One Winter Weekend

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

T he following morning it was time to go home.

She’d had an amazing trip, one she would never forget.

“I don’t want to leave, Nan,” Emily whispered, staring off her balcony, her eyes shifting between the Eiffel tower and the Arc de Triomphe.

Paris truly was the City of Love and second chances. This weekend it had given her both.

Live your life.

The thought entered her mind without summons, a fragment of words spoken by Nan the day Emily had told her she wanted to study in London, but was afraid to leave. It was that simple to her grandmother. Live your life.

Was she living her life? Was the life she had the life she wanted? If she’d been asked the question a few days ago she would have said yes, immediately.

Now, she wasn’t so sure.

The knock on the door told her it was time to check out, the porter had come for her bags and Patrick was due to pick her up out front at any moment.

“ Au revoir , Paris,” she said, turning from her window and headed towards the door.

Patrick was on time as usual, and within minutes of her arrival in the lobby and the customary procedures to leave, she was seated beside him in his car, holding hands as they drove towards the airport.

The silence was unusual between them, but for some reason on this occasion, it wasn’t uncomfortable, but companionable.

Emily didn’t want to speak and Patrick didn’t seem to feel the need to either. They were content just to be with each other.

Charles de Gaulle came into view far sooner than expected. Patrick pulled her suitcase from the boot and sent her on ahead to get checked in. She’d protested, but he’d insisted and in the end he won.

She was almost to the counter when he appeared with three bags. She looked at him curiously. “That one isn’t mine.”

“No,” Patrick said, a small smile creeping across his face. “It’s mine.”

If he’d meant to shock her he’d succeeded, and she was almost too stunned to speak as excitement began bubbling inside.

“Does this mean you’re coming with me … to London?” she asked slowly, trying to keep her joy under control.

“It’s only days till Christmas. I haven’t taken a holiday outside of the usual in years. I told my boss there was a very special someone I needed to spend more time with, and he gave me an additional stint off.”

Her smile could no longer be contained. “You have a very understanding boss.”

“He was once a man in love too. He understood where I was coming from.” Patrick’s gaze lingered on her face as he reached for her hand. She squeezed it tightly.

She too had made a decision she had yet to tell him, and there was no better time than now.