After such a long and tumultuous day, I ought to have slept like the dead. Did I, though?
Not even close.
So when the alarm went off on my phone the next morning, I groaned and buried my face in the pillow. The wine I’d drunk didn’t help either.
What day was it again? What city were we in?
Train. Durango.
Noah, and?—
His mom. Right next door.
With that fun reminder to start off my day, I dragged myself out of bed and downstairs, where most of the group had already gathered near the hotel lobby doors. Tay stood to the side with her clipboard, eyes scanning a list and looking even more exhausted than she had the night before, though a little relief poked through when the yellow school bus drew up to the doors.
At the sound of rustling polyester, I knew immediately that Babs had sidled up next to me.
“You’re not with your BFF this morning?” I asked before she could start drilling me about yesterday. She was wearing the purple tracksuit today, with Morty’s hat, of course, and as usual, she had that knowing sparkle in her eye. The thing about Babs, though, was that even though she was one of the world’s busiest busybodies, you couldn’t help but just…love her.
“I just saw them in the dining room,” she said.
“Them?” I asked innocently.
Babs, of course, merely patted my arm. “Christine needed to run up to the room to grab a sweater. But she and your Dr. Noah will be along shortly.”
This time, I didn’t bother correcting her. Not because I thought Noah was mine, but because by now, I was learning that it wouldn’t do any good.
And well, Babs wasn’t completely wrong…
He was maybe a little bit mine.
“How’d you sleep, dear?” She smiled brightly, her red lipstick—on her—looking perfectly appropriate for a day of touring.
“Like a rock,” I lied.
Her grin widened. “Mm-hmm. Must’ve been all that…mountain air.”
It was one thing allowing these senior citizens to speculate about my love life—or lack thereof—quite another to provide details. So, I clamped my mouth shut and breathed a sigh of relief when Mother and Son Grady stepped off of the elevator.
And, I’ll admit, I didn’t mind when Noah’s blue-gray gaze immediately found mine.
It was as if we had some kind of invisible pull between us. One that wasn’t entirely sexual. But also…kind of was.
I mean, we’d been on a bed. Anything could have happened.
Being in the crosshairs of what—to me, anyway—felt like a smoldering stare, I couldn’t help but wonder if he was thinking the same thing.
And holy hotplate, I could feel the heat working its way up my neck.
But my attention snapped away as Tay crossed the lobby toward us, her frown deepening the closer she got.
“Morning,” she said, giving me a bit of a subtle side eye. Even though Tay seemed all business today, I could tell she wanted to know if I’d taken her up on her advice. Thank the stars she knew better than to ask me in front of Babs—or Mrs. Grady—or any of my other newfound friends.
But Tay, who’d been handing tickets out to our group, did not look happy when she turned to me.
“So, I’ve got bad news.” She forced a brittle smile. “Instead of changing your mom’s ticket into your name, they cancelled it. And the train’s sold out. I’m so sorry, Luna.”
Well…crumbs. My heart actually sank a little. Until that second, I hadn’t realized how much I was looking forward to riding on the train. We’d seen it driving into town—an old steam engine that immediately reminded me of my dad.
