Sammy in France (Single Wide Female Travels #1)

by Lillianna Blake

  We explored the quaint cottage, then I flopped down on the small couch. “I think it’s important for me to start learning some Italian.”

  “But I thought you were working on French?” Max settled beside me on the couch.

  “I was. I still am, but if we’re going to Italy next, I think I should know at least some simple phrases.”

  “I guess you’re right.” Max grinned. “Just be careful what you’re repeating.”

  “Good point—wouldn’t want to run into that man from the plane again.”

  I searched on my phone for an app to learn Italian. This time I read the description word for word along with the reviews. Once I was satisfied that I knew what the app was all about, I downloaded it. A few minutes later, Italian flooded my ears. I had to admit that Max was right. Even though French was a lovely language to listen to, Italian had a more passionate sound.

  I stood up and paced back and forth in front of Max. I repeated the phrases as I did. Now and then I would slip into French and then correct myself and return to Italian. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Max’s eyes as they followed me back and forth across the room.

  I imagined myself speaking to an Italian woman who needed some assistance from my style of inspiration. As I envisioned our conversation, I closed my eyes and suddenly felt Max’s hands on my hips.

  “Max!” I jumped and turned to face him as I pulled my headphones off.

  “I’m sorry.” He bit my neck with playful firmness. “How can you expect me to resist you when you’re prancing around speaking French and Italian? I am only a man, Sammy.” He offered me a look of hunger.

  I resisted laughing at the heat in his eyes. He was serious, and I didn’t want to ruin the mood.

  “Well, they are they the languages of love, right?”

  “I think we should invent our own.” He kissed me. “Care to practice it with me?”

  “Always.” I returned his kiss and dropped my phone.

  As we made our way to the bed, Italian phrases surrounded us.

  Chapter 20

  I woke to a light tickle along my naked shoulders. I’d fallen asleep without a stitch of clothing on. When I opened my eyes I saw Max. He stared at me with a subtle smile on his lips.

  “Morning.” I smiled. “You look like you’re thinking about something.”

  “I am.”

  “What is it?”

  “How I can’t wait to see you on the beach like this. It’s going to be so much fun to be able to hug you and feel your skin in the water.”

  The thought of the topless beach made my heart lurch. I still wasn’t sure if it was something that I could handle.

  “It will have to wait until tomorrow. I really need to get some work done today, and so do you, right?”

  “Yes.” He sighed. “But tomorrow, promise?”

  “I promise.”

  “Why don’t we go out to dinner tonight? Remember, we promised that we’d try something new and strange in every country.”

  “Alright, that sounds good.”

  Max crawled out of bed.

  I lingered a bit and tried not to think about my bee stings. They didn’t hurt as much, but they were still there.

  The reading the night before had opened my eyes to the importance of my words. Before, I saw my writing as just something I did and some people enjoyed. Now I understood that it was more than that. I almost had a responsibility to my readers to make sure that the next book was ready to go as soon as possible.

  I took a moment to clear my mind and focus on the moment. Then I climbed out of bed.

  Max was already showered and dressed so I took a long shower and practiced the technique that Zara used in the book. I soaped my body not just to clean it, but to value it. The more I took care of my body, whether through diet, exercise, or hygiene, the more I showed it gratitude for being my vessel in life.

  I took the time to whisper my affection to my skin, to my hips, to the slope of my calves. I spent extra time expressing gratitude for my cheeks and forehead, which were still dotted with bee stings. Then I let the water rinse away and visualized being cleansed from the inside out.

  The last thing I did was to turn my face under the spray of the shower. It washed over me and I ignored the sting of it. Instead, I focused on every tiny drop that struck me. Each one was a tiny portion of the full stream. Each one existed for the sole purpose of rushing across my skin. It was a surreal moment to bond and express gratitude for the water that poured forth.

  When I turned the water off I stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. My smile brightened as I was preparing for the day ahead.

  I dressed and grabbed my computer.

  “Ready to go?” I grabbed Max’s hand as he walked up to me.

  “Sure. You don’t want breakfast?”

  “We’ll grab something at the cafe. I want to eat light so I can splurge tonight.”

  “We have to find one first.”

  “I’m sure if we walk a bit, we’ll run into one.”

  We left the cottage behind and walked in the direction opposite the beach.

  When I noticed a bed and breakfast on the corner, I thought about Poppy and her husband. They were strange to me in many ways, but they were a perfect fit for each other. They understood one other, and each other’s dreams. I had that with Max too. I gave his hand a squeeze.

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too, Sammy.” He touched his forehead to mine and then kissed the tip of my nose.

  Just as he pulled away I caught sight of a man walking toward us. On the off chance that he might speak English I held up my hand to get his attention.

  “Excuse me, sir, sorry to bother you. We’re new to the area. Can you direct us to a cafe where we can use Wi-Fi?”

  “Sure, just about all of them have it. I’ll give you directions to one I know.” He sketched out a quick map and handed it to Max.

  We thanked him, then followed the map to the street he’d marked.

  There was only one cafe on the street, and it was small, but cute. When we stepped inside it was even smaller. The tables were arranged to provide privacy but not quite big enough to sit two people with two computers.

