But I was wrong.
Three days can alter the course of a whole life. Just like that. And nothing special has to happen. Sometimes the simplest things can make the most powerful changes occur, bringing meaning where there was none before. Sometimes, something happens or someone shows up, and your eyes open in a way they never have. Like that walk with Trey the afternoon before. He’d gotten me to strip my soul bare, to realize what was missing in my life and who I wanted to be.
He had no idea how important that had been for me. How he’d saved me from myself, made me feel hope again.
“You must have something really nice on your mind to be smiling like that,” he said.
“Indeed.” I grabbed the rail to keep from losing balance. The waves in that part of the gulf were big. “Do you believe in fate?”
He offered me one of the chocolate bars he’d bought in Petit Prince before we left. I unwrapped it and took a bite. He did the same, eating half of it in a single bite.
“I don’t think fate is behind everything. Or that every step in our lives is predestined. Because that would mean we were incapable of choosing, and I don’t like the idea of not being in control of my own life.”
How different we were, I thought—how different and how similar at the same time. “Well, I do believe in fate. And I also believe in coincidences and lucky accidents.”
“Lucky accidents? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Lucky accidents are these things that might seem bad at first, but they end up leading to something good. Like, I don’t know, your car breaks down in the middle of the highway and only one car stops to help, and out of it steps Chris Pratt.”
He didn’t seem convinced. “What are the chances that would ever happen? One in a few million?”
“Still, like you just said: thereisa chance. And fate and hope go hand in hand.”
“I think what you’re calling a coincidence or a ‘lucky accident’ is a series of circumstances that depend on a person and their environment,” he said. “That’s all. There’s not some genie that’s granting your wishes. The universe isn’t tracing out a plan for us or trying to give us cosmic signs about what we should do.” He turned around and leaned his hips against the railing, back to the sea. “What you call fate is just us and the decisions we make. If your car breaks down and you’re stranded on the highway, the luckiest accident you could have is for a tow truck to show up.”
“Well, I like the idea of fate. But I also like the idea of life being a choose-your-own-adventure book where the story changes depending on the choices you make.”
“Wait, so you’re saying each person can have several different fates?”
“Exactly!” He got it. Or he got me, at any rate.
“Do you think it’s fate that brought us together on this island?” he asked.
“I’d like to think so.”
He leaned in, reached over, and stroked my cheek with the tip of his fingers. “Well, then, maybe I’ll end up believing in it, too.”
It was late afternoon when we reached Souris. We’d brought his SUV on the ferry, and we drove it out past the city, heading toward thewest. I did as I’d promised, trusting Trey and letting him take the lead without asking any questions.
The sun stained the sky orange, and I stared at it through the windshield, enjoying the play of colors as the darkness started to gather. The wind coming through the window ruffled my hair. It was cool and smelled of damp earth. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, and when I opened them, I found myself surrounded by pastures and magic forests.
The roads were practically empty. The island didn’t have any big cities like the other provinces of Canada, but its rural countryside was simple and charming.
We talked about everything and nothing while the music played softly in the background. We shared the same favorite group, and since I was no longer scared of looking silly in front of him, I turned up the volume and sang at the top of my lungs.
Long before we got there, I realized we were headed to Charlottetown. I remembered the roads from my own trip a few days ago. But I didn’t say anything. I liked the look on Trey’s face when he was thinking he was going to surprise me.
But surprise me he did.
We parked next to an information center for tourists and walked through the center of town before getting dinner on the patio of the Water Prince Corner Shop. We ordered fish cakes and fried clams, then headed to the famous ice cream shop COWS on Queen Street. I ordered the apple crisp flavor; he picked maple walnut. We ended the night sitting outside at a bar listening to live music.
“Another?” Trey asked after downing his second shot.
My throat was burning and I couldn’t get my vocal cords to work, but I nodded.
He pushed his way through the crowd and headed toward the bar. He was taller than everyone, and he was noticed, especially when hewalked past the women. One of them tried to get his attention and I frowned, trying to pretend it didn’t bother me. He didn’t even notice her. He seemed oblivious to how sexy he was, or at least acted like all that attention didn’t matter to him.
That was one more proof that he wasn’t the boy I used to know…
