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Munich, Germany
20 February
Tuesday, 4:00 pm local time
Norton loved the sound of her coht now, all she could think about was the growling of her e her toelse—the couple on the corner sharing a passionate, open- up his overconsu, and theher every e that Lauren wouldn’t have recognized had she been paying attention
She walked into Hofbräuhaus’ main hall, took a seat at one of the wooden tables, and placed her order Minutes later, the waitress ca a perfunctory “Danke,” Lauren bit into a pretzel the size of her head and took a healthy gulp of Hofbräu
The semester had ended, and she was entitled to so at the historic Munich brewery Pretzels and beer were addicting, but people-watching had always fascinated her Despite a whole winter se art history at the Ludwig Maxi the tourist Not at school, but every time she strolled the streets, studied the architecture, chatted with the locals
Hofbräuhaus was less than a mile from campus, but the brewery’s main hall had a reputation all its own With its old-world atmosphere of wooden tables, terra cotta floors, painted arches, and hanging lanterns, how could anyone not feel a sense of history just being within these walls?
Maybe that’s why Europe called out to her, not just here, but from a million different places Museums Theaters Cathedrals She wanted to experience the home to San Francisco in July, and she hadn’t been to Paris or London or Brussels She’d gotten a mere taste of Munich and had yet to visit Berlin
When would she get another chance to do all that?
Not for ages And certainly not with the sense of freedoe student, with little or no responsibilities outside her schoolwork to claim her attention
On the flip side, she felt terribly guilty Every February, her entire faether It was a ritual and a very big deal, since her father rarely got a day, h-powered executive Her ht after the holidays In her mind, it was like a second Christhter together
This year was no different Lauren’s brother, Andrew, and her sister, Jessica, were both taking time off from their busy careers to join their parents at Tahoe—no easy feat considering Andreas an intellectual property attorney in Atlanta, and Jess was a corporate buyer for Neiman Marcus in Dallas
Lauren was the only holdout Lauren The college kid The baby The free spirit who always caatherings and rituals
Her parents had been very quiet when she’d told them about her plans Lauren knehat that silence meant After the phone call ended, herher baby, and her father would have scowled and written off her decision as college rebellion
Neither was true But no matter how she explained it, her parents didn’t understand They’d traveled extensively in Europe, and to the deal But it was Lauren’s first ti a whole neorld—a world she felt an instant rapport with It was like discovering a part of her soul she’d never known existed And she had to immerse herself in it
She’d entertained the idea of flying to Lake Tahoe for the week and then returning to fulfill her dreaiven the long international travel, the flight changes, the ti, Tahoe would put too much of a crimp in the many plans she had for her break between semesters She’d had invitations fro her travels—friends fr
om Germany and so many other countries
The world was at her feet
No, despite how s her way this time There’d be other Februarys, other trips to Tahoe But this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
She was still drinking her beer and la her situation when a masculine voice froleiten?”
Turning, Lauren saw a handso at her with raised brows He was asking if he could join her
“Bist du allein?” he asked, glancing to her right and to her left
“Yes, I’m alone,” she answered in German “And, yes, please join me”