Travis was driving when they pulled into the impressive hotel complex shortly before midnight. “Is this the door we want, Jon?”

Jon had his ever-present phone out, having reviewed their signup materials and a layout of the place. “Yep, this is us. At least this time of night, we won’t be standing in line at the hotel desk to get our rooms.”

That was the only positive thing about arriving so late. When Kim found herself in her beautifully appointed room, she was so exhausted, she almost wondered how she’d gotten there. The wreck, the storm, a couple of forgettable fast food meals and gas station stops, plus some rest areas on the way had made the miserably long day almost unbearable. But they had arrived, safely.

Once they checked in, Jon said a quick good night and dashed off with his bags to catch up on work emails, he said. She rode up in the elevator with Travis and Suzanne. They offered to walk her to her door.

“No thanks, I’m fine. Just ready to collapse onto a comfortable bed. I’ll see you both tomorrow.” She smiled tiredly at them both and pulled her rolling bag down the hallway, found her door, and unlocking it, leaned against the door frame with great relief.

Alone, finally. She was used to being on her own a lot since her mother died and her boyfriend disappeared. The road trip had been exhausting on so many levels—not a vacation at all. Now, maybe relaxation and rejuvenation could begin.

She pulled out her sleep T, took a shower, then crawled into bed.

****

When Kim woke up, bright light was peeking at the edges of the curtains. When her eyes were able to focus on the bedside clock, she was shocked to see it was after nine. She got up, dug in her bag for her phone.

A text from Emily popped up, asking how everything was and accompanied by a video of Handsome sitting on the back of Kim’s sofa, switching his tail and looking ticked off.

At least everything at home was normal. Kim sent a text back with a photo of her hotel room. Slept great. Vacation has begun. Thx to you, kisses to Isabel, and hi to Handsome.

She set down the phone and started to unpack. She’d asked Suzanne to let her know when she was up and wanted to have breakfast. At this rate, maybe they’d meet for lunch instead, not that it mattered.

She was hanging her black dress in the closet when a notification sounded. A text from Suzanne. Hi. You up? I’m ravenous!

Twenty minutes later, they met in the lobby.

“Travis slept later than he meant to. I hope they’re in time for the first session,” Suzanne said. “Jon hates to arrive late for anything. He’s a little OCD.”

Kim stopped outside the hotel restaurant, looked at the posted menu. “There’s a surprise.”

“Kim, I thought maybe you two would start to like each other a little when you spent some time together, but that’s not happening yet. Looks like our little matchmaking project is painful for the two of you. I’m sorry. I really do apologize.”

The maître d' showed them to a booth. Kim slid in and Suzanne struggled a bit to do the same. Note to self. Ask for a table next time. “It’s okay, Suzanne. Let’s not worry about it. We’re finally here after the road trip from Heck, and you and I can have some fun seeing the sights, as planned.

Their waiter appeared, and they both ordered coffee. “I have to get decaf,” Suzanne pouted. “Because of Elliott. But I’m going to pretend it’s high-test.”

When they’d both ordered their meals, Suzanne shook her head, frowning. “I still feel bad. In the evening when Travis and I are having dinner, trying out the smart restaurants in town, going dancing—slowly of course—you’ll be all by yourself. That stinks.”

Kim patted her handbag where her e-reader was. “No worries. I’ve downloaded plenty of books. Remember, I always expected you and Travis to want time alone. This trip is part babymoon for you, after all. I’m just fine being on my own.”

Yet at this moment, saying that, she felt anything but fine. The longer she was around Jon, the more she wondered if she had judged him too harshly.

Suzanne picked up her phone. “I got a text from Travis. He and Jon barely made it to the keynote speech, but they’re set now.” She slid the phone into her bag. “That’s a relief. You and I have the day to ourselves.” She sighed. “Finally, the relaxation portion of this trip.”

Kim looked into her friend’s eyes, expecting signs of exhaustion. “You sure you’re up for it?”

Suzanne, having made quick work of breakfast, hitched her bag onto her shoulder. “Honey, I’ve slept off and on for the last two days, riding in the back of a car. I’m raring to go.”

After breakfast, they went to the hotel concierge desk and gathered flyers. They’d both done online research and made some general plans from that when talking about the trip.

The first sites they visited were places made famous by the Mary Tyler Moore Show. They each had their photo taken near the statue of Mary throwing her tam into the air in exuberant celebration.

Suzanne immediately texted a photo. “My mom is going to be so excited. This was one of her favorite shows of all time. I bought her the DVD collection a couple years ago for Christmas.”

Kim was silent. Her mother would have loved seeing photos of these places too and reminiscing about episodes of the groundbreaking TV series centered on a single career woman. But cancer had stolen Kim’s mother from her. Later, it tried to take Kim herself.

She and Suzanne wandered through a variety of sites, taking silly selfies, reading bits of history. Eventually they were lured by their senses of smell to the sidewalk dining area of an Indian restaurant.

