“You’re most welcome, dear. Where you headed?”
“Italy,” I say.
He lifts his eyebrows and says, “I always wanted to see that place. You going by yourself?”
“Yes,” I answer. It’s only then that I’m absolutely sure I am really doing this.
I am doing this.
~
THE CHECK-IN process is lengthy. When the woman behind the desk asks me about my husband’s ticket, I tell her that he will be along shortly. Lying isn’t something I’m in the habit of doing, but I don’t think I can admit to her that he isn’t coming without unraveling an explanation that might keep us both here way past the plane’s departure time.
“Hopefully, he’ll be here soon,” she says. “Don’t want to cut it too close. These international flights leave promptly.”
I simply nod. She asks to see my passport, compares the picture with my face, and types a whole bunch of things into the computer. What, I cannot imagine because they already have all my information. A full five minutes tick by before she hands me the boarding pass.
Taking it from her feels like the closing of a door that I will not be able to reopen. As metaphors go, I have to think it’s pretty accurate.
The security process is almost reason enough for me to stop flying altogether. If I could get to Italy by car, I would most certainly drive.
The underwire in my bra instigates a pat-down by a woman who looks as if she’s no happier about the procedure than I am. She asks me in a cigarette-roughened voice if I would rather have this conducted in a private room. Since I suppose that means she and I would be the only two occupants, I choose public embarrassment instead.
Once my bra passes the feel-up check, I am directed through the booth where I have to spread my legs and raise my arms in the same posture criminals are told to take by their arresting officer. Not for the first time, I resent the heck out of the bad people who caused all of us trying-hard-to-be-good ones to have to go through this.
An oversize purse is my only carry-on and once my laptop and camera come through the conveyor belt, I stick them back inside.
I head for the concourse that my plane will be leaving from. Boarding begins in less than an hour, so I buy a few snacks and use the ladies room. I find a seat in the chairs by the gate. It looks as if the flight will be full, based on the number of people already here. The thought of an overbooked, way-too-full flight makes my stomach drop.
I cannot remember the last time I went anywhere by myself. I’m used to Ty carrying the tickets, checking in the luggage while Kylie and I hover in the background, handing over our identification when prompted, and checking email on our phones.
I pull out my phone now and glance at the screen, noticing a text message. I click in and see that it’s from Winn.
Lizzy!!! U and Ty have the time of your lives. I CANNOT wait to hear all about it. I just know u 2 are going to come back like newlyweds. Shoot, Ty might even leave the firm, and y’all can travel around indefinitely the way u always dreamed about.
The message blurs before my eyes, the tears there before I can even think to will them away. I tap in a response.
Ty’s not going.
I hit send, and it seems as if the reply is nearly instantaneous.
What?!!?
The phone vibrates. Winn’s name pops up on the screen. I hit answer and put it to my ear. “Yes, I know. I was a fool to think he really would.”
“Lizzy.” My name is drawn out into at least six syllables. I hear her devastation. It’s nearly as thick and heartbroken as my own. “What? Why?”
“A new case,” I say.
“Are you kidding me?” she asks, the question lit with instant fury. While there’s really nothing to be gained from it, it kind of feels nice to have someone see things from my point of view.
“I can’t believe he would do this to you. It’s your twentieth anniversary.”
“Yes,” I say. “It is.”
“He doesn’t deserve you, Lizzy. He never did.”
“You’re just saying that because you’re mad. No one wanted us to be together more than you.”
“Well, I was wrong. I’m a big enough person to admit that.”
I almost smile at this. Ty has never had a bigger fan than Winn. In fact, I think she’s been a little secretly in love with him since the day we both met him in English Lit at UVa.
“And what do you mean,” she asks suddenly, “Ty’s not going? Are you going?”
I glance around at the other passengers, and the whole thing feels surreal, like a dream I’m going to wake up from at any moment. “Yes,” I say, again making my decision reality.
At least three seconds of silence tick by before she says, “Wow.”
“You think I’m crazy.”
“I think you’re right. It’s exactly what you should do. But I can’t believe you’re actually going to.”
“There’s something in there that should make me feel less than good.”
“You know what I mean. How many times has he done this to you? That trip to the Caribbean after our ten-year reunion. The ski trip last winter—”
“I know,” I say, stopping her. “I don’t need to hear the list of times Ty has disappointed me. Because if I do, I’m also going to remember that I’ve pretty much been a doormat for him to wipe his feet on.”
