by Adi Alsaid
That’s what she’d done with the music on her phone during the trip. It’s what she would do with everything else. Starting with the books in her room. Aunt Cathy had managed to enroll Leila in the local high school on time so that she could retake her senior year. The first day of classes was two weeks away, and Leila planned to go through as many books as she could until then, discovering.
Leila took a sip of her sweet tea, then turned the page, the moisture from the glass sticking to the book. She read on, sinking farther into the couch and further into the book, thoroughly pleased. The world around her was comprised only of details: the cool, leather couch beneath her, the air tickling the back of her neck, the taste of the tea on her tongue. Everything else was forgotten, taken over by the book.
She didn’t know how long the knocking had been going on when she finally noticed it. If she hadn’t finished a chapter almost exactly between songs, she might have just dived right into the next chapter and not heard it at all. Using a blank postcard from Alaska as a bookmark, Leila paused the stereo and listened for where the knocking was coming from, if it was still there.
A moment or two passed by silently. Leila was about to put the music back on when she heard it again, coming from the front door. She left the book on the couch and ambled over to answer the door and sign for whatever package was being delivered. Already, she wanted to return to the book. Barely paying attention to her surroundings, Leila opened the door.
It was only when she saw his face that she realized how often she’d been dreaming of him showing up just like this, though there was a little more stubble on his chin than she remembered, and bags under his eyes, as if he’d been driving all night. His T-shirt was wrinkled, his jeans loose, as if he’d recently lost weight. He’d gotten some sun over the summer, which had lightened his hair and darkened his skin and made his eyes seem as if they were under spotlights.
His name had been on her tongue for so long, it practically leapt out of her mouth of its own will. “Hudson,” she said.
“You were right.” He had his hands together and was cracking his fingers. She found herself studying them, expecting to see them grease-stained, as if he’d just left the garage. “It took me way too long to realize that you were right.” He bit his bottom lip and looked at the ground but then forced himself to meet her eyes again.
Leila was too stunned to say much of anything. She just kept looking from his hands to his face.
“That night on the oxbow, I knew exactly what I was doing. It wasn’t even that far in the back of my mind, the consequences of missing the interview. I wanted to stay in Vicksburg, I wanted to stay in the garage, I wanted to keep my life.” He ran a hand through his hair and then grabbed a hold of the back of his neck as if it was hurting. “You were right. I was afraid of change, even if it was for the better. And I should have realized it when you told me. But I was stupid, and instead of listening, I freaked out on you, and I’ve spent the last couple of months trying to figure out a way to tell you that.” Hudson shook his head, a smirk on his face. “I can’t believe you gave me the best night of my life and I never asked for your phone number. I couldn’t call you, couldn’t write. And so I went to Texas. I went to the town you told me you grew up in. With the anthills. I was in Fredericksburg for the last two weeks, trying to figure out where I could find you, hoping you’d be back home soon.”
Leila furrowed her brow, about to ask about her postcards, if he’d even gotten them. She’d been looking at his mouth, practically zooming in on his lips, the memory of them on hers giving her goose bumps. Then what he was saying clicked. “You went to Fredericksburg? I only lived there until I was eleven.”
He laughed and shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand again. “Yeah, I figured that out eventually. And then I remembered your Louisiana car registration. I just knew that I needed to find you, that I needed to apologize.”
“Hudson,” Leila said, stepping out of the doorway. She couldn’t believe that it had taken her that long to move toward him. She didn’t know whether to throw her arms around him in a hug or a kiss or what. After all this time of thinking he wanted nothing to do with her, here he was, standing right in front of her, wanting her back in his life.
“I’m sorry I yelled at you back then. I’m sorry I let you go.” He took a step forward so that only an arm’s length separated them. It was probably just the memory, but she thought she could smell the Mississippi River on him. “I know it’s crazy after just one night and after two months of nothing, but, Leila, you’re the surest thing in my life.”