When their glasses of water arrived, Suzanne took a long drink. “I’ve wanted to check Minnesota off my list of states to visit, so when this conference popped up for Travis’s work, it seemed perfect.”

Kim sighed. “Not quite perfect with Jon and me along.”

Suzanne winked. “We love you both, even if you don’t love each other.”

Kim enjoyed travel but wasn’t keen to do it on her own. If not for Suzanne’s invitation, she might never have visited this beautiful city. If not for the Romantic Hearts Book Club, she wouldn’t have visited Enchanted Island where she pitched her message in a bottle into the Caribbean.

Her eyes drifted to a nearby table where a couple had ordered wine to go with their lunch. Where was her message in a bottle? Still floating on the sea somewhere? Several book club members had reported their bottles were found in unusual locations. Maybe Kim’s had been carried to the other end of the world on a series of tides. Maybe no one would ever find it, or if they did, wouldn’t take the time to email her. But she’d made it clear in her note that she didn’t expect anything from the exercise, hadn’t she?

Kim knew life didn’t bring many unexpected happy surprises. Her scholarship to nursing school had been one, but she’d applied for that, worked hard to be worthy of the honor. Working hard, trying to be worthy hadn’t done much good in the rest of her life though.

It hadn’t kept her mother alive.

It hadn’t kept Kim from being diagnosed and having to undergo treatment for breast cancer.

And it hadn’t kept her boyfriend, Sean, from turning out to be a loser. The day she explained her diagnosis and treatment plan to him, he packed his belongings and moved out.

That’s what happened when you put trust in the wrong person. Kim would never do that again.

****

After lunch and browsing a few stores, Kim could see Suzanne’s energy flagging. They got fruit smoothies and found a taxi for the ride back to the hotel. Disembarking at the front of the building, they were greeted by a doorman who held the door for them.

They sank onto chaise lounges on a patio, where they could enjoy fresh air and the warm afternoon without any exertion.

Suzanne sighed in delight. “Goodness, I’ll have to be careful not to get used to this life. Going back home to my world could be a letdown.”

But Suzanne would be returning to a home with a loving husband and a baby on the way. Kim didn’t envy Suzanne’s happiness—she was glad for her. She felt the same about Emily. Kim was determined to be satisfied with what life had given her and what she’d been able to do with that. A career, good friends... She’d written something about that in the note she’d slid into a bottle and sent into the unknown, hadn’t she? Maybe someone had found it and thought she didn’t really want a man in her life.

Kim did want a man. But she was willing to wait for the right man this time, to be cautious instead of falling head over heels in love the first time she set eyes on a guy. That’s how it had been with Sean, and it had ended in utter disaster at one of the lowest points of her life. Message-in-a-bottle or no, she was determined to wait for the real thing this time. No matter how long it took.

Sean’s handsome face had haunted her dreams, especially shortly after he deserted her. She knew she’d never see him again, so when she looked into the crowd after Emily’s wedding and saw him looking across the room at her, her heart skipped a beat. How dare he show up here on this happy day?

But it hadn’t been Sean. Some cruel twist of fate resulted in David Standish having a friend from college who looked enough like Sean, whom David and Emily had never met, to be his twin. Jon Whitfield. Even though she knew Sean had no brothers, and she knew it made no sense to immediately dislike David’s friend, she couldn’t help herself.

The fact that Jon paid no attention to his fiancée during the reception convinced her there was a similarity between his personality and Sean’s.

When she looked at Jon, she saw the pain of her past that wasn’t as well healed as she’d thought.

She didn’t have nightmares about Sean anymore. She had made her peace with that situation—even managed, on good days, to feel sorry for the handsome man who seemed to lack empathy. What would it be like to go through life not feeling for people who were suffering? Sean said she took other people’s problems too personally, but Kim didn’t know how to keep herself from caring. And she didn’t want to try.

Caring made her a good nurse and also made the job super hard when patients weren’t able to recover fully or when they died. Kim went through a semblance of the family’s grief with them. That was who she was, why she and Emily had become such close friends, and part of the reason for this trip. She had to get away sometimes, because the way she did her job, some days and nights she felt like she was riding an emotional roller coaster. Time away was required, so she could return to the hospital floor rested, rejuvenated, and ready to do her best for each patient.

But to travel without friends made her feel hopelessly alone. She had no blood family anymore, but thanks to Emily and her connections, she was building another kind of family. She didn’t expect it, but the friendships forged through the online book club were strong and loving. The island vacation to see everyone in person was wonderful, and Kim hoped they could get together again sometime. But if they did, would Kim be the only one who still hadn’t found love?

It was a depressing thought and one she wouldn’t allow. She sank further into the chair and released her hair from its clasp and let it blow in the wind. She was on vacation in a lovely spot and wouldn’t allow anything to ruin it for her.

Not the past and not the presence of Jon Whitfield.