The True Love Travels Series Box Set

by Poppy Pennington-Smith

  Because, really, there could never be anything more than friendship between them, could there?

  They lived on different sides of the world, she’d only just broken up with Harry and was probably still in shock, and whoever won the competition would soon be in possession of a round-the-world plane ticket.

  Even friendship was a stretch under those circumstances.

  Pen-pals, or email-pals, would probably be as much as they’d manage.

  “Hey Greenwood, get a move on...” Blake nudged her. She’d stopped in the middle of the platform and was causing a traffic-jam.

  “Sorry,” she muttered. “Is this us?”

  Blake checked the cabin number on their ticket. “Sure is. We got sleeper cabins, how cool is that?”

  Beth frowned. “Aren’t they all sleeper cabins? It’s a four-day trip.”

  Blake chuckled. “You might as well burn your itinerary, you know.”

  “I like things to be...”

  “A surprise. I know. But there’s such a thing as being chronically underprepared.”

  Beth tutted and stepped up into the train.

  Walking down the inside of a carriage lined with windows on one side and doors on the other, Blake gestured to them and said, “These are cabins. So, we get an actual door and a washroom. But back there…” He pointed to the carriage behind them. “They’ve got open bunks with curtains they can pull across at night. And behind that, there’s just ordinary seats… like airplane seats.”

  “People do a four-day journey like that?”

  “Yep.”

  Beth inhaled quickly. “Well, I’m very glad we’ve got beds. And doors.”

  “Me too. And you don’t mind bunking in with me for three nights, do you?”

  Beth stopped and looked over her shoulder. Blake had come to a halt outside one of the cabin doors. “With you?” A fierce heat bubbled across her skin and up into her cheeks. “That can’t be... let me see your ticket.” She took it from him and held it next to hers, then breathed a sigh of relief, looked up, and punched him lightly on the arm. “You’re an idiot, you know that?”

  Blake’s face had reddened. He was trying not to laugh. “Sorry. I couldn’t resist. Don’t worry Greenwood, we’re neighbours not roommates.” He reached over and tapped the door to the left of his. “That one’s yours, I think.”

  Beth handed him back his ticket and took the key she’d been given at arrivals from her pocket. Inside her cabin there was barely enough room to turn around. Folded down from the wall, there was a small single bed. Opposite the door, a square window that looked out onto the station platform. And opposite the bed, a minuscule en-suite bathroom. Beth reached out her arms; she could touch each side of the cabin with the tips of her fingers and, suddenly, she understood why Emily had made them check in their cases and take just hand luggage for the train trip.

  “Knock knock!” Emily’s chirpy voice accompanied a swift tapping on the door as she pushed it open. “Wow, this is adorable.” She shuffled inside and peeked at the en-suite. “But this is goodbye for now.”

  “I can’t believe you’re not coming with us.”

  Emily smiled thinly. “I know. What can I say? It’s cheaper – and quicker, I guess – for me to get a six-hour train to Calgary and then fly to Toronto. This way,” she said, not trying to disguise her bitterness, “they get me back in the office a whole three-days quicker.”

  “But who will remind us what we’re actually supposed to be doing?”

  Emily laughed a little. “I think you’ll manage – this next bit is pretty simple. Just stay on the train until it reaches Toronto. You can get off for some air at Edmonton or Winnipeg, but other than that it goes straight through. And I’ll be waiting for you at the other end.”

  Outside on the platform, an extra-loud whistle sounded and Emily stepped back out into the corridor. “Got to go!” She waved, shouted goodbye to Blake as she passed his cabin, and then she was gone.

  Beth sat down on her small fold-out bed and watched as the train pulled out of the station. She felt nervous and she wasn’t sure why, but she’d barely had time to contemplate it before Blake put his head around the door and said, “Want to find the lounge car? I need coffee and good scenery. I’m missing those mountains already.”

  For the rest of the morning, Beth felt as if they did nothing but eat snacks, drink coffee, and talk. The Canadian’s lounge car was like any other train car, but bigger. It had huge windows on either side, a mixture of leather bench-seats with tables, and comfy recliner chairs.

