“Well, I’ve always wanted to find someone to be away with – if that makes sense.”
“You mean someone to travel with?”
“Exactly. To me, marriage is about finding your missing piece. The one person whose dreams fit with yours. Who makes you feel like anything is possible.” He shrugged a little and Beth wasn’t sure if it was the cold making his cheeks blush, or the fact that he’d been so open with her. “That’s what I think, anyway.”
“I didn’t know you were interested in the one – I figured you’d want to stay footloose and carefree. Travelling solo. Doing whatever you want.”
“Then maybe you don’t know me well enough yet.” Blake’s voice had melted into something soft and warm. His eyes moved to Beth’s freckled cheeks, and then to her lips.
She moved a little closer, suddenly completely unfazed by the huge chasm of empty space below them. Blake pressed his forehead gently against hers and stroked the back of her neck.
She could feel his lips, so close to hers they were almost touching.
And then...
The cable car lurched and with a loud crank and a clunk started moving.
Beth sat back. Blake smiled coyly and glanced behind them. “They couldn’t have waited thirty more seconds...?”
Beth smiled back and bit her lower lip to stop it spreading into a grin. And as Blake shuffled and started to take back his arm, she reached up to stop him. “Just until we reach the other side,” she said.
He nodded. “Just until we reach the other side.”
That evening, they sat together in their Jasper B&B’s small cosy lounge to work on their articles. Despite being sunny during the day, at night the temperature in Jasper dropped to almost-freezing, so the warmth of the fire and its delicate orange glow made it feel more like winter than spring.
Beside her, Blake was typing quickly on his laptop. But, despite the typewriter-sounds app he’d downloaded for her, Beth was still struggling.
Sighing and flipping her iPad case closed, she leaned back and put her hands behind her head, jutting out her elbows and enjoying the stretch.
“It’s still not the same, I’m afraid,” she said, taking out her earphones.
“Missing your typewriter?”
Beth nodded.
“Well, not long now until you’re reunited. Only... eight days.”
“Gosh. Are we a week into the competition already?”
“We are.”
Beth breathed out slowly, trying to ignore the tugging sense of disappointment in her chest. Was she disappointed that the trip would soon end? Or disappointed because she’d just realised that the thought of anything more than a friendship between her and Blake was foolish. They’d barely known each other a week. In eight more days, one of them would win the competition and be whisked off on a one-in-a-lifetime journey. And the other would go back home to their normal life.
As if he could read her mind, Blake closed the lid of his laptop and turned to face her. His arm was resting on the back of the couch. She wanted to lean into him, the way she had in the cable car, but she didn’t.
“Beth. Earlier. When we...”
She felt herself starting to blush, and hoped he’d assume it was the warmth of the fire. “You mean when we almost...”
Blake nodded. “I feel like we should talk about it. I wasn’t expecting it. I mean... I kind of thought you hated me.”
Beth tucked her hair behind her ear. “Honestly? So did I.” She nudged him playfully. “Maybe we were just caught up in the moment.”
“Maybe.” Blake’s hand was near her shoulder and his fingers were almost touching her. He reached up and brushed his index finger against the small soft piece of skin just below her ear. It sent a tingle down her spine.
“I suppose it’s silly. Us being...” she trailed off. She didn’t know how to finish.
“We’re competitors.” Blake said. “One of us is going to win this thing and go travelling around the world for a year.”
“Plus my home is in England and yours is in Toronto.”
“Right.” Blake sat up and slowly took his hand away. “So, we should just be...”
“Friends?” Even as she said it, Beth realised she wanted Blake to stop talking and kiss her. But he didn’t. He just nodded slowly and said, “Yes. Friends. Exactly.”
13
Day Seven, Jasper
So far, in the first week of their Canada trip, they’d been offered just a few un-timetabled hours here and there to ‘relax’. Mostly, because that time was limited, they’d spent it working on their articles but with nothing due until tomorrow, Beth finally allowed herself a lie-in.
