Page 80 of Fight Or Flight

Natalie shrugged, picked up a black dress. When she turned it in her hands and saw it had thin, criss-cross straps and no back, she quickly returned it to the rack and moved on.

“It was . . .” How did you explain that you had both the best time and the worst time? That you were thankful that it had happened and also full of regret? “Uh . . . busy.”

Jess’s face showed her trying to work through what that meant. “I saw your Instagram post. At Niagara Falls.”

Natalie’s hand froze midair, reaching for a gorgeous satin eggplant fit and flare. She shook off the memory of Ethan’s arm around her at the cliff and picked up the dress by the hanger. “Yeah, the falls are really something, eh?”

Jess laughed. “A few weeks back in Canada and you’re sounding like a Mountie. Eh?”

Natalie narrowed her eyes. “Do you know what a Mountie is?”

She laughed harder and shook her head. “Nope.”

Natalie rolled her eyes, looked at the dress, then draped it over her forearm to bring it to the change room.

“Something isn’t right, Nat.”

“Why?” she asked, holding the dress up again. “Purple isn’t my colour?”

“I don’t mean the dress. It’s beautiful. And, side note, any colour is your colour. What I mean is that you seem off. Are you missing Marco?”

Natalie reared back. “Marco?”

“No? Then it must be the cute Canadian guy from your post? The one with the glasses and the blue eyes and that smile.”

Natalie looked away. Ethan did have exceptional eyes. Kind eyes. And an unbelievable smile. Not to mention his hands . . .

She mustered the energy to shake her head and reach for a light orange, knee-length fitted dress that had a long slit up one thigh. It was equally beautiful as the purple. She draped it on her arm and kept walking.

“What was his name?”

Natalie swallowed. “Ethan,” she choked out. “He was just . . . temporary.”

Jess stepped closer. “Natalie, you can’t lie to me. You seem . . . really down. Maybe you’re homesick.”

“It’s impossible to be homesick when you don’t have a home.”

“Maybe he was your home.”

Natalie’s heart ceased as she forced her head to shake convincingly. “I’ll be fine. I just need to keep moving.”

“Haven’t you been on the road for two weeks? More than that. Where did you go after you left Canada?”

“I extended my layover in Dubai.”

Jess’s eyes closed for a moment. “What did you do there?”

“Slept.”

Natalie spotted a bright-red halter dress, which she picked up, only to be struck by more Lindsay vibes than she cared for. She immediately put it back and picked up the same style in a saturated magenta.

“Did you go out while you were in Dubai? Go down to the beach? Sightsee?”

“Nothing has really changed since I was there last.”

She located the change rooms and headed for them with her three dresses, hoping two of them would look terrible on her so she wouldn’t have to choose. Now that she was back to suitcase living, she only had room for one.

“Maybe moving all around the world isn’t the right solution for this problem, Nat.”

---