Page 59 of The Trip of a Lifetime

‘Don’t do that,’ he said gently. ‘Don’t label yourself with old clichés.’

‘I was talking about you,’ I said with mock sternness, and more laughter erupted between us.

This is how it had been, I suddenly remembered. When Harrison had said it had been a lot of fun, he hadn’t just been talking about the night we spent together, it was all the time we spent together. I felt a sudden pang of sadness for what had been lost between us at the end of that race, seemingly on a misunderstanding. How differently it all could have been. Don’t look back, I told myself. No good can ever come from what ifs.

‘What now?’ he asked, and it could have a been a question loaded with suggestion. We had the room to ourselves and two hours ahead of us. A million thoughts went through my mind in a flash. I wasn’t a reckless person, usually…

‘I’m going back to my room to wait for Erin,’ I said.

Then without any more thought about it, I left Harrison’s room and walked down the corridor to my own, cursing myself all the way for my cowardice.

I sat on my bed and contemplated that kiss. I was still in contemplation mode when there was a knock at the door. Could Erin have got here so quickly?

Harrison stood in the doorway, looking a little worried.

‘Did I miss something back there?’ he said. ‘Have I offended you or upset you? I’m so sorry if I have.’

‘No,’ I said. ‘You didn’t upset me at all.’

‘Then why…’

‘Because I’m an idiot,’ I said, grabbing hold of his hand and pulling him into the room. I let the door swing shut behind me and without looking back, I led him to the bed.

26

ERIN

Replete from a gigantic breakfast, Sam suggested that Erin would probably need to roll him to the car and push him inside. She smiled at him and gave him a playful shove out through Mabel’s front door.

Sam sat in the back and promptly fell asleep. Mabel had given him a picnic blanket from the boot which she rolled up and it made an adequate pillow. Erin sat in the front and she and Mabel chatted about life in England versus life in Canada and who had the best deal. Erin loved the town she lived in and found she was missing it, but there was nowhere in the UK that could compare with the magnificent mountain range of the Rockies or the ice sheet on the sea in Churchill, or just the vast expanse of the Canadian countryside.

‘We have such beautiful places in the UK too,’ Erin said, suddenly feeling disloyal to her home.

‘You do. I’ve been to your place only once,’ Mabel said as if she’d popped round to Erin’s flatshare. ‘We spent some time in London and then went on a road trip up the country and around Wales and Scotland. Your country is so cute.’

Erin laughed. She supposed it would look miniature to a tourist from Canada. She glanced behind her to see that Sam was softly snoring, his hands bunched up and into his chest, a little like a child would. She had a sudden rush of emotion that she couldn’t quite quantify. She couldn’t say she loved him, of course not, she barely knew him. But there was a fear she might lose him somehow. They had spent such an intense night together and when they arrived in Winnipeg, they’d be swept back up in the race. What would happen then? She didn’t want to think about it. Her grandmother had thawed a little towards Harrison, she could see that, but the competitiveness was still there and they were hardly friends. It would be awkward, that was for sure.

Mabel dropped them outside the bus station and once they were out of her car and had offered their many thanks to her, she was gone, down the street and around the corner.

‘So,’ Sam said.

‘We’re here, thank God,’ Erin said.

‘Yeah, that was a lot last night, wasn’t it?’

‘Yes, it was.’

This is a lot, Erin thought. It was suddenly just as awkward as she’d guessed it would be.

‘Back to sworn enemies?’ she said with a grin that Sam didn’t return.

‘You were never my sworn enemy,’ he said. ‘I acted like an idiot and you were rightly pissed off with me.’

‘Yeah, but after last night, when you definitely showed me your knight in shining armour side, I think we’re good,’ Erin said.

The door to the bus station was right next to Erin and she felt that once she walked through it and back to reality, this little unit they had become – supporting each other, looking after each other – would be gone. She put one step forward towards it and prepared herself for the film crew and the questions.

Then Sam took hold of her arm and he pulled her back towards him. ‘Erin,’ he said.