Chapter 14
The vast cafeteria-style restaurant in the East Village was less crowded than usual in the brief hours between the lunch and dinner rushes. Elenda had arrived earlier than she meant to. The mostly Eastern European staff didn't mind to hold the table, happy to have a chance to slow down and chat with her. Colorful murals decorated the walls, and Old World comfort food and a dizzying variety of pastry waited to settle the nerves fluttering around in her belly.
As soon as Elenda's grandmother had given her the list, much longer and covering far more of the world than her father suspected, the decision of who she most needed to talk to was clear. Her cousin Rick lived down in Washington, DC, where he was born, but he and his family had often visited New York when he and Elenda wer
