Page 73 of How to Write a Rom-Com

Elle spends the entire ride trying to calm me down. Every time she places a hand on my shaking leg, it ceases for a moment, but minutes later it’s revving again, and I’m unable to control it. We’re not the only ones on the bus, so when she blasts music from her phone and tries to start a dance party, it’s ill-received by the rest of the riders. I manage to grab her and pull her back into her seat just before she flips them all off.

“Tough crowd,” she groans and the team laughs at her.

“There’s really a delay in the excitement here, Anne,” Nicole says, leaning over her seat to talk to Anne.

“Well, I didn’t make the town so far away,” Anne whines.

“I know. I just feel like in the movies when there’s a grand romantic gesture or a chase, they don’t show you the boring bus ride the heroine takes to get there,” Nicole says, shooting me a knowing look.

“Thank you for making me even more nervous,” I say, hitting my head against the seat.

“There’s nothing to be nervous about,” Elle says, hitting my thigh. “This is going to be great. Happy ever afters all around!”

“If you say one more obnoxious, upbeat thing, I’m going to punch you,” I say, raising my fist.

“Noted,” she replies with a nod.

I text my mom to say that Elle and I have decided to take a spontaneous trip upstate for the long weekend and I’ll call her tomorrow. I can’t believe I’m really doing this. My mother texts back her equivalent of “WTF,” which is mainly just a bunch of question marks. I explain that it was very last minute and that we are staying in the same place I lived for a month, and not to worry. She tries to call me, but I text her saying I don’t have good service. I need to compartmentalize right now. One thing at a time.

I can feel Josie with me every step of the way. I can feel her courage in my heart. I can hear her cheering for me in my brain. She is getting a kick out of this. I know it.

I can’t stop my mind from racing the entire ride there. What if I get there and he refuses to see me? I won’t give him the option. This is the stuff of romance novels, dammit, and I’m going to get my high-stakes ending, even if I have to fight for it. I’ll say what I have to say and if he really doesn’t feel the same way, then at least I’ll know that I tried. I would have tried to make a commitment and be vulnerable for the first time in my life. And if he does feel the same way? I’m not sure what to do with that ending actually…

We live three hours away from each other. I realize it’s not 3,000 miles, but it’s not right around the corner. We have established lives in separate places, and I don’t know if he’s going to want to commit to something like that. I stop myself. I’m doing it again. I’m thinking of all the reasons why this won’t work instead of focusing on the one important reason that it should—it will: I love Liam. These last few months without him, I’ve been frozen. It was like I was only going through the motions and watching my life happen from a movie theater seat. The only thing I was invested in was the book, and mostly because it felt like spending time with Liam again. I could delve right back into our story at all the good parts and feel the way I did when I was with him. I feel a smile form on my face at the thought. A montage of my favorite moments with him passes through my mind and the feeling in my chest reminds me why I’m doing this. I want that feeling back. Elle is right, I deserve it.

I scan my phone for a photo from my time in Hudson Hollow and find one I took of Liam while his back was turned at The Point. I don’t want to post a photo of his face to my public Instagram, so I decide this one works best. His broad shoulders are perfectly framed, and the mountains in the distance look like they could have been painted, they are so perfect. Looking at that view makes my heart clench in a way I’ve never felt before. Is it excitement? Like this thing I’m doing right now—putting myself out there, making a change, being honest with myself about what I want—might actually be a good thing?

A lot of you may have noticed I’ve been MIA lately, and some have even messaged me wondering why. My trip earlier this summer was work related, but eventually became more than that. Thanks to this man right here.

He doesn’t follow this account, so I can say anything I want about him. Most importantly, that I love him. He doesn’t know this yet, but I hope he will soon. (continued in comments)

Before my trip, I was having a hard time (well, more than a hard time) finding the joy of HEAs in my real life. There’s only so many times you can be ghosted before you start to lose hope. When I went to a small town for a project (that is still under wraps!), I thought it was ridiculous. I thought it would be a complete waste of my time. But instead, I found everything I’ve been looking for my entire life.

I’m not sure how this story will end. But whatever way it goes, I promise not to doubt HEAs again. They’re out there. I know it.

Anne orders an Uber when there’s twenty minutes to go on our trip, because unlike Manhattan, there’s not exactly one waiting on every corner in Catskill. The knots in my stomach had loosened somewhat in the last hour of the ride, but when I start to see the familiar signs, they clench right back up. Not least of all because I still haven’t figured out one word of what I’m going to say to Liam.

“Are you ready?” Elle asks as we squeeze into the minivan with one too few seats for us.

“Not at all,” I mumble. The driver looks at us like we’re nuts. As I look around—Nadine, Callie, Elle, and I are squished together in the third row, Terri and Nicole are in the captain’s chairs and Anne is chattering the driver’s ear off without looking up from her phone—I realize that we are a little nuts. I also realize that this group of women has become so important to me over the last few years. When I moved to the city, I didn’t have a solid group of friends to ground me and help me find my way. Since working at Heartwarming, I’ve found a family. I didn’t recognize that until this moment, as I make the most impulsive and scary decision of my life, that these people are here forme. They may be here out of sheer curiosity—Terri in particular—but they are here to support me. And that’s a pretty good feeling.

When I see a sign that says “Welcome to Historic Hudson Hollow,” I think my heart might just pound right out of my chest. I swallow hard as we enter the town and tell Anne to stop in front of Liz’s with a shaky voice. I can’t believe I’m here. I can’t believe I’m doing this.

“Is it too late to go home?” I ask Elle, wrapping a death grip around her forearm.

“Yes,” she says confidently. I roll my eyes at her. We all climb out of the cab like clowns exiting a P.T. Cruiser on the opposite side of the street from Liz’s. It’s scorching hot out, and I have to cover my eyes to shield myself from the sun.

I approach the doors of the restaurant slowly, as if there is some dreadful form of doom waiting for me on the other side. Elle must sense it, because she’s Elle, and she wraps her arm around my elbow. I look over as she gives me a reassuring smile. Anne takes a few steps around me to get to the door. She smiles a gummy smile which squeezes her glasses up her nose as she opens it.

My stomach clenches as I step into the restaurant. The familiar scent of flat-top grilled burgers and maple syrup hits me and I feel a wave of something wash over me. Relief? Comfort?

Home.

I feel home.

Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe I’m setting myself up for failure here. Because if Liam still doesn’t want to see me, and just being in Hudson Hollow for two minutes makes me feel this good… what will I do if I never set foot here again?

“Lucy!” I turn around at the sound of a deep voice bellowing my name. I see Max and May heading toward me from a booth in the back. My eyes start to travel behind the bar, but I don’t see Liam anywhere.

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