Don’t get me wrong, I love how much love they have for each other. I just can’t help that my traitorous heart misses Josh. He’s texted me several times since he called it quits on us. I was finally forced to mute his notifications because he kept calling me every ten minutes yesterday.
Part of me wants to reach out and try again, because I do care about him. On one hand, I wish that my heart hadn’t been ripped out and stomped all over by him. I might still even love him. On the other hand, I’m also excited to be single and free here in Scotland without worrying about being judged by a man for putting myself first.
There’s another part of me that is angry that he expects me to push my friends and myself aside for him and his needs. I can’t get on board with that.
My heart is in tatters over the entire thing. I can’t talk to Josh until I figure out what I really want in life. If I don’t, then I’ll just end up having the same argument with him.
We both deserve better than that.
Lexi yawns loudly next to me and stretches her arms out, accidentally punching me in the face.
“Oh, T,” she says through another loud yawn. “I’m so sorry!”
I rub at my jaw and flash her a fake look of betrayal before leaning on her shoulder. “I missed you while you were sleeping, you know,” I tell her. “Maybe that’s weird, but I would have rather hung out withyou than be stuck looking at the adorably disgusting little love birds over there,” I say just loud enough for Capri and Lee to hear me. They look over and grin as if they have zero cares in the world that the rest of us are still hunting for our happily ever after.
“How much longer until we land?” Lexi asks me through another lengthy and impressive yawn.
“You’d better stop yawning like that, or you’re going to make me finally fall asleep,” I tease, stifling my own yawn from escaping. “But we should be landing in about forty-five minutes.”
Lexi gives me a thumbs up, then puts her eye mask back on. “Good, wake me when we land. I need all the beauty sleep if I’m competing with your gorgeous ass for hot single guys on this trip.”
“Riiiight,” I respond under my breath. Lexi has nothing to worry about. Definitely not about little ol’ me stealing any men from her.
Lexi has always been the prettiest of us. Her long blonde hair, natural tan, and legs for days beat out my pale complexion and dark hair any day of the week. She’s a freaking supermodel compared to me. There is zero competition. Besides, I would never choose a man over our friendship. If she finds someone here in Scotland, it’s all hands off for me.
Girl code and all that.
The rest of the plane ride is uneventful. Beautiful, but uneventful, and before I know it, we have landed and are all exiting the aircraft.
The airport in Scotland surprises me because it looks just like every airport in America. The only difference is that it’s not bustling with angry business people trying to fight the crowds to make their last-minuteflights. That, and the fact that the overhead speaker speaks several different languages, including English, French, and what I think is German, based on my two years of German in high school a billion years ago. I wish I had paid more attention in that class instead of gossiping with my friend Beate about hot boys, who sat next to me for both years.
Lee, Capri, Lexi, and I make our way down to baggage claim and quickly find our luggage.
“What did the email say about traveling to the estate?” I ask Capri once we get outside. She and Lee coordinated with Pierce’s assistant and handled all the travel arrangements for our group.
Capri takes out her phone and scrolls for a minute before telling us there should be a car waiting for us outside the airport.
“Oh, I bet that’s him!” Lexi exclaims as she points to an older man with graying hair in a dark navy suit standing in front of a stretch limo. He’s holding a large white sign with our names in fancy cursive.
Lee walks up to the man and introduces himself and the rest of us.
“You may call me Henry,” the older man tells us with a thick and animated Scottish accent. “It’s nice to meet such a fine-looking group! You four are the last of the guests to arrive, so we must hurry along now. We don’t want to keep the rest of them waiting.”
We all shuffle into the limo as Henry insists on loading our bags without help. As soon as we get on the road, Henry lowers the privacy screen and tells us that a popped champagne bottle is waiting in the icebox for us, along with glasses. I’m still feeling the effects of the hangover I gave myself the night before last as I cried over Josh yet again. But before I can decline his offer, he tells us that it’s bad luck to deny the host’s kind gesture and that we must toast to our safe travels.
“I guess we are day drinking, my friends,” Lexi says as she lifts the bottle and pours us each a small glass. “Can’t risk Madame Pierce hating us before we even leave the airport!”
I’m glad to see that Lexi got all the sleep she needed because I feel like I’m moments away from passing out. I refused to let the world pass me by without watching from my window seat, and I’m definitely paying for that now.
The four of us hold our glasses up as Lee gets the honors. “Cheers to a happy wife, happy life!” he says, placing a soft kiss on Capri’s cheek. “And of course, to the rest of you, who make my dear wife happy daily!”
“Yeah, I’ll drink to that.” I grin.
Lexi rolls her eyes at me before saying, “Screw that happy married life nonsense. Not that you two aren’t adorable.” She motions to Lee and Capri, the liquid in her glass swirling. “We are always cheering for your happiness and marriage. But T and I want to enjoy that happy, single, and very ready-to-mingle life while we are here. Am I right?”
I tap my glass to hers before raising it to my lips. “Couldn’t have said it better myself.”
We clink our glasses with the group.
