by Paula Kay
“Oh no, I was thinking, actually—maybe I’ll text him to come meet us here? In a while, I mean. We have a rental car, so we can take you back to your hotel.”
“You’re too kind. And thank you for that. I think I’ll be spending the rest of the day with my foot up, so I’ll take you up on your offer.”
Isabella texted Thomas, and then she easily talked to Nina for the next thirty minutes—almost non-stop. She filled her in about her travels, Thomas, the highlights of her family, and how she had come to be in Europe to begin with. She sat back in her chair, suddenly feeling bad for monopolizing so much of the conversation. It wasn’t like her and she wasn’t quite sure why she would open up to a perfect stranger like she had. But something about Nina made her feel completely comfortable. She took a quick sip of her coffee.
“Wow, I’m so sorry to go on and on like that. What I really want is to hear all about you. The fact that you’re traveling as a photographer is very fascinating to me.”
Nina reached out to lightly touch Isabella’s arm. “Oh, don’t be silly. There’s nothing to be sorry about. Your life sounds absolutely incredible—everything that has happened to you in such a short amount of time. Your head must still be spinning a bit from it all. And Thomas—now I can’t wait to meet this lifelong friend of yours, who sounds absolutely dreamy.”
“So, what about you? I mean, I know you’re here alone but is there someone back home? Where is home for you, by the way?”
Isabella saw just the quickest flash of something pass across Nina’s face, but when she looked back at her, the smile was still there.
“So, let’s see…I’m originally from the Midwest—near Chicago. But I moved to California when I was just out of my first year of college—chasing the dream of stardom, I suppose.” She laughed. “Most recently, I’d been living in San Francisco, and to answer your other question, no—there’s no one at home waiting for me to come back. I married my husband—sorry—my ex-husband—nearly ten years ago and our divorce was finalized six months ago.” She lifted her phone up, looking at it for a few seconds. “Actually, it will be exactly six months in two days from now.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. And I don’t mean to pry.” Isabella felt bad for having brought the subject up.
“Oh, please. Don’t be sorry. It was the best thing to have happened to me in the last eleven years.” Nina laughed. “Things between us weren’t good. I should have known better, I suppose.”
“So you were pretty young, I guess, when you got married.”
“I guess—but I don’t think thirty is so young—old enough to know better, anyway, right?” She winked at Isabella across the table.
“Wait. Really? That means you’re—” Isabella stopped herself, feeling her face grow warm again.
Nina laughed again and Isabella recognized that, though she’d only known this woman for less than a few hours, it was what drew her to want to know so much more about Nina. Her laugh and demeanor was light and full of life. It was hard for Isabella to conceive of the fact that this woman sitting across from her had only recently gone through a break-up as major as a divorce.
“It’s true. I just turned forty pretty recently—thus, my whole leaving to travel the world and find myself routine.”
Isabella looked at Nina intently. Her words might indicate a crisis of sorts, but Isabella didn’t think Nina meant them seriously. She certainly didn’t look like a woman in crisis—well, apart from her swollen ankle up on a chair.
“Well, I never would have thought you to be forty—I mean, you look really fantastic. And not that being forty is bad or anything.” Isabella willed herself to stop talking. She seemed to keep sticking her foot in her mouth, but across from her, Nina only grinned.
“Oh, don’t be silly. You’re too kind. And compared to you, I know I must seem ancient, but I’m determined to make my forties absolutely the best decade of my life. Well, I’ll have fun trying, anyway—if I can keep myself from fatal injury, that is.”
“That sounds like a great goal—on both counts. And what about your travels? I’d love to hear where you’ve been and where you’re headed to next. And how you’re making everything fit together with your work also. That’s so fascinating to me.”
Nina’s whole face lit up as she settled back into her chair. “Have you been to Thailand yet, Bella?”
Isabella shook her head as she thought about Arianna’s map pinned up on the wall back at the villa where she and Thomas were staying. She—along with Jemma and then Thomas—had made great strides in her goal to try to recreate at least part of the dream that her birth mother had had to see the world. Somewhere along the way during the past months of travel, Arianna’s dream had become Isabella’s dream.
She loved how travel seemed to stretch her. She knew that the way she traveled was privileged compared to a lot of other young people backpacking and staying in youth hostels around the globe, but that didn’t mean that her way of travel wasn’t causing her to grow. She’d mostly been in Europe though, and the allure of Southeast Asia did intrigue here whenever she looked at it on the map. What had the draw been for her mother? And Nina?
She turned her attention back to the woman sitting across from her. “No, I’ve not been to Thailand, but it is on my list. I’d love to hear all about it.”
Just then, Isabella saw Thomas enter the cafe. She grinned up at him as he approached where they were sitting at the table but inside she felt slightly disappointed that her time alone with Nina was ending.
“Hi, I hope that I’m not interrupting you two. I’m Thomas.” He stuck his hand out toward Nina.
“Thomas, this is Nina.” Isabella smiled as the two shook hands and Nina removed the ice from her ankle so that she could take her foot off the chair next to her.
