Her Big City Neighbor - Jackie Lau

Chapter 1

Amy Sharpe stood on the sidewalk and surveyed the narrow, semi-detached Victorian house. It had reddish-brown brick and blue trim, and a tiny garden out front.

And it was, unbelievably, hers. All hers.

She grinned.

Then she felt bad for smiling. The reason she owned this house was that Great Aunt Frances had died six months ago and left it to her.

Amy glanced down at the sidewalk and said a silent prayer of thanks to her great aunt before looking up again.

She’d been shocked that she’d inherited the house. She’d only met Aunt Frances—her paternal grandmother’s sister—maybe half a dozen times. Real estate was not cheap in Canada’s biggest city, and Amy had nearly fainted when she’d discovered how much this house was worth. She’d known houses were expensive in Toronto, but...wow.

Many times more than what a house would be worth in her small hometown near Sudbury. But there were no Victorian houses back home.

Speaking of back home...her mom was calling.

Amy answered. “Hi, Mom.”

“Hi, sweetie. Everything go okay? You’re all moved in?”

“Yep, the moving truck just left. It hardly looks like I have any stuff when it’s spread out in a three-story house, but it’s all here.”

“That’s good.” A pause. “I’ll let you go now. I’m sure you have lots of unpacking to do.”

That was a remarkably short phone call for her mother, and though Mom had sounded upbeat, Amy knew her mother wasn’t thrilled with the move.

Amy had finished her degree eight years ago. She’d planned to work for a few years, then go to grad school. Live somewhere big and exciting.

But then, well, shit happened.

Specifically, her beloved grandmother got sick.

And so Amy had moved back to Silver River and gotten a job as an engineer in Sudbury. She was glad she’d been there for the last two years of her grandmother’s life. It was worth delaying her plans.

At twenty-four, she’d started to consider her options, thinking maybe she’d try to get a job in Ottawa or Toronto, and then she’d met a guy, who lived just on the other side of Sudbury.

So, once again, Amy had stayed.

That relationship had lasted longer than it should have, until almost a year ago.

A few months later, she’d inherited this house, and it was like a sign. Amy didn’t really believe in signs...

Okay, she totally did.

This inheritance was a sign that it was time for her to leave. She’d never even considered selling it. With this house, she could afford to live in downtown Toronto and go back to school—the university was within walking distance. She’d applied to a master’s program in the Department of Civil Engineering, and she may have jumped up and down when she got in.

Thank you, Aunt Frances.

Now it was the end of July, and it was time to start her new life.

She squealed and clapped her hands, trying not to think of her mom’s disapproving look when she’d told her of these plans several months ago.

A man walking by with a dog gave her a weird look, but that was okay. She didn’t know him. How exciting to be in a new city, where she didn’t know anyone! Where her family couldn’t pop in uninvited and ask her to run errands or babysit. Where her neighbors hadn’t known her all her life.

In fact, she knew no one in Toronto. There were a bunch of classmates from Queen’s University, but she hadn’t seen them in eight years. They didn’t really count.

But she would make friends. She was good at that sort of thing...wasn’t she? It had been a while since she’d been anywhere new.

And for the rest of today, she would explore.

She’d done research on nearby shops and restaurants. This area was apparently called the Annex. She wasn’t sure why—something to look up when she got the chance.

She went upstairs and had a shower, then put on a sunflower halter dress that she thought was pretty cute. Not that she was meeting anyone, but she felt like looking pretty all the same. She stuffed her wallet, phone, and the latest Sierra Wu book into her purse and walked out the front door.

Which she should lock. Right.

There was a spring in her step as she headed to Harbord Street, just a short walk away. She knew exactly where she was going first: Harbord Coffee Bar.

She’d been intrigued when she’d looked at the website last week. In Silver River, there was only a Tim Hortons, no Starbucks or Second Cup. Certainly nothing that would call itself a “coffee bar.”

Her father would think it