  “Do you want to go to another place?” Max pointed to one of the tables. “It’s a tight fit.”

  “No, it’s fine. We can work at separate tables. I’ll be able to focus better on my own anyway.”

  “Okay.” He nodded and selected a table.

  I chose one a few seats away from him.

  There were a few other customers in the cafe, all engrossed in their own computer screens. A grungy teenager leaned against the counter and flipped through his phone. It was clear that most people didn’t come here for the coffee. Those that spoke did so in French.

  It was the perfect place to work on the next chapter of my new book. I wanted to experience being absorbed into another culture in the hope that it would give me a fresh perspective on my writing.

  As I waited for the flow to begin, I glanced over at Max. He was hunched over his computer hard at work. It warmed my heart that all of that dedication was for us. I couldn’t think of a better way to earn a living than to do it together.

  With his hard work to inspire me, I started to get some ideas for the chapter.

  As I began to type away, I overheard snippets of conversations around me, the rhythm of the speech immersing me even more in the new ideas that came to me.

  Life wasn’t about countries, or states, or cities—it was about being open to explore. Not even language and culture should be barriers.

  My fingers flew across the keys.

  Not long after my flurry began, I had to come up for air.

  Chapter 21

  I looked over at Max and noticed that he was no longer alone. In fact, a beautiful woman was sitting right beside him. She sat so close that she could have easily crawled into his lap.

  Max continued to stare at the screen, but I could hear the woman speaking to hi
m. I understood enough of her words to know that they were flirty.

  Max glanced up at her and smiled. Why wouldn’t he smile? She was gorgeous. Her lips were painted dark red and lined in a way that made them pop. She leaned those lips close to my husband.

  “I just love your accent. Keep talking.” She scooted closer to him on her chair.

  “Ah, I’m sorry, but I really do have some work to do.”

  She giggled. “So cute.”

  Max tapped on the keyboard. I didn’t want to play the jealous wife card. He wasn’t doing anything wrong. He certainly wasn’t encouraging her attention.

  Every time she leaned close to him I wanted to leap off my chair and tackle her.

  “What are you working on?” She touched his shoulder and leaned so near his cheek that she might have left a smudge of her lipstick behind.

  Max’s hand flew across the keyboard as he slid back his chair to create some distance between them.

  “I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m really trying to focus on work.”

  “You can take a little break for me.” The woman batted her long dark eyelashes.

  I swallowed hard and tried to remind myself that Max could take care of himself. I couldn’t help but wonder if he was attracted to her. Sure, he was being loyal, but that didn’t mean he wanted to be. He knew I was right there, after all; would it have been different if I weren’t?

  “Oh, you Americans.” The woman shook her head and walked off.

  Max slid his chair back up to the table and looked over at me. He winked, then looked back at his computer.

  I was still feeling unsettled.

  I had good reason to be, because a moment later, the woman returned with a frothy drink for Max and sat back down beside him. I was floored, not only by her persistence when Max clearly showed no interest, but also by her blatant blindness to the wedding ring he wore. If she knew he was married, why was she going after him?

  I watched a moment longer as Max did his best to politely decline the drink. When she tried to insist, I’d had enough. I stood up and walked over to the table. I set my hand down on the table with my wedding band in full view. Then with my best attempt at speaking French, I told her to scram.

  She tilted her head to the side with a confused pout and then shrugged.

  As she walked away Max looked up at me and tried to hide a smile.

  “What?”

  “You’re so cute when you’re jealous.”

  “I wasn’t jealous.”

  “Oh, no?”

  “Not at all. It’s about respect, Max. What if some guy hassled me like that? Would you really sit there and watch?”

  “No, definitely not. But I also wouldn’t ask him if he wanted me to take his dog for a walk.”

  “What?”

  “That’s what you asked.”

  “Was it really?” I groaned. “Oh, I just can’t get the hang of these languages.”

  “It’s fine, Sammy, it takes most people years to learn a new language.”

  “I guess you’re right. Are you ready to grab some lunch?”

  “Sure.”

  We found a small cafe where we could get some sandwiches. “I still want to eat light. What do you think we should try tonight?”

  “I have an idea in mind.”

  “What is it?” I grinned.

  “I want it to be a surprise.”

  “Oh, that’s not fair.”

  “Sure it is, you can pick what we try in Italy. Here, I get to pick. How does that sound? That way we really have to be daring.”

  “Oh boy, I’m not sure if I can trust you.” I laughed.

  He set his sandwich down and met my eyes. “You don’t mean that, do you?”

  “Max, don’t be silly.”

  “I’m sorry, I just want to make sure that you know you can trust me. It’s nice to check in once in a while.”

  “Well, there’s no need. I love you and I trust you.”

  He smiled and took a bite of his sandwich. I took another bite of mine just before my phone started beeping with text messages.

  “Are you going to check?” Max tilted his head toward my phone.

  “No way, we’re eating.” I took another bite of my sandwich. Then my phone rang.

  “Someone’s trying to reach you.”

