Page 32 of Closer than Ever

Hayley finished parking. She did a great job handling the large vehicle in such a tight space. Being around her felt so right, it was hard to explain after all these years.

“I’ll go with you.”

“Huh?” Hayley looked over at her, hands still on the steering wheel.

“On the trip. I’ll come.”

“You will?” Hayley blinked rapidly a few times.

“I’ve given it a lot of thought, like I said I would. I needed to think it over. I found out I can get the time off work. Kelly’s sister wants to move in, so I’ll also have the mortgage covered. If you can wait two weeks for me to work my notice, I can come with you for two months. How does that sound?”

Hayley turned the engine off and turned to face Anna completely. “Really?”

“Yes. I thought you wanted to do this trip yourself and I never expected you to ask me to come with you. Seeing you again has reminded me of how much of a great time we used to have together, and I don’t really want to waste this opportunity to spend more time with you.”

Hayley leant forwards and smiled one of her most mischievous smiles. “Anna, this is brilliant! We are going to have so much fun!”

“But I have a few conditions.”

“Ah. I thought you might.”

“Follow me,” Anna said.

“Ooh. This is already exciting.”

Anna led her into the house, through to the dining table, which they hovered beside. She’d written a list of ground rules in her notebook one night when she couldn’t sleep. If the trip was to be enjoyable for her, she had to get them in early for them to register in Hayley’s mind.

Anna picked up her notebook. “Things I need us to agree on.”

“Ah. Not so exciting.”

“Number one. We make an itinerary.”

Hayley groaned.

“Two. I want at least one day a week where we don’t drink any alcohol.”

“Fine. Go on.”

“I’ll need at least a day’s notice for any spur-of-the-moment ideas you might have so I can prepare for them.” She paused. “I’m just going to read them all out. Nothing dangerous. Do not expect me to do a bungee jump. I want at least seven hours sleep a night, and I should warn you I really am a terrible sleeper. We divide the driving equally and we split the cost for everything in half.”

“Wow, you make it sound so sexy.”

“Hayley, I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

A slow smile crept onto Anna’s lips. She couldn’t help it. She was excited about this. More than she was letting on. More than she wanted to admit to herself, even. “You’re okay with my ground rules?”

“While I object to the very concept, if it means I get to have the pleasure of your company, I can get down with them.”

“Great.”

“The only thing I’m not on board with is your last point. I’ll pay for all the gas because I turned up on your doorstep and roped you into this. To be honest, I’m probably going to want to pay for more than half for stuff. Sorry. I won’t back down on this.”

Anna was going to dip into her savings to pay for her share, which wasn’t ideal. Then again, not paying her way went against everything she valued. “Perhaps just the petrol?”

“Fine.”

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