Page 24 of Journey to Cheshire Bay
I blinked and smiled.
And slowly came to.
It was no dream. Holden has his arm around me, and my fingers were laced through his. What the hell?
“Holden, get up.” I unlinked our hands and reached for my phone. My eyes bugged out when I saw the time. I gave him a shake. “Holy shit! Wake up.”
So much for a quick little nap. We’d managed to sleep for five hours straight. The morning had disappeared into early afternoon. Getting into Victoria before midnight was going to be impossible.
“What?” His voice was raw with sleep. “What time is it?”
“It’s after two.”
“Seriously?” Like he’d been struck by lightning, he leapt off the bed. “Can you be ready to go in ten?”
I shot up, tossing the covers into a messy pile, and rubbed my face. “I’ll only need five.”
A flurry of activity swirled through the room, and after a quick freshening, Holden grabbed the car while I dropped off the room key, thanking Cindy once more.
I slipped into the passenger seat and opened the maps app. “Barring only a quick ten minute refueling and food grab in, ah… Kamloops, we should be able to make it to the Vancouver ferry terminal in eight hours.” I changed the end destination to see what our other option was. “Or ten minutes less, if you park at the airport and fly over to the island.”
“I’ll need time to think about which way is more practical.” He put the car in gear and after a quick lunch grab from another fast-food restaurant, we were racing down the highway – the speed a little north of the limit.
“Have you been through the mountains before?” I asked as the vehicle wove and wound its way around the mountain.
The area was so pretty, and I couldn’t stop myself from the passenger seat sightseeing expedition. Trees grew out the sides of the rock, somehow, and in the distance, far below, a river snaked its way between the mountains in the valley. Despite the overcast skies with a hint of dark clouds hanging in the westward direction, the entire view was marvelous. No wonder they’d called that one town Golden. It truly was magnificent.
“Oh yeah, several times. Last time was a couple of years ago, but we only drove from Victoria to Revelstoke. Haven’t been this far east in a few years.” He removed his gaze from the road for a fraction of a second to glance in my direction. “Have you?”
“Never. Lived in Toronto all my life.”
Even though my homes changed every few months, it was always in the Greater Toronto area. It was all I knew.
“Well, if you see anything interesting, you’d like to stop at, let me know. A quick leg stretch will never be turned down.”
As much as I’d love to stop and see it all, I couldn’t do that and hold him back further. As it was, he was going to be super late getting to his grandparents because of me. “I’m just enjoying the view. It’s so different than the GTA.”
“We can stop.”
“Really?”
“Why do you act so surprised?” Holden’s brows knit together in a flash.
“I don’t know. Just figured there wasn’t a lot of time for sightseeing.”
“I’m not saying we’d spend the night or anything, but a quick ten-minute visit a few times isn’t out of line. Besides, when will you be back this way?”
I shook my head. My future was unwritten, but very likely didn’t include any more cross-country travels. “No idea.”
He laughed, and one-handed the steering wheel as he took another swig of coffee. “Are you a live every moment as it comes, or do you live life more reactionarily?”
I huffed and twisted in my seat. “I’m not sure. I haven’t always had the easiest life.”
“Although I’m not sure I can say the same about my own childhood, I can empathize. Being grades ahead of your classmates isn’t always easy.”
“I guess not.” I twiddled my thumbs, trying to stop myself from staring as his lips curled around the lid of the coffee cup. “How old were you when you started advancing?”
He gave his chin a thoughtful rub. “Grade two? My teacher was amazing and told my parents I was reading and learning at least two grade levels ahead. For what should’ve been my grade three year was part grade four and part grade five.”