Dear Adam (36 page)

“
Huh,” M. Brassi said as
she scanned the computer. The frown had returned. She shook her
head. “I do not know how or why but all flights to Catania are
booked as well until next week.”

Eden’s stomach dropped.

M. Brassi went back to typing in the
computer, even faster this time, a determined look on her face.

After a few minutes, she shook her head
again, looking confused. Glancing from the monitor to Eden, she
said apologetically, “There are no flights to either Palermo or
Catania with any open seats departing from any city … until next
week.”

“
None at all? How can that
be?”

“
It is very, very unusual,
but that is what the computer says. I am very sorry. It also says,”
she raised her eyebrows at the monitor as if she couldn’t believe
what she was seeing, “That Alitalia will compensate you for this
inconvenience with one week accommodation in Rome, at any hotel of
your choice, and a voucher for a round trip ticket from San
Francisco to any European city in the future, to be redeemed at any
time within the next year.”

R. Viola gasped. She looked at the monitor
and then at Eden. “Wow!”

Eden felt like crying, but she managed to
hold onto a semblance of calm. “I’m sorry,” she shook her head,
“But I really need to get to Sicily. Rome is great though, I’m
sure. I just …” She faltered. “Where’s the nearest train–“ she cut
herself off. “Sicily’s an island. Can’t take a train.”

Can’t take a plane. Can’t take a train. Can’t
drive over there. She wondered how long it would take to swim to
Sicily.

“
Wait,” she exclaimed,
suddenly excited. “Where’s the nearest port from here? I’ll take a
boat.”

The man next to her started coughing
violently.

“
Would you like some
water?” Eden asked, alarmed. She got out her water
bottle.

The man raised a hand towards her and shook
his head, embarrassed.

“
Thank you, no. My throat
just has a bit of a tickle,” he said in a light voice with a
charming British accent. He was handsome, she was forced to notice,
with undeniable movie star looks. Sparkling aquamarine eyes,
chiseled features, glossy black hair. A strong jaw with an
impossibly perfect cleft on his chin. He smiled at her with a flash
of even, white teeth. The effect was dazzling. No wonder M. Brassi
and R. Viola didn’t notice her at first.

“
I couldn’t help
overhearing your dilemma, miss …”

“
Espinoza,” she replied as
she put her water bottle back in her bag. She got out her laptop,
ready to do some quick research.

He came closer to her and tilted his head so
they were eye-to-eye. He wasn’t just handsome, he was alarmingly,
heart-racingly so.

“
Perhaps I could be of some
assistance? My friend and I were supposed to be flying to Palermo
on this flight but he just texted me to say he can’t make it. Would
you care to take his seat? It would go to waste
otherwise.”

Eden was speechless for a moment before
uttering a grateful, “Yes! Thank you!” She wanted to jump up and
down but restrained herself. She stuck out her hand, “Er, uh, Eden
Espinoza.”

He shook her hand, amused, “Charming. Jack
Knightley at your service.”

Eden giggled inside. She immediately thought
of Jane Austen. The dashing Mr. Knightley to her rescue. “So how
much do I owe you?” she said promptly, taking out her wallet.

“
I wouldn’t dream of it. As
I said, the seat would have lain empty. You get to go to Sicily and
I get a lovely traveling companion.”

She smiled at him.

“
Why, thank you
again.”

She turned to M. Brassi and R. Viola, who
were both looking at her with great envy. “Is this okay? Me taking
over his friend’s seat? Is that allowed?”

Jack leaned over the counter once more. “The
seat’s bought and paid for. Surely we can transfer it in her
name?”

M. Brassi shrugged her shoulders. R. Viola
threw up her hands. They were no match for Mr. Knightley’s
seductive smile. He gently guided them to putting her name on his
friend’s ticket. Eden just watched in quiet amazement, sure that
they were all participating in something that was against the
rules. But she didn’t care. All she needed was to get to
Sicily.

