Truelove Trail by Mary Shotwell

Author:Mary Shotwell
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781648982170
Publisher: City Owl Press

Chapter Seventeen

Thursday, October 13

Tracy immersed herself in pulling up the remaining floor staples in Aunt Dee’s office. She had briefly seen Ben in the morning, while pouring herself a cup of coffee. She didn’t know how to behave after what she had said last night.

She worked on the flooring, her hands cramping from gripping the pliers. The two of them had another date tonight, and well, it was silly to not call it a date now, wasn’t it? She had such a good time with him, and wanted to be around him, and she’d confessed as much. Was that so wrong?

She just needed to see him, speak with him, to clear the air. The foggy air of mixing a business relationship with a personal one.

Her back-and-forth argument of what to call her relationship with Ben was broken by Aunt Dee.

“Phone call for you, Tracy.” She stood in the doorway to the office. “It’s long distance, so you’d better hurry.”

“Okay.” Tracy set down the pliers, her knees and ankles aching from crawling and crouching all afternoon.

She walked to the front desk and picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“Tracy! It’s Sara.”

Tracy recognized the Aussie accent she had grown fond of during her stay months ago. It definitely was a long-distance call. It had to be nine or ten in the morning where Sara was. “Hey Sara. If you’re calling about the New Zealand trip, I’ve got my eye on a flight that leaves right after Thanksgiving here in The States. That should give me a day or two with you in Sydney before we head out to Auckland.”

“That’s why I’m calling, honey. Amelia found out her dad needs surgery, and it’s scheduled for February. Me and the girls are trying to move the trip up a month’s time so we’d be back in time.”

“Bump it up a month?” The ten-week trip across New Zealand and nearby islands was the end goal of working for Aunt Dee. “That puts me there at the end of October.” She processed the timeline. “I’d need to leave in two weeks.”

“I know, it’s short notice. We realize that and promise to pitch in. We could each lend you a few pineapples while you’re here, if you can cover the cost of the ticket.”

Tracy did the math of how many Australian fifty dollars she’d need to last ten weeks. She shook her head. This was crazy. She’d have to leave Aunt Dee without her help, help she promised. But then again, Aunt Dee had Ben.

Oh no. Ben.

“Tracy, you there?”

She sighed. “I’m here. I’m gonna need some time to think over this.”

“I understand. But we need to know, like yesterday.”

“I get it. I’ll let you know ASAP.”

“All right, Sheila. Miss you.”

“Miss you too.” Tracy hung up the phone, the weight of the decision on her shoulders. The trip had dictated what she needed to do all summer and fall. She had stuck to the plan, to earn the money needed, but what happened now that the trip had changed?

“Everything okay?” Aunt Dee approached from the kitchen.

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