Chapter Thirty-Eight
Eliza – Trip Back To Florence
I stretched widely as I stepped off the plane into Florence, finally getting some feeling back in my body. Flying was a pain, but it certainly beat the long ass drive. I hated to leave Veil behind in that kennel, but it was the only way we could make this work if we were going to be doing it regularly.
Still, it would be worth it to have the best of both worlds.
“Hey!” I heard Laynee scream as soon as Milo and I stepped out into the arrival’s lounge. “How have you been?” She raced to my side and embraced me as if I’d been gone for months rather than days. “I’ve missed you.” I held her close, inhaling her familiar scent, realizing how much I’d yearned for her, too.
“I’ve missed you, too!” I admitted, feeling it. It had been hard in Sun Valley without my best friend to gossip with every single day, but I suppose that was just what happened. People met the love of their lives and moved on. It had to happen sooner or later… Still, it didn’t make it any easier. “How have things been?”
“The salon is good. Things are pretty much the same as normal…” Oh, God, soon I am going to have to tell her that I will be handing it over to her completely. I’d struggled with the decision, but it seemed silly to hang on to a company when I didn’t know where my life would be headed. I didn’t need any anchors weighing me down. Laynee deserved it anyway, and with the investment that Milo wanted to put in for her, I knew she’d do amazing things. She could finally start up her party idea, and I had no doubt that she’d make a massive success of things.
“But I have to admit it’s been weird without you. It’s just a lot quieter. Anyway, enough business, let’s hang out. What are you doing today?”
“Actually, I’m going out on Landon’s fishing boat, if you’re interested? I know it’ll be a bit unusual, but I thought it could be fun for us all?” Milo wanted me to come along, but I wouldn’t if Laynee didn’t want to come. I was far more interested in spending time with her.
“Sure, anything,” she gushed, obviously having the same idea as me. “We have so much to catch up on. I want to hear all about Nevada. I need you to tell me everything.”
It would be perfect – we could chat, and I could lay everything out for her while the guys sorted out whatever it was that they were doing. I knew Milo had been in meetings about the investment, but I wasn’t totally sure where things were going. Onward and upward, I assumed. I was interested in what he was doing, and I thought it was great, but right now I had my own stuff to be dealing with.
“Will do, now let’s get going! I’m sick of the airport.”
We chatted all the way to the boat, with Laynee driving and Milo sitting in the backseat, but not about anything serious. She caught me up on all the gossip that I’d missed out on, and I told her a little bit about our fun trip to Vegas, while also making plans for a girly weekend there, but we hadn’t gotten into any of the gritty stuff yet. That would happen on the boat…
***
“So, what did Laynee think when you told her?” Milo asked quietly, wrapping his arms around me, making my heart flip out with excitement. Ever since we’d told one another that we were in love, everything felt incredible between us. We were so solid now, I didn’t think anything could ever tear us apart. We were still out on the ocean, but all the business side of things were done. Now we were just hanging out as friends, enjoying the cool sunshine.
Okay, I was just hanging out. Landon was fishing, Milo had been catching some things, and now Laynee was getting some tips. I just didn’t feel up to it, and it wasn’t something that particularly grabbed my attention. I was enjoying the lazing around far too much.
“Oh, God, she was over the moon,” I gasped happily, growing animated with excitement. “She doesn’t want me to go, although she is happy for us, but she’s so happy to actually be able to do something with the salon. I think she’s going to do an incredible job with it. Better than me, at any rate.”
“And have you decided what you’re going to do?” he asked me curiously. He’d already given me the idea for opening up my own place on the strip, but I wasn’t totally sure. I felt like this was an entirely fresh start, so maybe it was time for a brand new career, too. I loved doing hair, and it was the one thing I’d always focused on, but considering I hadn’t managed to make much of a success of things, it might be time to look for something new.
“I don’t know,” I admitted honestly. “But I’m excited to figure it out. I’ve always had my life so figured out. I always knew exactly where I was going next, so in a way, it’s fun to have no clue. I feel a bit like the world is my oyster.”
“Well, while I’m investing, I’ll be traveling about a lot. I’d love for you to come with me. Maybe seeing some more of the country will help to inspire you.”