She stayed in her big comfy bed until nine-thirty, by which time breakfast downstairs was over, so she ventured out to find somewhere to eat.
She hadn’t asked Blake what he’d got planned for the day, although she had found herself looking for him in the lounge before she left and mentally kicking herself for being disappointed he wasn’t there.
Wandering out onto Jasper’s main street, Beth looked up at the mountains. How was she ever going to get used to not seeing this kind of beauty every day when she got home?
Taking her camera, she decided that today would be a day for photos. Walking, and observing, and taking pictures.
She’d called her mum last night, and had spoken to Jo several times via text, but hadn’t spoken to Harry since their phone call back when she was in Vancouver. Stopping outside a coffee shop with big windows and comfortable looking chairs, she looked at her phone. It would be mid-afternoon in Oxford. She could call Harry, check in. After yesterday, and her near-kiss with Blake, she was feeling strangely guilty. Even though she was pretty sure things between her and Harry were over. Even though not being his girlfriend anymore filled her with an overwhelming sense of relief. She still felt as if she shouldn’t be feeling attracted to someone else so soon.
Especially not Blake O’Brien.
But then, perhaps she wasn’t attracted to him at all. Perhaps she was confused. It was good that she and Blake had decided just to be friends.
Much better.
Just as she had decided this, and resolved to stop thinking about Blake’s deep Canadian accent and mesmerising eyes, as if fate was taunting her, he appeared on the other side of the coffee shop window.
Settling into a brown leather armchair, he looked up, saw Beth outside and waved. “Come join me,” he mouthed, pointing at his coffee, smiling, and rubbing his belly to indicate that it was good and she’d be missing out if she didn’t.
Adjusting her camera on her shoulder, she inhaled through her nose and breathed slowly out through her mouth. Then she went inside.
“Fancy seeing you here,” Blake said with a smile as she said down beside him. “Have I ever told you how impressive that camera of yours is?”
Beth glanced at it, then self-consciously removed the cap and started wiping the lens with the end of her sleeve. “Thanks.”
“Photography’s definitely a strong point of yours.”
It was a genuine compliment, but Beth couldn’t help teasing him. “Mmm. I believe you briefly mentioned it in your critique…”
Blake tapped a finger on the side of his coffee cup. “Well, there you go then. You’re ace.”
“Ace?”
“You Brits don’t say ‘ace’?”
“No. We use proper English.”
“Oh, well, I’m glad we’re back to our traditional style of competitive banter.”
Beth stood up and started to walk over to the counter. “You had breakfast? I’m getting a muffin I think.”
“Sure. I’ll have one.”
When she returned, Blake wolfed his down in just a couple of mouthfuls, brushed the crumbs from his chin, and said, “So, today, what’s the plan?”
“Well, my plan is to just enjoy this beautiful town. Take some photos. Enjoy the fact I’m not dangling thousands of metres above the ground.”
“Want company?”
&
nbsp; Beth put down her now-empty coffee cup and brushed her hands on her jeans. She should say no. She should do her own thing, let Blake do his, and go back to finding him annoying and arrogant. But, despite herself, she said, “Okay.”
After wandering up and down Jasper’s main streets for a couple of hours, Blake suggested they get take out sandwiches and go somewhere off the beaten track.
“I read about a great picnic spot,” he said, taking out his phone and showing Beth a TripAdvisor page.
She agreed and after purchasing food, getting lost a couple of times, and having to eventually stop for directions because Google Maps wasn’t helping, they arrived at a small wooden bridge and a startlingly blue, slow-moving river.
“It’s a bridge, but a very very small one,” Blake said, settling down on a nearby bit of river bank.
“I think I can handle it.” Beth put down her bag and raised her camera. “Hold that pose.” Blake was looking at the river, sitting with one knee bent and his arm resting casually on top of it. He turned to look at her. “No, no. Look that way.” She pointed to the water, then snap-snap-snap took three images in quick succession.
