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“Or brothers,” Fiona adds. “I’ve got four.”
“We’re both the youngest in our families.” Carol Ann gives a huff. “All the more reason to shelter us delicate flowers. We still can’t believe they let us take the internship.”
“I’m an only child,” I offer.
“Oh.” They both look at me at the same time, jinxing again.
Carol Ann, for all her complaining, scrunches up her nose like she’s smelling something unnatural. “What’s that like?”
I shrug. “Quiet? Lonely, sometimes, I guess? I don’t know anything different though, do I?”
“You’ll never be lonely where we’re going.” Fiona politely changes the subject. “It feels so free at the lodge. The most we get into is a few martinis and a sexy movie but still…” Fiona beams. “Feels like freedom.”
The wind whips our hair as we make our way to the small black car they’ve brought. Carol Ann struggles to get my heavy suitcase in the trunk—or boot, as she calls it—and won’t accept help.
We all pile into the tiny two-door sedan, me in the back, the two of them asking a zillion questions about the filming of Twilight, assuming I’ve been on location, especially as I live right around the corner from Hollywood.
“America is huge,” I laugh. “It’s not like here. You can’t just hop on a bus or ferry to travel. It takes hours to drive from state to state, and I’ve never been to the Pacific Northwest where they filmed.”
Carol Ann says, “If we were any further north, we’d be Father Christmas’ neighbor.”
“Aye. We’re a very isolated community. You’re in for a culture shock,” Fiona warns. “We don’t even have a McDonalds on the island.”
“Does everyone here call it the island?” I ask.
Carol Ann lets out a dramatic sigh. “Yep. Home is the island. The research center where we work is the center, and the dormitory where we stay is the lodge. We’re quite a creative bunch, eh? Hence my hair and dress. I’ve got to spice up my mundane life somehow.”
“I love your style.” I stare out the window at the beautiful, vast landscape. My voice catches. “And mundane is exactly what I need right now.”
“It may be boring, but it’s beautiful. People come from all over to see the cliffs, the sea?—”
“Boring and bleak, if you ask me,” Carol Ann says.
“No one did, Carol Ann.” Fiona continues, “Town is a few miles away.”
I’ve looked up the town and local businesses, small with a main street and idyllic coffee shops, quaint boutiques, individually owned restaurants, a small cozy pub famous for its burger.
Small. Simple. Quiet.
Exactly what I’m craving after the mess I got myself mixed up in last year. Sudden, intense memories flood my mind, making my stomach roil with waves of nausea like I’m suddenly back on the rattling plane.
I focus on folding my hands together in my lap. Close my eyes. Count down from ten.
“I’m safe now.”
Fiona leans over the shoulder of her seat, peering at me. “Everything alright?”
“Yeah. Sorry. I—talk to myself sometimes.” Heat rushes over my cheeks. I look away, glancing out the window. “So, how long is the drive to the research center?”
“The center,” Carol Ann corrects. “We’re going straight to the lodge to get you settled in first. We’re your new family. The dwindling codfish population are your new friends, and the lodge will be your new home for the next three months. And half our population is elderly, so you’ll be fitting in talking to yourself. No worries.”
I laugh and it feels good.
Fiona says, “Lucky for you, you’re here during our sunniest months. The skies are beautiful. The Simmer Dim, you have to experience it firsthand. Photos don’t do it justice.”
Carol Ann says, “Yes, they do.”
“Carol Ann wants to get out of here as soon as she graduates,” Fiona offers. “She hates our wee island.”
