be nice when all they really wanted was sex to cross one off their list.

Since David, I have had enough of men.

Quickly, I shook my head.

“No, thanks...I...” Desperately, I pulled up the suitcase. “I…can handle it on my own. But thanks for the offer,” I pressed out with difficulty under the weight of the suitcase. As I did so, I concentrated on the heavy item, which I couldn't lift but could at least drag behind me.

“You sure?” he asked again, amused.

This time, it sounded like he was making fun of me. But I didn't let him stop me and kept pulling on the suitcase. The noise it made meant that the suitcase was about to get a few scratches. Mum would kill me.