She and Jack made small talk while they both
waited to board. Although she was relieved to be making this flight
after all, his flirtatiousness presented a wrinkle. She couldn’t
discourage his attempts to engage her in conversation like she
would others. She had an obligation to talk to him. She purposely
gave vague answers to his questions, and instead deflected by
asking him about himself. He was a businessman who lived in London,
she found out, and was going to Sicily for a few days’ vacation.
When he began talking about how sad he was about being by himself
in Palermo, Eden’s internal alarm started buzzing. Soon he would
suggest having dinner together and she would have no choice but to
accept. The flight was over an hour long and he gave every
indication that he was looking forward to spending the entire time
talking to her. Eden hastily drew up a plan.

Upon boarding the plane and finding their
seats, which were next to each other, Eden excused herself, saying
she had to go to the bathroom before takeoff. She stayed inside for
as long as she could, until she heard the people in the cabin
settling down. When she came out, she was surprised to see that the
plane was only half-full. Yet it appeared that all the passengers
for that flight had boarded already. The doors were shut and the
flight crew was preparing for takeoff.

She sat down and strapped her seatbelt on.
“That’s strange. Half the seats are empty,” she said to Jack.

He shrugged. “Must have been a computer
glitch of some sort. Anyway, I’m delighted that it led to us
becoming friends.” His close proximity was heady. Those piercing
blue eyes, that smile just a few inches away. He was probably the
most perfect creature she had ever talked to. She had difficulty
resisting his magnetism.

“
Yeah,” she replied. “It’s
delightful.” She covered her mouth as she yawned deeply. “Oh, my,
I’ve been up since three this morning. And all this excitement has
worn me down.” She smiled her prettiest smile at Jack and slowly
lowered her eyelids so that she looked sleepy. “I can’t seem to
keep my eyes open. I think I’ll take a little catnap.”

Without waiting for him to reply, Eden leaned
against the window and closed her eyes.

The flight was uneventful. The flight
attendants seemed to come by every five minutes to ask Jack if he
needed anything, so Eden didn’t feel so bad about her little ruse.
As she pretended to sleep, she went over what she would do as soon
as she got off the plane. She had to make the most of her every
minute in Sicily. Almost missing this flight only spurred her
determination and sharpened her focus.

She “slept” through the entire flight and
only “woke up” when Jack tapped her shoulder to tell her that they
had landed in Palermo.

“
You made a fetching
picture while you slept,” he teased.

He was also the most charming man she had
ever met. Drat.

“
Do you need to pick up
your luggage at the carousel?” she asked as he fetched her bags
from the overhead bin.

“
No,” he said, patting his
carryon.”I travel light. You?”

“
Oh,” she said in an
attitude of regret. “I checked in luggage. I can’t travel with at
least half the contents of my closet.” She gave a lighthearted,
frivolous laugh. “So I guess this is where we part ways, Jack.” She
stuck out her hand. “It’s been a pleasure to meet you. Thank you
again for coming to my rescue.”

The perfection of his smile wavered just a
bit. He shook her hand. “The pleasure was all mine, Eden.”

They started moving down the aisle to the
exit.

“
Say,” he said, “I’ve an
idea. Why don’t we take a taxi into Palermo together? Save on the
fare. You did say you were going to stay in Palermo,
right?”

Eden was walking ahead of him so he didn’t
see her grimace. She looked back at him with an apologetic smile.
“Actually, a friend of mine is coming to pick me up. He’s promised
to take me around Sicily while I’m here.”

“
Oh,” Jack said, clearly
disappointed. How astonishing, Eden thought, that such a gorgeous
man was interested in her. A shame that she had to abruptly cut him
off, but Eden knew he wouldn’t want for female company anywhere.
Practically every woman was ogling him as they made their way
through customs.

“
This is my line,” she
nodded to the long queue for non-European Union travelers. His line
was on the other end, and it was fast moving. “Have fun in
Palermo!” she said cheerfully.

“
You too.” He stood next to
her. It seemed as if he wanted to say something else. “Well,
perhaps I’ll see you and your friend around in Palermo.
Ciao.”

Eden smiled noncommittally. When he finally
walked away, she kept her eye on him and let people go in front of
her in the line. Once she saw that he had passed through, she felt
easier.

She passed through customs and quickly looked
for signs for the train. She felt a strange excitement, one which
seemed to overcome what apprehension she would usually feel upon
landing in a foreign country. Fate had saved her from being
stranded in Rome indefinitely. That meant fate was on her side.

