Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 47241 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 189(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47241 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 189(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
Sitting next to Kay, I sighed.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m just missing Beau. I can’t stop thinking what might’ve happened if I’d said yes.”
“Who’s Beau?” she asked. “And yes to what?”
I drew a long breath. She didn’t remember him. “He was someone I met recently.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” She smacked my arm.
I was about to tell her how special he was, but instead told her to never mind. “It would’ve never worked out.”
“Oh, well,” she put an arm around me, “you still have time to meet Prince Charming. You’re only thirty.” She looked at the clock on the wall. “Plus an hour.”
I nodded out of politeness, but honestly, I knew I’d never meet another man quite like him.
She added, “You’re probably going to meet fifty hot men over the next few months, and they’ll all fall in love with you. Then you’ll leave, break their hearts, and move on to the next place.”
I was looking forward to my trip. I’d bought a Eurail Pass and mapped out an itinerary that took me to twenty different countries. I had lists of cheap hotels, museums, churches, and beaches. “It’s going to be an adventure, that’s for sure.”
“Well, just make sure to be safe and check in once a day, like you promised. We need to know where you are at all times,” she said.
“I will.”
“I’m going to miss you so much.” She turned her body and hugged me. “I’m also proud of you for doing this for yourself.”
“You’re not mad about the cruise?” I asked.
“No! I’m going in July with Lick, and he promised that if anything happened, I’d get to keep the cabin.”
“Planning for divorce so soon?” I laughed.
“Actually, I’m planning to ask him to marry me. He’s the one, Meri. I know it. But he doesn’t think I’m into all that froufrou wedding stuff.”
“Really?” I chuckled. Kay was definitely the romantic type who’d always dreamed of meeting the perfect man and riding off into the sunset. “Just make sure I know in advance when the wedding is. I want to be there for every second of it—the dress shopping, the planning, the—”
“Decorating?” She arched a brow.
“Especially that.”
“I love you, Meri.” She hugged me tight.
“I love you, too, Kay.”
“Merry Christmas and happy birthday.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
One year later…
“Can I be of assistance with anything else, miss?” said the bellhop, who wore a colorful sweater with diamond shapes around the collar.
“No, I’m good. Thank you. I’m just looking forward to a warm bubble bath. Merry Christmas, by the way.”
“Same to you, miss.”
I locked the door behind him and shed my thick, very worn, red down coat and threw it over the armchair by the fireplace. I clapped my hands together and rubbed them near the flames. I couldn’t remember ever feeling this cold, and I grew up in a town that got its fair share of snow.
I kicked off my snow boots, feeling both melancholy and reminiscent. I had left for Europe right after New Year’s, only planning to travel for three months tops. After that, I would stay with Kay and look for a new job.
But three months turned into five after I ran into a young Dutch woman on the train to London who had just come from a backpacking trip through Asia. She told me they were looking for English teachers at a school in the Philippines. Free room and board, pay was almost nothing, and I had to get there on my own, but she said it was the best experience of her life. All she had to do was email the director. It took all of ten seconds to say yes. And as luck would have it, there was just enough money in my bank account for a one-way ticket.
Of course, she’d been right. I had the best time teaching what was the equivalent of post-college adults, but they ended up teaching me more than I ever taught them. After two months, my visa was about to expire, so I traveled to Bali and stumbled on work as an English-speaking tour guide. Mostly, I babysat tourists and took them to some of the more secluded beaches.
At that point, I figured I’d been to over thirty countries, and it was time to head home, but as luck would have it, the owner of the tour company asked if I’d be interested in taking a role at a new branch he was opening in Thailand. I didn’t know a thing about the country, nor did I speak the language, but that hadn’t stopped me yet. Everything will work out. So I went, and it was incredible. The food, the history, and the people. Mosquitos? Not so incredible except for their size.
But on month ten, I began missing my family and Kay more than ever. Knowing the holidays were coming made me long for familiar faces, smells, and food.