“I wish I could go with you,” Winn says. “Are you staying the whole month?”
“That’s my plan.”
And then as if she remembers the reason I’m going alone, she says, “I’m really sorry, Lizzy. You don’t deserve this. You deserve so much better.”
“Spilled milk and all that,” I say.
“It’s his loss. One day, he’s going to realize that. What did he say when you said you were going without him?”
“Um, he doesn’t know yet.”
Again, silence, processing, and then, “Are you sure this is Lizzy Harper?”
I actually laugh at this.
“I am incredulous. It’s what you should have done a long time ago, you know,” she says softly.
“Probably no denying that.”
“He needs a good wake-up call.”
“You know, Winn, it’s not even about that. I’m doing this for me.”
“Good. Good,” she repeats. “How do I get in touch with you?”
“Once I leave the states, my phone will be useless. I didn’t sign up for the international plan because I thought it would be nice for the two of us to cut off all communications from home for the time we were there. Ironic, isn’t it?”
“But how will I know how you’re doing?”
“I’ll check in by email, if I have wireless.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
“I love you, Lizzy. I’m proud of you.”
“You’re just saying that because I’m so pathetic.”
“Pathetic would be you canceling the trip.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“And don’t spend all of your time walking through museums and old churches and stuff. Find something fun to do. Someone fun to—”
“Winn!”
She laughs. “It would serve him right.”
“You know that’s not me.”
“Maybe it should be you.”
“Like that would fix my life.”
“Might not fix your life, but it would definitely fix the moment.”
I smile and shake my head. “You’d make a terrible shrink.”
“But an excellent friend.”
“I’ll give you that.”
“Roanoke won’t be the same without you.”
“It’s only a month.”
“Let me hear from you.”
“I will,” I say, adding, “Be good.”
“Only if you promise not to be.”
Books by Inglath Cooper
That Birthday in Barbados
That Month in Tuscany
Swerve
The Heart That Breaks
My Italian Lover
Fences – Book Three – Smith Mountain Lake Series
Dragonfly Summer – Book Two – Smith Mountain Lake Series
Blue Wide Sky – Book One – Smith Mountain Lake Series
And Then You Loved Me
Down a Country Road
Good Guys Love Dogs
Truths and Roses
Nashville – Part Ten – Not Without You
Nashville – Book Nine – You, Me and a Palm Tree
Nashville – Book Eight – R U Serious
Nashville – Book Seven – Commit
Nashville – Book Six – Sweet Tea and Me
Nashville – Book Five – Amazed
Nashville – Book Four – Pleasure in the Rain
Nashville – Book Three – What We Feel
Nashville – Book Two – Hammer and a Song
Nashville – Book One – Ready to Reach
A Gift of Grace
RITA® Award Winner John Riley’s Girl
A Woman With Secrets
Unfinished Business
A Woman Like Annie
The Lost Daughter of Pigeon Hollow
A Year and a Day
Dear Reader
I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my story. There are so many wonderful books to choose from these days, and I am hugely appreciative that you chose mine.
Please join my mailing list for updates on new releases and giveaways! Just go to http://www.inglathcooper.com – come check out my Facebook page for postings on books, dogs and things that make life good!
Wishing you many, many happy afternoons of reading pleasure.
All best,
Inglath
About Inglath Cooper
RITA® Award-winning author Inglath Cooper was born in Virginia. She is a graduate of Virginia Tech with a degree in English. She fell in love with books as soon as she learned how to read. “My mom read to us before bed, and I think that’s how I started to love stories. It was like a little mini-vacation we looked forward to every night before going to sleep. I think I eventually read most of the books in my elementary school library.”
That love for books translated into a natural love for writing and a desire to create stories that other readers could get lost in, just as she had gotten lost in her favorite books. Her stories focus on the dynamics of relationships, those between a man and a woman, mother and daughter, sisters, friends.
Inglath Cooper is an avid supporter of companion animal rescue and is a volunteer and donor for the Franklin County Humane Society. She and her family have fostered many dogs and cats that have gone on to be adopted by other families. “The rewards are endless. It’s an eye-opening moment to realize that what one person throws away can fill another person’s life with love and joy.”
Follow Inglath on Facebook at www.facebook.com/inglathcooperbooks
Join her mailing list for news of new releases and giveaways at www.inglathcooper.com
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