  “I better see who it is.” I pulled out my phone and saw that it was Cateline. I picked it up quickly. “Hello?”

  “Samantha, I’ve been trying to reach you.”

  “I’m sorry. Max and I were eating lunch. Is everything okay?”

  “It’s really not, Samantha. I’m sorry to say this but I’m disappointed that you released that portion of the book without telling me first. I really don’t see how it’s going to help the book tour, and, in fact, I’m worried that it may drive some fans away. I’m all for honesty, but this takes it a little too far, I think.”

  “I’m sorry, Cateline, I don’t understand. What are you talking about?”

  “On your website—where you released that portion of your new book.”

  “But that’s impossible. The book isn’t even complete and hasn’t been edited. I didn’t release anything.”

  “I think you’d better take a look at your website, Samantha. I’m afraid there might have been a mix-up.”

  “I’ll take a look and call you back.”

  Chapter 22

  I hung up the phone and looked across the table at Max.

  “Is something wrong?” Max frowned.

  “Cateline said there’s a portion of my new book on the website.”

  “That’s impossible. I just updated it this morning.” Max shook his head. “I didn’t put anything new up.”

  “Max, we have to take a look at it. She insists it’s up there.”

  Max slid his food out of the way and put his computer on the table in front of him. He popped it open and went through the process of logging in.

  My heart pounded as I waited for the verdict. It couldn’t be true; it had to be some kind of mistake.

  “How did this happen?” Max stared at his computer.

  I stood up and walked around the table to look at the screen. As Cateline said, there was an incomplete unedited portion of the new book up on the website.

  Even worse, there were notes in between the passages that were never meant to be seen by my readers. They were little notes I made about whether to change the section, expand it, or even delete it. Many included personal thoughts about the passages, or even the experiences in my own life that led me to write them.

  None of it was meant to be seen by my readers.

  “Max, how did this happen?” I blinked back tears. “Get it off, please!”

  Max’s fingers flew across the keys. He winced. “I can’t.”

  “What do you mean you can’t?”

  “There’s no Wi-Fi here now. I can’t get into the website again. We have to get somewhere with a signal.”

  My phone started to ring. I knew it was Cateline. I glared at the screen, then answered the phone. “Hello?”

  “Did you see it?”

  “Yes, Cateline. We’re working on fixing it right now. I’m so sorry. It was not intentional.”

  “Well, it’s not a mishap we can let go. You have to get it cleaned up and fast.”

  “We’re trying, I promise. I’ll update you when it’s fixed.” I hung up the phone and looked at Max. “What are we going to do?”

  “We have to get back to the cottage. I can fix it there.”

  “Let’s go. Right now, Max!” I knew my tone was harsh, but I was embarrassed. I grabbed my things and we hurried out of the cafe. I tried to hail a cab but none slowed down.

  “Now what?” I resisted throwing my phone at a passing cab.

  “We’ll have to walk. It’s not that far.”

  “Are you sure you know the way?”

  “I’m pretty sure. Sammy, I promise I’ll fix this.”

  “But there’s no way to fix it, is there?” I started t
o walk down the sidewalk.

  Max caught up with me. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that people have seen it, have read it, maybe even reposted it. There’s no way to stop that. I just don’t understand how this happened.”

  “I don’t either.” Max shook his head. “I didn’t do it on purpose. I didn’t even open that file.”

  Suddenly I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. “But you were distracted, weren’t you?” I turned to look at him. I could feel the heat in my own eyes as I stared at him. “If you hadn’t been so busy with that hot little latte, you wouldn’t have made the mistake.”

  “Sammy, I know you’re upset, but that’s uncalled for.” Max stopped and turned back to look at me.

  “Is it really? Because you were the one who couldn’t be bothered to just tell her you were married and shoo her away. I guess you were enjoying her attention a little too much.”

  “Sammy.” Max snaked his hand back through his hair and shook his head. “This is ridiculous. I made a mistake. I’m sorry. I don’t know how it happened.”

  “Well, I do. It happened because you couldn’t take your eyes off of her long enough to pay attention to what you were posting. Maybe if you did, you would have seen the mistake that you were making.”

  “Sammy, arguing about it isn’t going to fix it. Let’s just get back to the bed and breakfast.”

  Chapter 23

  I sulked along behind Max. I tried to get control of my emotions, but I couldn’t. If Max had simply made a mistake it would be one thing, but he made the mistake because he was distracted by a beautiful woman.

  And I certainly wasn’t feeling very beautiful myself lately. My insecurity was rearing its ugly head. What kind of impression had this made with Cateline? And what about my Italy contact, Isabella? I hadn’t even met her and already I would have to explain myself.

  Max stayed a few steps in front of me to give me some space. As I stared at his slumped shoulders my chest ached. It hurt him to let me down and I wasn’t making it any easier by being so angry.

  “Max, let’s just stop to get directions. I don’t want to get lost.”

  Max spun around and frowned. “That’s just it, isn’t it? You don’t trust me. You didn’t trust me when that woman was flirting with me, you don’t trust me when I tell you it was an honest mistake, and now you don’t trust me to get us back to the cottage.”