The words moved something inside her, sending a smile to her face. In a blur, the distance between them disappeared, and they were in each other’s arms. His kiss was just like she remembered it, soft and strong at the same time, his lips feeling like they belonged on hers. Happiness swept through her. Not relief, or peacefulness, but pure joy, maybe for the first time.
She was home.
* * * * *
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
Common Core aligned and suggested for book club use.
Is there anything that you’ve learned from this book? If so, how might you apply this in your own life?
Why do you think the author titled the book Let’s Get Lost? How does the title relate to the themes of the book? What would be another good title for this book? Why?
Were you surprised when you found out about Leila’s past? Why or why not?
How were the characters that Leila picked up along the way similar and different? Who was your favorite? Why? Whom did you like the least? Cite character actions and dialogue to support your opinion.
Describe Leila’s role in the lives of each of the main characters whom she comes in contact with. How did she help each of them in a meaningful way? What parts of the text inform your analysis?
Why is Leila so effective in helping the characters she meets? How does she accomplish this? What is it about her personality and circumstances that make her so helpful? Cite examples from the text to support your ideas.
Leila seems to have a very good understanding of people. What do you think she learned on her road trip that she didn’t already know about people?
Besides Hudson, which character do you think had the most impact on Leila? Cite specific words, phrases and actions from the book to defend your response.
Did Leila have to take this road trip? How might her life have been different if she hadn’t?
What are the various themes of this book? What parts of the book inform your answer?
In her first letter to Hudson, Leila writes, “I’ve decided that my trip to see the Lights will be a treasure hunt. I’m going to steal your idea to look at the world as if it’s always hiding something of value.” How did Leila follow this advice throughout her road trip? Cite specific instances.
What might the significance of Leila’s car being totally red, right down to the hubcaps and entire interior, have? What might this color be a symbol for? Defend your answer with character traits and scene-specific textual evidence from throughout the story.
How does the author build suspense throughout the novel? Which lines/words/parts of the book add to this suspenseful feeling?
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
FIRST AND FOREMOST, thank you for picking up this book. Maybe you haven’t even read it and just flipped through to the back, but at least you picked it up off its shelf, or your friend’s coffee table, or from a big, heaping, pile of other books that you could have chosen instead. People like you, people who pick up books, you’re the reason I get to do what I do. So, thanks.
I also get to do what I do thanks to my editors, Annie Stone at Harlequin and Emilia Rhodes at Alloy. They helped this story reach all the places it needed to go. Writers bring stories to life but editors nurse them to health so that they can one day grow up and be not just stories, but books, with shiny covers, an
d potential readers, and rambling acknowledgements sections.
Thanks, also, to Josh Bank and Sara Shandler at Alloy for their help, and to the entire Harlequin team for all their support and excitement over my book. Thanks to Dawn Ryan for her role in making it all possible. To Leah Kreitz for her hospitality in New York, and everyone else who’s hosted me on my travels throughout the years. Thanks to RuffaloCODY, the NBA and any other job I applied for out of college that didn’t hire me, and, in a way, directed me toward the life I now have.
To my parents and siblings, whose love, support, teasing, encouragement, and managerial skills were crucial in the years leading up to this. Thanks to Chris Russell, David Isern, and Maggie Vazquez for being almost as proud of me as my mom is, and for giving me a reason to travel to go visit them.
I’m extremely thankful to be where I am, doing what I get to do. I wish I could acknowledge everyone that deserves to be acknowledged—from those closest to me who’ve provided constant support, to passing acquaintances who were unknowing muses, and right down to all the authors, musicians, and filmmakers whose wonderful work inspired me to create some of my own—but my memory is too flawed and this page is too small.
We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin ebook. Connect with us on Harlequin.com for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!
Other ways to keep in touch:
Harlequin.com/newsletters
Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks
Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks
HarlequinBlog.com
ISBN-13: 9781460326718
LET’S GET LOST
Copyright © 2014 by Alloy Entertainment
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.
www.Harlequin.com