“You think I’ve got a back-up career as a male-model if this doesn’t work out?” Blake asked, trying to sound cocky but clearly more self-conscious than he wanted her to realise.
“Don’t quit the day job just yet.” Beth sat down and showed him the pictures. “They’re good though. I can send them to you if you like, for your article?” As she said it, she instantly regretted it. Good imagery was the one thing she had that Blake didn’t. But thankfully, he shook his head.
“It’s okay. I’ll go with a good old selfie.” He held up his phone and motioned for Beth to lean in. “Say cheese, Greenwood.”
Beth frowned at him, but smiled at the camera and stuck out her tongue. Then... “Blake. Wait.”
“You look fine...”
“No,” she reached up and held his hand in place. “Behind us.”
Blake shifted the phone, squinted at it, then his eyes widened. “What do we do?” he whispered.
“I have no idea,” Beth hissed at him. “We don’t have bears in Oxford. You’re the Canadian. Don’t they teach you this stuff in school?”
“Not in Toronto!”
Beth slowly started to turn around, gripping her camera so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. “Oh my goodness, Blake. It’s a mother and a baby.”
Blake turned around too and grabbed Beth’s arm. “Beth, that’s not good. Mother bears are super protective.”
“Okay, okay, I read about this. They had a leaflet in the B&B. Bears don’t really like humans. She won’t attack us for no reason, so let’s just stay put and keep still and she’ll probably move right by us.”
“Or...” Blake glanced back at the bridge. “We could run.”
“I don’t think we should run.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s grizzlies you don’t run from. Black bears are fine. They won’t chase us. Come on, leave the food, let’s go.”
“A minute ago, you didn’t know anything about bears and now you’re an expert?” Beth could feel her voice rising in volume, so she lowered it to a whisper and shook her head. “You run if you like, I’m staying put.” She turned and sat, very still, facing the bears. Lifting her camera, she gently clicked some pictures. Then, slowly, the mother bear and her cub started to move away into the trees.
“They’re going,” whispered Blake, visibly relaxing.
Beth’s heart was pounding in her chest. Grinning, she turned to Blake and impulsively hugged him. “I can’t believe I just saw a bear up close. Two bears!” She waved her camera at him.
“Let’s see...” Blake looked over her shoulder as she scrolled through the images she’d taken. “Beth, these are stunning.”
“Did you get any?” Beth gestured to Blake’s phone.
“Ah. No. I was too busy protecting us to worry about taking photos.”
“Protecting us? You wanted to run.”
“For safety.”
Beth laughed, shaking her head at him. And as they got up and started to walk back towards town, she said, “Do you want me to tell everyone you were super-brave?”
“Yes,” he said. “Yes, I do.”
On the outskirts of town, Blake said he needed to go grab a few ‘supplies’, so Beth headed back to the B&B on her own. Almost as soon as she was back in her room, she downloaded the images of the bears. Now, if only she could get over her lack-of-typewriter and write something spectacular about them. Something that would blow Blake’s articles out of the water.
She was editing a couple of pictures into black and white when there was a knock at her door. When she opened it, there was no-one there. Just a small white box sitting on the floor.
She picked it up. On top, there was an envelope and a card inside that read:
I hope this helps the inspiration flow. Your friend, Bear-Hunter Extraordinaire, Blake x
Beth sat down on the edge of the bed and slowly opened the box. Inside, sat a brand new, shiny, miniature version of what looked like a typewriter. Beside it was an instruction leaflet and, as soon as she picked it up, she knew what it was for.
“A typewriter for my iPad,” she breathed, tears springing to her eyes.
Immediately, she set it down on the small round table in the corner of the room and slotted her iPad into the holder at the back. Opening a Word document, she typed h-e-l-l-o and there it was; the sound and the feel of her typewriter. Right there, beneath her fingers.