  Beth and Blake settled themselves at a table and barely moved until the lunch bell rang.

  Beth glanced at her watch. “Darn, I was going to get changed before we ate.”

  “It’s not a cruise ship, I don’t think black-tie is necessary.”

  Beth raised her right eyebrow at him. “I was just going to swap my baggy cardigan for something a little nicer. I wasn’t thinking of going full-on ball gown.”

  “You look great just as you are.”

  Beth looked down at her fingernails and tried to shrug off the compliment.

  Friendly. Blake was just being friendly.

  “By the way,” he said as they got up and started to walk towards the dining car. “How do you do that with your eyebrow?”

  As she looked at him, she noticed he was trying – and failing – to mimic her. But instead of moving just one eyebrow, he was tweaking both up in a comical arch that made his forehead wrinkle and his hairline twitch.

  “Years of practice. You’ll never manage it.”

  As they sat down, Blake tutted. “Yet another thing you’re better at, Greenwood.”

  “I’d say the only thing. Your articles are blowing mine out of the water. I’ve seen the comments they’re getting. At least ten times the amount mine are.”

  Blake picked up a menu, not looking at her as he replied, “Yeah, but your comments are deep.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He put down his menu and took out his phone, navigating to Beth’s icefields article. “Look. You’re getting people write entire paragraphs on how much they love what you’ve written. My comments are one-liners. Yay, go Blake... Great job, Blake... In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if most of mine were written by my buddy Karl under a pseudonym.”

  “Karl?” Beth chuckled. “Is he your bestie?”

  “The best of a bad bunch,” Blake quipped, then tilted his head and looked a little more serious. “Nah. I’m kidding. My buddies are great. Karl and I have known each other since we were at school. He’s bagged my ‘friends and family’ ticket if I win this thing.”

  “Oh, wow. So, you’ve thought about who you’ll take?”

  “Haven’t you?”

  Beth shifted a little in her seat and nibbled the inside of her cheek. “I guess, Jo? We worked together at Cooper’s. But then... I don’t know. I love her but she’s a bit of a party animal and I’m most definitely not.”

  “And I guess things between you and Henry...” Blake cleared his throat and picked up his menu again. “Harry,” Beth corrected. “Things between Harry and I are finished.”

  “You don’t think he’d change his mind about going travelling if you won?”

  Beth looked out of the window. For some reason, looking at Blake was making her stomach feel jittery. “No. Definitely not. He’s been offered a promotion at Cooper’s. They’re opening a new branch. There’s no way he’d give that up.”

  “Even for you?” Blake was looking at her intently; she could feel it.

  “Especially not for me.” She finally made herself look at Blake and, as her eyes met his, the jittering spread from her stomach to her chest. “He told me to take some time to think about things, but I’ve known for a long time that we weren’t right for each other. I guess it just took this trip to make me realise it…” She sighed a little and realised she was speaking quietly. “If I’m honest, we’ve been drifting apart for a long time. It’s just that neither of us wanted to adm
it it. He’s not...” She trailed off, then breathed in sharply and forced herself to look away. “He’s not going to be my plus one.”

  “So then, your mom?”

  Beth laughed a little. “She likes her home and her job and her friends too much to leave for a year... maybe I’ll have to just travel solo. Or maybe you’ll beat me, hands down, and I won’t have to worry about it.”

  “Well,” Blake waved for the waiter who was moving through the car taking orders. “On the off chance that you do manage to kick my butt and win this thing, you could always...”

  “Are you ready to order, Sir?” The waiter cut Blake’s sentence short and Beth realised she was holding her breath. What had he been about to say? She could always... stay home? Give him her ticket? Take him with her?

  15

  After lunch, they were standing on the train’s outside viewing platform – a small space at the very end of the train that allowed them to feel the wind on their faces as they watched the scenery rushing past – waiting for the approach to Edmonton to begin, when Blake grabbed Beth’s arm and pointed into the cabin. “Hey, is that Doris?”