She found the train to Agrigento without too
much trouble. Being polite and smiling went a long way. People
seemed to want to help her despite her unfamiliarity with the
language.

She didn’t rest easy once she boarded,
however. Getting on the right train was a breeze. The challenging
portion of her mission, the part that struck fear into her heart,
still lay ahead. Driving in Italy.

The car she got at the rental place right
outside the train station in Agrigento was not the shiny new Fiat
she signed up for online. Instead she got a battered-looking
Hyundai. It was tiny but looked serviceable and would get good gas
mileage. She would need it. When Adam said he lived in Agrigento,
she didn’t realize that Agrigento referred to both the city proper
and the entire region. She had a lot of kilometers to cover in one
week.

She pulled out of the rental car parking lot,
scared and thrilled. Driving in a foreign country would be #1 in
her 37 list.

From the directions she had been given, she
knew her hotel should have been only 15 minutes away, but it took
her over an hour of wrong turns, more than once into a one-way
street and being met with angry blasts of the horn and drivers
swearing at her. After the third time it happened, she wasn’t
scared any more. Being cursed at in a language you don’t understand
had surprisingly little effect. It was dark by the time she pulled
into the hotel, grateful, dead tired, and ready to kiss the hotel
bed. Merely arriving felt like half the battle.

She awoke the next day refreshed and feeling
electrified. Adam was within reach, less than an hour away. Now all
she had to do was find him.

She pored over the road map of Agrigento she
got at the car rental place. She had painstakingly combed through
all their e-mails and written down everything she could remember
about what Adam had told her. From some of their early e-mails,
when he would write that he was leaving the café and would write
her again when he arrived home, she deduced that home was
approximately 1/2 hour from the café, which would mean downtown.
Her logic was that her search would be confined to a 1/2 hour from
the downtown area of Agrigento proper in every direction, give or
take a few kilometers. It was a workable and doable radius. She
would simply start driving and look for an old mill house with a
water wheel and surrounded by lemon trees outside. It would be on a
sizable property because Adam liked having a lot of land. During
one rainy night, he mentioned that his house was near a bridge. How
many mill houses near bridges could there be?

She had noted the times he said he had been
to a café and shops, which tended to be in the middle of the day,
around lunchtime. She decided to go driving in one section of the
map during the morning, spend 2-3 mid-day hours downtown where he
might be, then go driving again in the afternoon until sunset.
She’d come back downtown when it was time to eat dinner, in case he
went to a restaurant.

Her plan was straightforward and methodical.
In the back of her mind was the thought that this was the last
crazy thing she would ever do, but now she was in the thick of it,
she might as well give it all she had. She set out on her first day
filled with optimism.

She knew that Adam’s house wouldn’t be in any
densely populated areas, but farther out, yet still have shops and
restaurants within reasonable reach. Since the area was also near
some Roman ruins, a tourist landmark, he wouldn’t stand out as much
as if he were the only Englishman in a remote and obscure village.
She skipped all the suburban-looking neighborhoods with houses
close together. His house would be out in the countryside, likely
at the end of a narrow, unpaved and unmarked road.

The rustic landscape of Agrigento was very
picturesque, sloping green hills dotted with vineyards and orchards
of olive trees. She could see why Adam chose Agrigento as his
retreat from the world. It would be a pleasant life of quiet and
simplicity, what he craved most. And the sea was nearby, so he
could go sailing on his boat any time he wanted. The more she saw
of Agrigento, the more she became convinced that Adam was
there.

The first day’s results were less than
stellar. She got lost multiple times, going down windy roads that
weren’t on the map. Some led to nowhere so she would have to turn
around, having wasted a half hour. Others led to some old-looking
houses, but none of them were former mills. The most promising one
looked like it might have been a mill house at one time. It was
surrounded by lemon trees and got her very excited. But as soon as
she got out of the car, two women came out from around the back
with babies on their hips, so she knew it wasn’t the right one. She
was a little bit discouraged by the time night fell, but cheered
herself up with the knowledge that even if she didn’t find Adam’s
house that day, she could at least eliminate a section on her map.
She was still making progress.