Congratulations, you’ve broken through to the other side. The grass is greener, the stars look brighter and you feel like a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis. You’re ready to spread your wings and dazzle the world with your beauty. You’re feeling optimistic for the future and ready to fly.
Ginny sighed and closed the book. Had it always been so flowery and condescending? When she looked at the photo of Ben and Ally Prince on the back, she noticed that Ben was a bit cross-eyed, and Ally’s smile looked fake.
Trying to mend her relationship with Adrian didn’t feel as glorious as the authors claimed it would be. Ginny felt like she’d slugged out ten rounds in a boxing ring and was lying flat on the floor looking up at the ceiling. Still, the book might help out someone else who stayed at the hotel, and she was happy to leave it behind.
Ginny tossed it onto her bedside table and went back outside to sunbathe.
The hallway was stuffed with suitcases and bags, and the air was thick with sadness when Eric, Edna and Ginny gathered to say goodbye.
“Please do not forget anything,” Nico said. “Gianfranco is waiting outside to take you to the airport.”
Ginny had broughtThe Power of Twodownstairs and handed it to Nico. “You can put this with Heather’s tarot cards.”
He held it in his hands. “My hotel will soon be like a museum, with all these things people no longer need. Eric has also given me his tin.”
Edna looked all around her. “Where’s Curtis?”
“He left earlier this morning,” Nico said. “He took a taxi to the airport.”
“Oh.” Edna’s mouth puckered. “Didn’t he want to say goodbye to us?”
“Everyone was still asleep and he gave me something to show you all.” Nico took a heartache form from his pocket and unfolded it, showing them what Curtis had written.
Dear friends,
I left a richer man. Thanks for everything.
Have fun!
Curtis
He’d also circled his heartache score for the first time, showing it had fallen from a nine to a five.
Edna blinked hard at it. “Is that it?”
“I think Curtis’s way of dealing with things is to have a good time and then leave,” Ginny said.
As they stood thinking about him for a while, Loretta peered at the form. “He is still the worst dancer ever,” she said.
Nico stared at her. “Lolo!”
“It is true.”
“He was no match for my prowess,” Edna added.
“You can add Curtis’s form to the tarot cards, my book and your vase. It’s like people have left pieces of their heartache behind,” Ginny told Nico.
She watched as something flashed across his face.
“I have an idea,” he said to himself.
Ginny loitered in the hallway, experiencing a whirl of emotions about going home. Things could never be the same again, not in her job, at home, or in her marriage. She wanted the opportunity to say goodbye to Nico without the others around her. There were so many conversations they hadn’t yet had, and she felt like she was leaving part of herself in Italy.
She glanced longingly at the back of Nico’s head as he bent down to pick up Edna’s suitcase, and found herself caught between Eric and Edna as they headed out into the courtyard.
Biscotti sat waiting outside, wagging his tail as soon as he saw Eric. Eric crouched down and looked into the dog’s eyes. He swept a hand over Biscotti’s head and hugged him with tears welling. “Sorry to say goodbye. You’ve helped me feel better,” he said. “Bess would have loved you, too.”
The dog pressed the top of his head under Eric’s chin.
