“Okay,” I said. “I’ll make a note of that.”
He saluted and carried on walking, taking his books to the circulation desk.
Shark Bay? I’d never even heard of it. And I hadn’t even considered going to Australia. Europe had always been the plan. It was still. I had two weeks left before I was due to fly out, and I’d been putting off the planning for too long.
The conversation with Penelope had brought with it a lot of questions. I still didn’t have answers. But burying myself in travel books was a good distraction until I decided I wanted to figure out what was next.
My phone flashed with a message from Hollie. What am I doing outside the Shoe Lane Library?
I scampered to gather up my things. I’d lost track of time and forgotten I was supposed to be meeting her.
I emerged from the basement level to find Hollie outside, looking up at the sky.
“You okay?” I asked.
She snapped her head straight. “Fine. I didn’t even know this place existed.”
That was one of my favorite things about London. There was just so much of it. And it came in layers. The touristy sites—the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, St. Paul’s Cathedral—would take a couple of weeks if you did nothing else. Then there were the lesser-known things to see, like Portobello market, the Inns of Court, and Banqueting House, that would take months to do. Then there was everything else. The web of interesting things that bound the city together. Thousands of places that would stay hidden unless you tripped over them. One of the few buildings to withstand the Great Fire, the house Benjamin Franklin lived in, the street Dickens based Fagin’s lodgings on. I loved it all.
“London’s old but there are always new things to discover,” I said.
“I’m so hungry. Where are we going?” she asked, linking her arm through mine. “I don’t come over this way a lot, so I have no idea where to eat.”
“Up here,” I said as we headed up the hill. “We’re going toward Smithfield Market.”
“Eww, isn’t that a meat market?”
“It should be gross but it’s really beautiful. Look,” I said, pointing at the huge building ahead that looked like one of London’s Victorian railway stations, rather than a working meat market. “It’s beautiful.” The building was trimmed in ironwork that had been painted in purples and reds and greens. Statues kept watch from the roof.
“It’s like a meat palace,” Hollie said. “London is a strange place at times.”
“I’m pretty sure anyone who came to the Sunshine Trailer Park would say the same thing.”
We couldn’t have been further away from Oregon if we’d tried. And we’d tried.
“So, how come you’ve been in the library? You studying for something?”
“Planning my trip. It’s coming up soon,” I said. Sooner than I’d imagined it would.
We arrived at the restaurant and pushed through the dark red door before settling into a table toward the back.
“I came here once with Gabriel. Make sure you check out the back of the stalls. It’s a little shocking to my delicate sensibilities.” There were pictures—subtle ones—of women’s vaginas hung on the back of each door. The British were quirky.
“How intriguing. I think. As is your trip to the library. Tell me more.”
“Nothing to tell. Just planning my trip.”
Hollie scanned the menu, but I could tell she wasn’t taking it in. “I thought you might not end up going.”
“I know you did.” I pulled the napkin from the table and put it in my lap.
“Does this mean you definitely are?” she asked.
The waiter came over and took our order. When he left, Hollie looked at me expectantly.
“I guess. I’m just so confused about everything. I really care about Gabriel and Bethany. And honestly, if it was just that simple, I probably wouldn’t go.”
“But you have to think about your goals in life,” she said. “You don’t want to regret not travelling.”
“There’s that.” I’d be crazy to turn away from the opportunity to fulfil my dreams. Unless those dreams had changed, and something had shifted. When I fantasized about travelling around Europe and seeing the gigantic world outside of Oregon, it was because I wished for more. It wasn’t because now I didn’t want to go to all those places and see all the wonderful things Europe had to offer. I did. But being in London faded the desire to spread my wings further. A little at least. And being with Gabriel—well, it showed me what else there was to want.
“What else is there?” Hollie asked.
“I got a visit from Gabriel’s . . . What do we call her? Wife? Soon-to-be ex-wife?”
“Let’s just stick with Penelope. What did she have to say?”
I gave Hollie the highlights.
“She’s insane if she thinks you’re standing in the way of her and her perfect life,” Hollie said.
“I know. But at the same time, there’s part of me that thinks she deserves a second chance.”