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At the airport that morning, Mary had seen the most precious Malinois in his little working dog vest. They’d locked eyes, and Mary had thought, Oh! I want to pet you. And give you treats. And cuddle up with you.
As she’d thought her love thoughts, he’d pulled on his lead, trying to get to her.
Instantly, Mary thought about the deer she’d called to her with her high-pitched voice. And immediately, she knew that even sending out those You’re gorgeous; I want to snuggle you thoughts must have shown up in her posture, and he was down with it.
She was distracting him from his work.
Mary had sent a mouthed apology to the guy who looked like he might be the handler, waiting for his dog to get to him. She’d given him a little wave, then turned her back. But she’d taken a mental picture. Wow. Mary reached out and squeezed Deidre’s arm, widened her eyes, and tipped her head back to give her friend a direction to look so she could see him, too.
Deidre stopped in her tracks with her mouth hanging open.
“Are you freaking kidding me right now?” Deidre asked. “A whole team of them?”
“I know. Right?” Mary set off, dragging her case. “Now stop drooling. And stop staring. Come on. Wrench your eyes away.”
Deidre came up beside her. “Okay, so that was a treat. I hope they make all Estonian men like that. If that’s the case, I completely understand why Mrs. V. sent you here.”
“Onward,” Mary said. “Taxi to the hotel.”
“It’s only a few miles away. A ten-minute drive through morning traffic.”
And Deidre had been right. Except for the delay from the street repair, they’d made it right to their hotel. It was a nice place. Everyone spoke easy English. While Deidre had gone in search of coffee, Mary got their luggage stored in the closet behind the desk until they could check in later that afternoon. Then, she went outside to sit on the bench under a tree, waiting for Deidre. They needed to figure out what they were going to do with themselves until three when they could check into their room.
Deidre moved into Mary’s view. Her hands wrapped around to-go cups of coffee. “I know why you’re here,” Deidre said, plopping down next to her friend, handing the cup with a B penned in black marker.
Black, high test—that was how Mary liked her morning brew.
“Yeah?” Mary pried the cap off to let the steam out and cool it to a drinkable temperature. “Why’s that?”
“Mrs. V. sent you here to change everything. Career, life trajectory, and love. And I know how it’s going to happen.”
“K.” Mary blew across the surface, then breathed in the rich aroma.
“I walked by the hotel a block up. They’re having an open mic tonight. I went in and signed us both up. I’ll sing, and you’ll do your standup act. Someone’s going to be in the audience, think you’re funny as hell, and put you on tour. Then, you’ll be the comedian who gets laid by some fabulous guy that you hit it off with, and you fall in love and have the kind of supportive, amazing life partner you deserve.”
“I wouldn’t mind getting laid. It’s been a dry spell. I don’t even need a tour contract.”
“I hear you,” Deidre said. “It’s been a bit of a dry spell for me, too. We’re talking Sahara dry spell. And frankly, I’m over it. I wouldn’t mind enjoying someone’s company while I’m here in Tallinn.”
“K. If someone’s in the room having fun, let’s make sure to hang the Do Not Disturb sign on the door and send a text. No all-nighters.”
“Right. In and out. Get it done. Buh-bye.”
Mary laughed. She knew neither of them was going to sleep with a damned stranger in Tallinn, Estonia. “Well, at any rate, I’m down for all that. From your mouth to god’s ear.”
“Yeah? So you’re game?” Deidre asked. “It’s your birthday day. And it was your chart reading. I don’t want to step on anything here.”
“We can always change our minds, right?” Mary shrugged, then touched her lips to the cup to test the coffee.
“Not always,” Deidre said. “But yeah, sure, in this case, we could bail.”
“Speaking of bailing,” Mary set her cup down. “My muscles aren’t great after the ski adventure yesterday. If I’m going to have my life changed on a dime, I’m going to need some muscle cream or something. The desk guy said there’s a pharmacy up the street in the old city. I’m going to leave you here with my coffee while it cools. I’ll be five, maybe ten minutes.”
“Yup.” Deidre leaned her head back, resting it on the trunk behind her. “I’m just going to enjoy the morning sun on my face and relax. Take your time.”
Rounding the corner, the walk was exactly as the front desk guy had described. She spotted the pharmacy sign up ahead.
Mary’s whole body braced when she suddenly saw a chair go flying through the air and bounce on the cobblestones. A crowd of people gasped and cried out.
