Excerpt: Thaw

“What the hell?” she said out loud, fighting the urge to kick something in frustration. “Seriously, Jake?” She looked up at the ceiling. “Six months in Alaska? In the damn winter?”

Well, at least she no longer feeling so weak. She was beyond pissed. She was reluctant to even consider this ridiculous idea. No, that was an understatement. Under no circumstances did she, Queen of Temperature Control who had a standing manicure appointment, have ANY desire to live in Alaska. Ever. The outdoorsiest thing she ever did was visit Central Park, and that was on rare occasions. Why the hell would her brother offer her a huge sum of money but force her to endure something she absolutely hated in order to get it? It was tricky and wrong and right now she really wished he was alive so she could yell at him. Maybe even throw a punch, though he would easily dodge it with that devilish grin he always got when she got mad at him as a kid.

“Jacob Michael Berger, you asshole,” she raged at the ceiling. “Why are you doing this to me? Why?” she demanded. Ellen hoped the room was well sound proofed, because she could not stop the spew of expletives that spilled out of her mouth next. She was not sure how the sweet and grandmotherly Eunice would take hearing it.

Ellen needed the money. She was in no position to refuse it, despite her unwillingness to deal with the strings attached. She owed $124, 953 in credit card debt. The irony of the nearly exact inheritance amount was not lost on Ellen; in fact, it annoyed her even more.

She needed a place to live. Realistically, she had no way of finding room mates in time to replace Jan and Ingrid. She definitely could not afford to pay $3,000 a month for the apartment. She did not have the money to get a new place to stay. She did not have money for a plane ticket home. Jake’s reasoning for the one way ticket now became very clear. The bastard.