  “It is!” Beth waved through the window. “And Mike...” She frowned, unsure if she was imagining things, then looked at Blake. “Did they just?”

  “He kissed her on the cheek...”

  “They’re smiling at each other. She said he was boring and that she couldn’t stand sitting next to him!”

  “Well, it looks like Mike brought his A-game and won her round.” Blake opened the door and stepped back into the carriage, striding over and giving Doris a welcoming embrace before shaking Mike’s hand.

  Beth joined them and, leaning close to Doris’s ear, whispered, “Doris, are you and Mike...?”

  Doris looked at her. Her bright blue eyes were sparkling, and she giggled like a schoolgirl. “Sit down, dear, and I’ll tell you all about it.”

  So, Beth, Mike, Doris, and Blake squeezed onto bench-seats opposite one another. Doris and Mike were holding hands. Beth and Blake exchanged a quizzical glance.

  “Did I miss something?” Blake asked playfully. “I thought you two were solo travellers.”

  “Oh, we were,” Doris replied, smiling at Mike. “And at first I thought he was a terrible bore.”

  “And I thought she talked too much,” added Mike, slowly.

  “But then we ended up having dinner together at Lake Louise...”

  “There was only one free table in the restaurant...”

  “And the view was just beautiful. I was lost for words...” Doris chuckled at herself.

  “So, I finally got a word in edgeways…”

  “And we just...”

  “Hit it off,” they said in unison.

  Beth found herself grinning. Her chest felt warm and tingly. Seeing the two of them, finishing each other’s sentences and looking at each another as if they’d discovered something wonderful, made her feel utterly joyful.

  “Well, who would have thought?” Blake tapped the table triumphantly.

  “Certainly not us,” laughed Doris. She glanced at Mike. “Should I tell them?”

  Mike pursed his lips thoughtfully, then slowly said, “Yes. I think so.”

  “Well… we decided to get married.” Doris’s lips spread into a grin that lightened her entire face.

  “Married?” Beth felt her mouth drop open a little.

  “Indeed,” replied Mike.

  “But you’ve only known each other...” Blake was counting on his fingers. “Six days?”

  “Young man,” tutted Mike. “When you’re ninety years old, six days might as well be six years. I’ve been alone for too long, and I thought to myself – Mike... are you going to let this wonderful woman slip out of your grasp, or for once in your life are you going to be brave enough to ask for what you want?”

  Doris squeezed Mike’s hand and leaned into his shoulder. “And when he asked me, I thought – Doris, you’ve never taken a risk in your life. It’s time to do something crazy. So, I said yes.”

  Suddenly, Blake stood up and clapped his hands together. “This is fantastic!” He looked genuinely excited. “The most amazing thing I’ve ever heard. Wait right there... I’m going to find us some champagne. This deserves a celebration.”

  Doris reached up and patted Blake’s arm. “That’s very sweet of you my darling boy, but perhaps we should wait until after the wedding for the celebrations?”

  “Ah, but we won’t be at the wedding to celebrate, Doris. Let me treat you...”

  “Actually, you could be at the wedding.” Mike looked questioningly at Doris and she nodded excitedly. “You see, I’ve got a friend in Winnipeg who’s a minister and I gave him a call.”

  “He’s going to marry us when we stop there. In two days’ time.” Doris reached out to take Beth’s hand. “Would the two of you like to be our witnesses?”

  Beth felt tears spring to her eyes. She looked at Blake, who nudged her gently in the ribs, then back at Doris. “Of course, we’ll be your witnesses. Of course.”

  “And perhaps, Beth,” said Doris tentatively, “you’d be kind enough to help me find an outfit when we stop at Edmonton? All of my smart clothes are in my case and they won’t let me take it out of the hold until we reach Toronto.”

  “Of course I will. We don’t have long though; I think the stop over is only an hour?”

  “I’m not fussy. Just something smart with a splash of colour,” smiled Doris.

