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Elizabeth appeared in Paige’s office the next morning with two coffees in hand. “You’re avoiding me,” she said, bumping the door closed with her hip. “We were supposed to meet for coffee.”
Paige leaned back in her chair, grumpy. “I think I’m avoiding myself.” Paige rubbed the back of her neck, feeling all the little knots. “I’m out of sorts, and Ashley is coming in tonight, needs me to pick her up at the airport—”
“Which one?”
“You know which one.”
“I’m sorry.”
Paige smiled crookedly, her first smile of the day. “I do hope one of those coffees is for me.”
“Of course. Best friend and all that.” Elizabeth handed her the cup and sat down in one of chairs facing Paige’s desk. “You’ll be glad when Ashley’s here. You always have fun with her. You’ll dress up and go out, head to a movie and shop. It’ll be a nonstop whirlwind of activity and then she’ll be off again, and you’ll cry on the way home from the airport because you miss her already.”
“I will never confide in you again.”
Elizabeth grinned. “Yes, you will.” She popped the lid off her coffee and sniffed it. “Did they get our orders mixed up? Do you have a caramel macchiato?”
“No. It’s vanilla.”
“Hmph.” Elizabeth put the lid back on her coffee. “Mom called me this morning. I think she wants to come for Thanksgiving.”
“Would you go get her?”
“Michael offered to pick her up,” Elizabeth said, referring to her husband, “but I thought I’d check the Amtrak schedule, too.”
“It’s a long trip by train. Seven hours, I think, and putting her on a train when she has balance issues? Not a good idea. She’ll break her hip for sure.” Paige wrapped her hands around her cup, savoring the warmth. “I don’t know what we’ll do for Thanksgiving. I don’t think any of the girls will be coming home.”
“You’ll come to my house, just like last year.”
Paige remembered the very crowded house, with people everywhere. And then there was the cleanup. Hours of cleanup. Thanksgiving was just too much work.
“You had a good time,” Elizabeth insisted. “You know you did.”
“I did,” Paige conceded. Elizabeth was a great cook and the food had been wonderful, and there was lots of wine, and lots of dessert—four different kinds of pie and two kinds of cheesecake, plus a huge bowl of homemade whipped cream. Paige had picked at her dinner and then had three desserts. “If I’m alone, without my girls, I’ll come, and I expect to be alone because we’re supposed to leave for the field program on Saturday.” Paige huffed a sigh. “Have I told you where we’re going now?”
“It’s not in Central America?”
“No.” Paige paused, building the suspense. “Tanzania.”
Elizabeth’s dark brows arched high. “Seriously?”
“The trip is now longer, and more involved.”
“Won’t you need shots?”
“I’m not worried about vaccines, I’m nervous we’re going so far. What if something happens to one of the girls? What if there’s an emergency?”
“Then Ted would have to step in and be a dad.”
“And he would, if there was a true emergency.” Paige hesitated. “I’m trying to be chill about the trip, but when I think about it, and all the unknowns, I get scared.”
“You spent a summer in Paris when you were twenty. You’re already a world traveler.”
“But that was a straight shot. Los Angeles to Paris. Done. We’re going to have three different flights, we’ll be traveling for thirty-something hours, and I have this fear that we’re going to plunge into the sea—”
“No wonder you’re anxious. That’s a terrible thought.”
“But I think it.”
“What does Jack say?”
“I haven’t told him any of that.” Paige gave Elizabeth a desperate glance. “He doesn’t know about my anxiety. So far I’ve done a good job hiding it.”
“You don’t get that anxious. You just like control.”
“But I won’t have any control over the plane, or the mosquitos, or the being squeezed to death by a cobra.”
“I don’t think there are cobras in Africa.”
“What about the snake in Jungle Book?”
“That’s Rudyard Kipling’s story set in India.” Elizabeth reached for her phone, did a quick Google search. “Oh,” she said, expression falling. “No, you’re right. There are quite a few poisonous snakes in Africa.” She read on, expression pained. “Lots of vipers, mambas, and cobras. The Cape cobra and then Mozambique spitting cobra—”
“Okay, that’s enough. I don’t need to hear any more. A spitting cobra? No, thank you.”
There was a rap on her door. Elizabeth glanced at Paige, and Paige nodded. Elizabeth opened the door, revealing Jack.
He looked rested and handsome, and his beard was coming in nicely. He’d stopped shaving when they flew to Bozeman, and Paige thought she wouldn’t like him with a beard, but it actually made him look more rugged. Sexy. And just like that she remembered him against her, so warm, so hard, so comfortable in his skin.
She flushed, squirming a little, praying no one could read her thoughts.
“Hello, Elizabeth,” he said. “Good morning, Paige.”
“Come in,” Elizabeth said cheerfully. “We were just discussing the poisonous snakes of Africa.”
Jack leaned against the doorframe. “Is that what you girls talk about when you’re alone?”
“Snakes, spiders, you know,” Elizabeth said airily.
“All an important part of our ecosystem,” he said.
“Right?” Elizabeth smiled at him. “I was just saying that to Paige.”
“You’ve heard about our trip?” Jack asked her.
She nodded, giving him another sunny smile. “I’m very envious. I would love to go. Are you sure you don’t need someone who teaches Victorian literature?”
“Not this time, but we’ll keep you in mind.”
Elizabeth picked up her leather backpack, and then her cup. “I’ve class, but I can’t wait to hear more about the trip. Paige is very excited. She’s hoping she’ll be sleeping under one of those mosquito nets. They’re very romantic.”
“As well as practical,” Jack said.