“Great to meet you, Thomas. I’ve heard a lot of lovely things about you,” said Nina.
“How’s your ankle doing? Don’t stop what you’re doing with it on account of my arrival,” said Thomas.
Isabella bent down to look closer at Nina’s ankle. “It’s looking better, isn’t it? How does it feel now?”
Nina stood up, shifting her weight to her injured foot. “It feels tons better. I think I will actually be able to walk on it just fine.” She glanced at Isabella. “Well, maybe after a full day of resting it.”
“I think that’s a good idea—to rest it, at least for the remainder of the day,” said Isabella.
“Yes, and on that note, I don’t want to keep you two from enjoying this romantic island together any longer than I already have, so we can go whenever you’re ready. And thank you so much, Thomas, for coming to give me a lift. That’s very kind of you.”
“It’s no problem at all.”
“So Nina, I would love to hear more about your travels and Thailand, though—when you’re feeling up to it—and if that would work for you.”
“Yes, I’d love to get together again before we both leave. Absolutely, because we still have tons left to talk about it.” Nina grinned.
Isabella and Nina exchanged e-mail addresses, with the promise to be in touch over the next few days.
Chapter 4
Isabella felt Thomas watching her intently as she scooped a bite of salad into her mouth. She kicked him lightly under the table with her bare foot. “What are you looking at?”
Thomas leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. “You look so intense. Like you have a million thoughts racing through that brilliant beautiful mind of yours.”
Isabella laughed. “I’m sorry. I suppose I’m thinking about Nina and this morning. She seems so interesting. I really do hope that I can spend a little more time with her before she leaves. She mentioned Thailand to me and it’s really got me thinking about Southeast Asia again. When we might go, I mean.”
Thomas was quiet. “Iz, I might be able to get away during spring break, but I’m not sure that Asia is going to be very logical for only a week’s trip.”
“Oh, I know. Never mind. I just want to hear mo
re about her and the work she’s doing. I know that we’ll need to wait until summer for any real travel plans again. You know that I fully support you when it comes to your studies.” Isabella leaned over to touch Thomas’s arm from across the table. “You do know that, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do. And you know that I also support any travel aspirations that you have.”
Isabella looked down toward her plate of food, suddenly desperate to change the subject. She and Thomas had already talked about her travels, his school, and living in New York until there didn’t seem anything left to say about the topic. Now whenever it came up, it only seemed to make Isabella feel uncomfortable. She couldn’t quite put her finger on the reasons why, and she only wanted to avoid the topic except for where she left it alone in her own head.
“Iz?”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t mean to keep bringing it up, but I think it’s important that we’re clear with one another. Don’t you?”
“Yes, of course. But what do you mean? Clear about what exactly?”
“Well, I just don’t want you to have any regrets—the last thing I’d want is for you to feel like you are giving something up for me. I know we’ve talked about it but then when I see you mention travel ideas that you have—it just makes me feel like maybe coming to New York is not going to be what’s best for you. And I wouldn’t fault you for that.”
“Oh, I know, Thomas. And I’m sorry. You don’t need to worry about that. I promise I’m going to try my best to make the best decisions for both of us. All we can do is try it, right? Do I still have travel that I want to do? Yes. But if I’m being honest, I don’t want to do it without you. So I’ll just have to wait until summer or whenever you can—”
“But Iz, you shouldn’t have to wait. That’s my point. It’s not fair to you.”
“Thomas, I want to be with you. Let’s just drop it for now, okay? The water looks so wonderful. I’m dying to get in there. Are you almost finished?”
They were eating Greek salads at one of their favorite cafes just steps from the beach. They would often dine at one of the tables with an umbrella above them and the sand under their feet. An order of drinks or food would hold the spot for them all afternoon as they came and went from the sea at their leisure.
“Yeah, and okay, we can drop it for now. Just promise me one thing, Iz.”
“What’s that?”
Thomas took her hand in both of his. “Once we get there—to New York—you have to promise me that you’ll be honest with me and with yourself about how you’re feeling, okay? I don’t want to have to wonder if it’s really the best decision for you. Your happiness means something to me too, you know.”
Isabella got up from the table to come around and pull Thomas up to his feet. Reaching her hands up around his neck, she pulled him in for a big hug. “That’s a promise.”
Thomas smiled at her as he kissed her quickly on the top of her head. “Great, now last one in has to buy lunch.”
Isabella laughed as she took off running across the beach after him.
Isabella loved the sensation of weightlessness that she felt bobbing around in the sea. It still surprised her that she could float around out there for hours without tiring of it. She loved watching the mostly European families that dotted the beach—families and couples away for the entire last month of the summer—one last hurrah before it was back to work and the day-to-day living that was catching up with them all.
One thing that she’d really come to love about her stay in much of southern Europe was the attitude toward work and life. She’d felt it greatly in Spain and Italy—that love for food, wine, and friends. The way that entire communities seemed to shut down for long lunches and siestas and then revive for long hours and late dinners well into the nights. Life had felt slower-paced and very content as she watched the people where she and Thomas had traveled.