  “Okay,” said Beth, looking up at the clock above the door. “Then I’ll go grab my things. We should be at Edmonton any minute now.”

  An hour later, Doris and Beth were standing in a small clothes boutique near Edmonton station trying on hats.

  “I feel like a hat is too much,” said Doris, putting back the wide-brimmed navy blue one she’d had in her hand. “I’d like to wear my hair down, but I feel it’s a bit silly at my age. My daughter is always telling me to cut it, but I’ve had long hair since I was a girl. It wouldn’t feel like me.”

  Beth reached up and touched the neat little bun that Doris had pinned in place at the nape of her neck. “You absolutely should wear it down.”

  “You think so?”

  Beth nodded. “I’ll help you get ready. You’re going to look beautiful Doris.”

  Doris batted her hand playfully at Beth and pursed her lips. “Oh, get away with you.”

  “What will your daughter think about all this?” Beth asked as they started making their way back to the train.

  “Oh, she’ll be furious. But I don’t particularly care. She’s always been a little... rigid.” Doris tutted and smiled affectionately. “I love her. But she’s not one for spontaneity. Mind you, until now, I haven’t been either.”

  Beth bit her lower lip thoughtfully, then said, “Doris, how do you know that this is the right thing? I mean, six days?”

  “Honestly? I don’t. But I know I want to figure it out. I know I don’t want this trip to end and for us to never see each other again.”

  “Where do you both live? What will you do when you get home?”

  “Well… we both live in Toronto. Opposite sides of the city but not too far. We’ll keep our own houses for now. Maybe we’ll take it in turns to stay with one another. Maybe we’ll sell up and buy somewhere new with a view of a lake and a big old veranda and rocking chairs and a porch swing.” Doris smiled wistfully. “I don’t know what we’ll do. And, to be honest with you, that’s what makes it so exciting. All my life, I’ve wanted to know what’s next. I’ve wanted to plan and prepare and organise everyone. But Mike’s so calm and laid back. He makes me feel like it’s okay to just... see what happens.”

  “It’s wonderful that you found one another.” Beth paused as they approached the train station steps and looped Doris’s arm through hers.

  “It is,” replied Doris. “Perhaps you’ll be next?”

  Beth shook her head, concentrating on helping Doris navigate the stairs. “Oh, I’m not sure about that.”
>
  At the top, Blake and Mike were waiting for them. Mike reached out to take Doris’s arm and her shopping bags, and Blake almost did the same but stopped himself midway. Instead, he lingered awkwardly with his arms by his sides.

  “Success on the outfit-front?” he asked casually.

  “I’d say so,” Beth replied. “What are you going to wear?”

  “Oh, I’m sure I’ve got something I can spruce up for the occasion.”

  “Not another of your fabled checked shirts?”

  “Just you wait and see, Greenwood.” Blake winked. “Just wait and see.”

  That night, Beth was rocked to sleep by the rhythm of the train. It rolled and rumbled all night, preventing her from ever really reaching the deep restful sleep she needed. Then in the early hours of the morning she sensed the movement stop and realised they must have reached Winnipeg.

  Sitting up, she rolled up the blinds in front of the square window and was greeted by the uninspiring view of the platform at Union Station.

  Sitting back on her pillows, she reached her arms up into a tension-releasing stretch and was texting her mum to say, You’ll never GUESS what I’m doing today...? when there was a knock on her door.

  Reaching over – because she didn’t need to leave the bed to touch the door handle – she unlocked it and mumbled, “Come in.”

  A hand appeared, holding a mug of coffee. And then Blake’s smiling face.

  His hair was messy, sticking up in amusing tufts that she hadn’t seen before, and he was more stubbled than usual. But the dimples were still there.

  “Ready for the big day?” he asked, stepping inside and lingering in the small space between the wall and the bed.

  Beth gestured for him to sit down and tucked her knees up under her chin. “I can’t believe they’re actually doing it.”

  “Me neither. But isn’t it kind of wonderful?”

  Beth traced her index finger around the rim of her coffee cup. “It is. Really wonderful.”