“I’ve still got two hours.”
I got up and went to the bathroom to check myself out in the mirror, and Hayley followed me. When I turned on the light, I saw a pale, haggard face staring back at me with a red mark over the right eyebrow that was starting to swell up. I ran water over a hand towel and pressed it down on the bruise.
“Sorry. Does it hurt?”
“I’ll survive. What are you doing here? Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, don’t worry, I just wanted to see you and give you something before I left.” She felt her clothing as if trying to find it. “Wait, it must have fallen out.”
She ran to the door, and I followed her in time to see her bend over and pick up a white envelope. She handed it to me.
“Here, this is for you.”
“For me?”
I opened it and took out an airplane ticket. For a moment, I thought she wanted me to accompany her on her honeymoon. Had she lost her mind?
“What’s this?”
“A present.”
“A present? My birthday was weeks ago, and you already gave me one.”
“This is a very special present. The most important one I’ve ever given anyone,” she replied solemnly.
“Hayley, look, I love you, but if you don’t start explaining yourself, I’m going to scream. It’s early as hell, I’m tired, and you’re supposed to be at the airport with your husband. This is weird!”
She grabbed my hand and guided me to the sofa, sitting down and motioning for me to do the same.
“It’s an airplane ticket to Prince Edward Island.”
“For me?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?” I stared at her, goggling.
“So you can go there.”
“Why?”
“Shut up!” I nodded as she went on. “Remember the house on Petit Prince that was Scott’s engagement gift?” I nodded. I’d only seen it in photos, but I remembered it being gorgeous. “Well, you’re going to take a vacation there.”
“What?”
“Since we talked the other night, I’ve been thinking over things about the bookstore, the house, your studies… You have important decisions to make, and you need calm to do that, with no one else there to put pressure on you. That includes me. So I think it’s best for you to leave for a few days and meditate on it so you can figure out what to do on your own.”
I was skeptical. “On an island in the middle of nowhere?”
“It’s not in the middle of nowhere.”
“There’s nothing there!”
“Exactly! Nothing except the sea, beaches, and tranquility. It’s the perfect place to think. Harper, you can’t just drag this situation out forever, even if, knowing you, that’s what you’d like. I mean, it takes you forever to decide whether or not to use real sugar in your coffee.”
I looked down, embarrassed. “I can’t just up and go like that. The fall semester’s around the corner, I have deadlines for projects and reports, books to edit, assignments to turn in…”
“So you’re going to stay in Toronto?” she asked.