He was so supportive; I knew that he’d be happy to wait patiently for me while I figured it out. It made me feel so damn lucky. It hadn’t been easy to get where we were, but we’d made it, and that made me feel so positive about the future. “I would love that.” I held his hand, enjoying the softness of his skin against mine. “Thank you.”
We sat back for a moment, both of us lost in our own thoughts. I was mentally scanning possible ideas, and I guessed that Milo was thinking about where he was going next. Things were so up in the air, but this time in the best way possible.
“Hey.” I nudged Milo and pointed over to where Laynee and Landon were sitting, talking very closely. “Am I going crazy or is there something there between them?”
They didn’t seem to be flirting, exactly. I’d seen Laynee flirt far too many times to know that wasn’t what was going on here. But there was definitely something, a sizzling, undeniable chemistry between them.
“Oh, no, I knew there would be,” he replied simply, shrugging his shoulders as if it was obvious. “I’ve been wanting to get them together ever since I first met them both. They seem to have similar personalities. I didn’t know for sure that it’d work, but I guessed there might be something.”
“Oh.” Why didn’t I ever find anyone for Laynee? She is my best friend; I should have been the one who matched her up. “Oh, right, okay. I see. And… Landon is a good guy? You think he’ll treat her well?”
“Oh, I do. He’s great, but he’s focused so much on the business that he hasn’t had time to meet anyone. I think if something ever happens between them, he will take amazing care of her.”
“Yeah, good.” I cocked my head to one side, hoping that Milo was right. After the crap Laynee had been through with Marc, she needed a good guy in her life. “Okay, I suppose I can let it happen.”
Milo chose that moment to pull me in for a kiss, reminding me of just how incredible things were. His arms snaked around my waist and my body curved into his. I felt on top of the world.
It was crazy to think that we’d only found our way to one another because of Laynee’s suggestion to put my grandma’s cabin up for rent. If that one thing hadn’t happened, there wasn’t any way that our lives would have crossed, and we’d never have made it to one another. I would have had to live my life with a guy who didn’t make me anywhere near as happy.
It had to be fate. I wasn’t one to necessarily believe all that, but now it seemed obvious.
“So, I still have some nights booked at the cabin. I assume that’s where we’re staying tonight?”
“Oh no,” I told him in mock anger. “You blew that the second you walked out on me. I already have someone else staying – you don’t get to defer or refund your days.”
“Damn it.” He smirked. “I guess we’ll be staying at your waterlogged apartment instead.”
“Ha ha, it might not be waterlogged today! Although, I do want to use this time to get all my stuff out of there. I don’t trust it one bit. Then the sketchy pipes and the crappy landlord can be someone else’s problem. Poor sucker!”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged playfully. “Those pipes brought us together, so they can’t be all bad.”
“I guess you’re right there.” I kissed him once more lightly on the lips. “Maybe I will let you stay in the cabin, after all. I can’t resist such an eloquently put argument.”
As we lay back on the deck, wrapped up in one another’s arms, I tried to imagine what it’d be like if my grandma was still around. What would she think of Milo? Would she like him? Would she think that he was right for me? Would she support my move to Nevada or would she think I was crazy?
I felt like she would like him, that she would appreciate how strong and manly he was. I hoped she’d think he was a protective guy who could take care of me. She’d never really liked anyone that I’d dated before, but then Milo was the total opposite of all them, so I had to assume that she would like him.
“Hey, Eliza, come here! I caught something!” Laynee boomed across the boat, probably scaring off all the fish in the process. “Come here; you have to see.”
As I wandered across the deck to my friend, whose face was so shiny that she had to be falling for Landon, I felt my heart glowing happily in my chest. This all felt so nice, so positive, and so different from the start of the year. Of course, my New Year’s resolutions hadn’t panned out in the way I expected them to at all, but that was okay.
This was even better. I had Milo, my debts were at least paid off, I might not have had a business anymore, but I would do something good with my future, and Laynee was happy, too.
“You have to try this!” She handed me the fishing line. “Look what I caught; you can do it, too.”
Okay, I will give it a try, I owe her that much. She’d been there so much for me when Milo and I were working things out, so I could do the same for her. She’d listened to me complain, given me advice… The least I could do was give fishing a go. “Okay then,” I told her doubtfully. “Show me what to do.”
Luckily, at that moment, Landon walked back to speak to Milo, giving us a much-needed moment alone for her to tell me exactly how she was feeling about the whole thing…