Straight away, she started typing. And she typed, and typed, and typed. Until there were no more words left inside her.
The next morning, she found Blake standing outside on the veranda, looking up at the mountains. Without saying anything, she walked right up to him and hugged him. For a moment, he stood stiff as a statue, but then he let his arms fold around her.
“You liked the gift then?”
Beth stood back and wrapped her cardigan a little tighter around her middle. “Where did you find it? I mean... here?” She tilted her head towards the town’s main street. “I can’t imagine they’ve got many tech shops in Jasper.”
Blake leaned on the railing of the veranda and bit his lower lip, looking at her as if he wasn’t sure whether he should tell her or not.
Beth raised her right eyebrow at him.
“I ordered it back when we were in Kamloops. Asked for it to be delivered here.”
“Seriously?” She was still hugging herself against the crisp early-morning air, but her skin suddenly felt warmer and the sensation spread from her chest, up her neck, to her cheeks. “Why would you do that?”
A coy smile fleetingly crossed Blake’s lips and he looked away. “I wanted to help. That’s all.”
“Well,” Beth stepped up beside him and nudged his ribs with her upper arm. “It did.”
“Yeah?”
“So much.” She met his eyes and blinked slowly. “Thank you, Blake.”
“You’re very welcome... friend.” Blake’s smile spread into his usual cheeky grin. “See how good we are at this?”
“At being friends?”
“Mm hmm.”
“Oh yeah, we’re smashing it.” Beth laughed and punched him lightly on the arm. “Come on then, friend, let’s go eat. Our cab will be here soon.”
Heading back inside, Blake turned and looked at the mountains behind them. “I’ll be kind of sad to leave this part of Canada.”
“Me too. And I’m not sure how I feel about being cooped up in a train with you for four whole days.”
“Oh, come on, it’s a dream come true.”
Beth shook her head and stepped past him. “We’ll see.”
14
Day Eight - Jasper to Edmonton
The train they boarded in Jasper was very different to the luxury Rocky Mountaineer that had taken them from Vancouver to Banff.
This train was, aptly, called The Canadian and it was a large shiny sleeper-train that would
carry them hundreds of miles from Alberta, across the Saskatchewan plains, to Ontario – Blake’s home-county. They’d finish their journey in six days’ time in Toronto, with a visit to Niagara Falls.
Six days, and it would all be over. Six days. Three more articles to write. And then either she or Blake would be crowned the winner of the competition.
So far, it had been nothing short of a rollercoaster; she had started the trip almost certain she wouldn’t win, intending to simply enjoy the vacation. Then she’d met Blake and her competitive streak had fired into action, only to be torn to pieces when he offered his constructive criticism of her blog. She had spent several hours feeling like a failure, wondering why Nomad had picked her and whether she was letting down her father’s memory, her friends, or herself by not being good enough.
And then she’d had her epiphany; the ray of light which had made her realise that her strength was in her depth of feeling and the way she expressed it with her writing, in her photographs and the moments they captured, and in the fact that she didn’t want to change herself just to fit a ‘commercial’ mould.
In that moment, she’d decided that what she needed from the competition was to finish it feeling as if she’d been true to herself. If she managed that, she would go home feeling proud of herself.
And so, she boarded The Canadian with the resolution to soak up every last second of the next six days, to write from her heart, and to let fate decide whether she was destined to win or not.
She would try her best, be herself, and whatever was meant to happen would happen.
And as for Blake O’Brien? Well, she would quite simply forget about their moment in the cable car. She’d forget how it had felt when he’d had his arm around her, and when his lips had almost brushed against hers. She’d stop thinking about his magical eyes and his Hollywood dimples. And she would focus on being his friend.
And if that failed, she’d remind herself that he really had been a jerk for ninety percent of the beginning of their trip, and hopefully that would be enough to make the fluttering in her stomach go away.
The True Love Travels Series Box Set Page 22