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7
Abbie
Lucas had shown up at my door five minutes after he’d sent me the text that readAre you ready?
I was more than ready.
I hadn’t slept since I came home early from my shift the night before. I’d repacked my carry-on and suitcase twice, then had gone back through everything to make sure I hadn’t inadvertently left important something out—you know, like my passport.
Which I had.
It had been sitting on the edge of my night table, slightly obscured by my coffee cup.
I’d left my bags by the door by six-thirty that morning and started drinking coffee to stay awake. Which maybe I didn’t need to—I was already wide awake with nerves and excitement.
I’d never spent Christmas away from my family.
I’d never gone away with Lucas like this.
We’d gone to a few places together, but there had always been people with us, family or more friends, something. But this time, it was just us. No buffer. Not that I thought we really needed any, but…for some reason, I was anxious.
Maybe I was just working too hard, had too many things on my mind. Had too many expectations on me. I just needed a break, to relax and be me again. And no doubt being with Lucas again would let me be me.
He showed up with a grin and his parka on, kissing my cheek before he grabbed my luggage and headed downstairs. I followed, locking up behind us and stuffing the keys into my purse.
He had coffee waiting in the car, and we were off. It was an okay-ish drive to the airport and surprisingly for the busy time of year, things went fairly smooth. Check-in, security—everything went as easily as it could for us.
The flight to Miami passed uneventfully. I slept through some of it. I wasn’t even sure how that had been possible when I’d been so excited the last few days it felt like I could barely keep my eyes closed long enough to sleep at the best of times, but apparently, the excitement had drained me more than I thought.
Or maybe it was standing in the long lines at the airport that had drained all my energy, but by half an hour in, my eyes were already fluttering closed, and I missed the rest of the movie I’d set up on my tablet.
I managed to wake up half an hour before we descended into Miami for the brief layover before we’d board the second plane that would take us straight into Curaçao.
***
Landing in Curaçao was amazing.
I had the window seat and leaned even closer to the pane, watching in amazement as we made our descent into Hato International Airport. The bright white clouds began to dissipate, and in moments, my first real glimpse of the island came into view as the amazing blue water gave way to lush greenness with a scattering of houses and roads. Then all of a sudden, there were more houses and yet again the ocean just before we landed at the airport.
I was ready to jump out of my seat the moment the plane landed. I waited anxiously as we taxied the runway and headed to the airport. Lucas chuckled at me, but I didn’t care, I was excited. We were finally there, and reality was actually sinking in.
Two whole weeks with my best friend.
No snow.
No work.
Nothing but time to hang out together and reconnect.
And Christmas.
I couldn’t forget about Christmas.
It was my absolute favorite holiday; I loved everything about it. The food, the music, the decorations, okay, especially the decorations.
I always thought there was something magical about those twinkling lights on a tree and the shiny metallic ornaments.
I just had to be prepared for the fact that I’d have to get my décor fix from the sights and sounds of Curaçao. I’d done some quick online searches during the layover, and they had a big tree and some events every night in Willemstad. I’d bookmarked it to show Lucas when we got to the house.
