Oceans Between Us (A Cinderella Romance) by Helen Scott Taylor

Author:Helen Scott Taylor [Taylor, Helen Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance, contemporary
Goodreads: 14475043
Published: 2012-05-22T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

After Maria's parents had been home for a week, she went down to breakfast to find her mother looking at a postcard. "Who do you know in New York, darling?"

Her mother turned the card over to read the message. Maria darted forwards and snatched it from her hand. A quick glance at the front confirmed it was a picture of the Metropolitan Opera House. With a thundering heart, Maria checked the back.

Dino hadn't written much, but what he had said was enough. He missed her.

She collapsed in the chair, a hand over her mouth and tears of joy in her eyes, momentarily forgetting her mother's curious appraisal. "Is that from a boy?"

"A man, Mum. He's a man."

"So who is this mystery man?"

"Someone who's important to me. Look, can I have some money?" Maria finally tore her eyes away from Dino's handwriting to meet her mother's worried gaze. "I want to go to New York to see him. I'll need to pay for travel up to London, the flight, a hotel, and probably other stuff I haven't thought of yet."

"Well, I don't know." Her mother frowned. "Isn't this a bit sudden, darling? When did you meet him?"

"I don't ask for much, Mum. I've worked for nothing more than board and lodging for years. That must give me some credit to call on."

"We paid you a bit more than board and lodging," her mother said indignantly. "What about your car and your clothes?"

"Yes, I know. I'm not saying you didn't look after me. But I couldn't save for a holiday. You told me to see more of the world. Well, I want to see New York."

"Let me have a chat with your father. We're talking about a few thousand pounds, I expect. That's not small change."

It was considerably less than her parents had spent on their recent four-week cruise in the Caribbean.

She went to the office and started searching for flights that left in the next few days, hoping for a late deal. If Dino was missing her, that meant he wanted to see her. At the thought of traveling to America, memories of Austria rose into her mind, but she pushed them aside. She would not let her fear stop her going to see him. She would not let the men who'd attacked her ruin her life.

***

Maria pulled her suitcase out the doors of New York's JFK international airport with Chris at her side. Maria's mum and dad had been reluctant to fund her trip, but Chris had found a four-night deal and loaned Maria the money on the condition she could come along. Maria was too focused on Dino to think about the shopping blitz Chris planned, but she was grateful to her sister for the loan and the moral support. Maria felt light-headed with fatigue after traveling for hours, but the thought of seeing Dino fizzed through her like a large dose of caffeine.

They climbed into a yellow taxi and told the driver to head for the Metropolitan Opera House.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.