Page 8 of The Dangers of Daydreaming

He laughed. “Once more, this time with feeling.”

I shook my head. It seemed his humor hadn’t changed one bit in the last decade.

“Listen,” he said, surprising me with a somewhat serious tone. “I overheard you talking to Simon. Your car fell through? And hotel?”

My face went hot. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Well, I just so happen to have a place for you to stay.”

I was not staying at this man’s apartment. I didn’t care if it was the last lodging available on the island, I’d board a plane and try again next week. Honestly, what did it matter if Gary got the promotion, after all? He was, you know, a whole month my senior.

“So, as I said, I think this will be reminiscent of our sixth-grade field trip—I hope you don’t mind being in my debt a second time.”

I shook my head at his bad jokes. “I should be fine. I just need to make a few new bookings, and then I’ll be on my way. Thanks, though.”

He pushed his hands into his pockets, looking like he was enjoying this all too much. “My grandparents own a bed-and-breakfast and a tour company. I’m here picking up a group right now.” He jerked his thumb over to the family whose toddler had launched a human missile attack on my luggage. His thoughts seemed to go in a similar direction because he grimaced and said, “Don’t hold their three-year-old against me.”

That actually almost made me laugh.

“I know they have a few vacancies, and I have room in the van to take you back to the inn.”

I hesitated. Sure, it was nice to have an option… but did I really want to be reliant on Finn Freaking Harrison for my safety right now? The guy had made my junior high years miserable between teasing me for my vocabulary and holding my books ransom. Of course, I was well aware that was standard middle-school-boy behavior, but still. Did I want to be running into this man the whole time I stayed there?

“I don’t stay at the inn, myself, if that helps,” he said nonchalantly, correctly interpreting my silence.

“Where is it? The inn.”

“Just outside of Victoria. A little over half an hour to Charlottetown.”

Hmm. Not exactly where I wanted to be stationed during this trip, but not too far off. My original hotel had been in Charlottetown, but I’d need to travel around the island anyway.

I checked my phone again. Nothing from Ellie. I blew out a breath. Should I contact Shannon? It was a Saturday, so the likelihood of someone being in the office was low. Even Gary and Marissa (not Bryn, surprisingly) had flown out yesterday to their respective tours. No one would be around to help me until Monday.

So, I needed a fix now. The itinerary Ellie had sent had the name of the hotel and rental car company, but not confirmation numbers. I’d checked all my texts and emails and couldn’t find anything there either.

My chest was tight. This was not helping convince me to travel more. Could I use it as an excuse not to go to Mom’s destination wedding?Sorry, Mom, I tried to give the curse another shot, and it attacked with a vengeance—I’m afraid your nuptials aren’t worth angering it further.

Finn was watching me with an amused expression, and I realized with a jolt of embarrassment that I’d forgotten to answer again. I couldn’t help it that my mind was a very entertaining place.

“Okay,” I said.

His brows raised. “Yeah?”

I just nodded. I was feeling a little queasy about the whole thing. Was this a terrible choice? I’d been a travel agent long enough to realize that hiccups and mistakes happened on trips. You just had to pivot.

Cue theFriendsscene of Ross yelling, “Pivot! Pivot!” It was an appropriate comparison—I was feeling fairly panicked about it myself.

I grabbed my suitcase off the conveyor belt and stood. That family was starting to gather near the exit.

Finn glanced over at them, then settled his eyes on me. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

Cheaper Than Therapy

Lucy:Made it to Prince Edward Island. None of my bookings went through, so I hitched a ride to a B&B. Hope I see you all again someday. If not, Poppy can have my houseplants. Dani, Sadie, and Avery can split my books. I don’t know if I have anything Chloe wants, but feel free to raid my house pre-estate sale.???

I glanced up at Finn from my window seat in one of the van’s middle rows. My cousins all knew him. I had spent sixth, seventh, and part of eighthgrade complaining about the guy almost nonstop. About how everyone else liked him—even the teachers—and how he was nice to everyone but me. It might take them a second to place his name, but if I said Finn Harrison had saved me, they would know exactly who that was.

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