It couldn’t be helped that Isabella was already comparing it to what she imagined life back in New York was going to be. America, and especially the big city, was about as fast-paced as any place she could imagine. Was she truly ready for that type of lifestyle? Even thinking about it reminded her of her last year in high school. Had it really only been a year since she’d been frantically wrapping up her exams, track, and everything else that had been going on in her busy life back then?
Thomas’s arm around her brought Isabella out of her thoughts. She kissed him playfully on the lips and then dove down into the water, pulling him with her.
They both came to the surface sputtering and laughing as Thomas smoothed the hair back from her face. “So, you didn’t really tell me about Nina—about her work and what it was about her that seems to have you so distracted today.”
“Yeah, so we didn’t really get a chance to talk about it much, but she’s a photographer and I think she has her own travel blog. Interesting, right?”
“Mm-hm. She did seem very nice. Is she here alone then?”
“Yes, that we did discuss just a bit. She’s only recently divorced—she seems to be on a little sabbatical of sorts, I guess you could call it. I’ll definitely connect with her—about the work. Maybe she has some tips for me about working while traveling. You know I haven’t had the easiest time of balancing it all during my travels.”
“Yeah, but you’ve not really had a good reason to—or a need to, I should say.”
Isabella felt herself tense up just a bit. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I just mean that you don’t really need to do it for money—what with the big trust that Arianna left you.”
The look on Thomas’s face made Isabella think that he felt bad about what he’d blurted out.
“But, I don’t mean to say that your writing isn’t important, Iz. I know that it is.”
“No. I know what you mean.” Isabella smiled in the hopes of Thomas not seeing what she was feeling all of a sudden. “Getting everything from Arianna did change my life. There’s no denying that. It certainly has made things a lot easier for me in terms of finances, that’s for sure. But I still want to do something and right now that something would appear to be writing.”
Thomas leaned over to kiss her again. “And you’re a great writer, Iz. Of course you should be doing that—figuring out how to make it work for you. And you will. I’m sure of it.”
Isabella smiled in response. “And on that note, I suppose I should get back, because I do want to finish writing the section that I started this morning. How ’bout you? Ready to get out? I don’t mind walking back if you want to stay longer.”
“I think I’ll swim a little. You go ahead and take the car. I’ll walk back.”
“Okay, see you in a bit.”
Chapter 5
Isabella and Nina walked in easy silence for a few minutes. It was a perfect day to be out for a short hike on the trail that followed along the beach, and Isabella was still shocked at how quickly Nina had gotten back on her feet. The two women had already exchanged numerous e-mails and shared a few meals with one another since they’d met nearly a week before. And Isabella felt that a true friendship had been forged between them.
“So how are you feeling about leaving tomorrow? I really hope that Thomas doesn’t mind me stealing you away this morning…”
“Oh, no. I think he has some romantic dinner planned for us. Probably at my favorite place in town. And we’ll have one last swim this afternoon together also.”
“Uh-oh. That look.”
“That noticeable, huh?” Isabella had been having a hard time as the days grew closer and closer to their leaving. She kept telling Thomas that she would be fine, but inside, her emotions were a mess.
“Hey, I get it. I won’t be happy to leave this paradise myself.”
“And remind me where you are off to next?” Isabella had had long chats with Nina about her travels, and was completely enamored by her new friend’s lifestyle and the beautiful photographs that Nina had shared with her since they’d met.
; “I think I’ll go back to Italy. Your description of Tuscany has me realizing that I missed something really beautiful when I was there. But I am thinking about extending my stay here by a few weeks first. I haven’t quite gotten around the island the way that I’d intended, and I don’t want to leave without getting some shots of the other side.”
“Well, do be careful on that Vespa you rented.” Isabella laughed. “I don’t want to hear about any more tumbles after I’ve gone.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. From now on, safety first is my motto.” Nina glanced over at Isabella, looking like she wanted to say something else.
“What? Why do I get the feeling you have something to say to me?” Isabella laughed lightly. She’d really surprised herself with how quickly she’d opened up to her new friend, and she quite enjoyed the easy way that they seemed to have with one another.
“Have you thought any more about what we talked about the other day? About Thailand?”
During lunch the day before, Nina had shared her Southeast Asia photos with Isabella and they’d talked for hours about Nina’s time in Thailand—what she’d described to Isabella as three life-changing months of her life.
Isabella stopped to bend down to tie her shoe. She had been thinking about Thailand and about leaving Greece and about what her new life was going to be like in New York. It was all that she’d been thinking about lately. But she didn’t know if she was able to verbalize the uneasiness she was feeling. She definitely hadn’t wanted to approach it—again—with Thomas. It only served to validate his concerns about the decision that Isabella was making to stop her travels.
Isabella stretched her arms high above her head while Nina stood nearby watching her.
“Well, I do admit that I’m even more curious about Thailand now—that’s for sure. But…”
“Yes? But what?”