On Paper
Table of Contents
On Paper
Copyright @ 2015 Shae Scott
Published by Shae Scott
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical,
without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, business, places, events and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner.
Any resemblance to actual person, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Cover Design by: Kari Ayasha
Formatting: Cassy Roop
Dedication
To Travis:
The best souvenir I brought home from my trip to San Francisco.
You are the reason I know that one week with a stranger really can change your life forever.
“Sometimes I wonder about my life.
I lead a small life - well, valuable, but small - and sometimes I wonder,
do I do it because I like it, or because I haven't been brave?
So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book,
when shouldn't it be the other way around?”
Kathleen Kelly – You’ve Got Mail
SOME PEOPLE ARE
naturally brave. Even as children they climb to the highest branch of the tree, jump from highest rung of the monkey bars, or try out for the lead in the school play. They never seem to worry about what might happen, they jump first and ask questions later. And what amazes me, is most of the time, it all works out. No matter how high they climb, how far they jump, or how much they risk it all just falls into place. Is it just that they don’t allow for any other outcome, so no other outcome ever occurs?
I’ve always wondered about that.
I am not one of those people. My biggest adventures tend to come from the pages of the books I read. If you take those into account, I’m very well versed. I’ve lived through it all. But it’s easier to make the risky decisions within the pages of make-believe. Living without a net and chasing adventure is just better when you’re sure to get the happy ending.
No, I’ve never been one of those girls you’d put in the brave column. I’m not going to jump without a net. In fact, I’m not even climbing the ladder unless I have a solid plan in place for what happens when I get to the top. I like logic. I like questions and I like safe. I don’t see anything wrong with being careful. It’s called being prepared.
I don’t need the thrill of adrenaline. I don’t crave the free fall. I’m perfectly happy living my life that way.
Not everyone is cut out to jump off the cliff. Someone has to stay behind and call 911 when something goes terribly wrong. That person is me.
And while I may not always take adventures, I tend to surround myself with people who do. It has always been enough, to see it from the safety of the outside; to share the thrill instead of breathe it in as my own.
But sometimes the adventure finds you. Sometimes, it’s like you never even had a choice. It beckons you, seduces you, it takes you so suddenly and so completely that before you know it you have given up your spot on the sidelines and you’re free-falling into something you may never walk away from in one piece.
WHEELS SLAMMED AGAINST
the pavement as the plane touched down and propelled me forward in my seat. I braced myself against the seatback in front of me and craned my head against the tiny window only to see plain, nondescript concrete. Sitting back, I glanced over at my best friend, and roommate, Lily. She yawned, waking up from her in-flight nap. I'd been too excited to sleep. I had tried to read, my favorite way to spend any down time, but I was too antsy.
"I have a kink in my neck," Lily groaned, trying to stretch out in the tiny, cramped row of seats, her hand hitting me in the face. I rolled my eyes as I pushed it away.
"Well, you were sleeping like the dead. The flight attendant was worried until you started snoring like a lumberjack," I teased.
"Shut up, Quinn, I don’t snore,” she scolded. She was smiling though, her excitement mounting now that we had landed.
"You keep telling yourself that, Lil," I laughed.
She ignored me and leaned over my lap to sneak a peek out the window.
"Unimpressive," she sighed as the plane rolled along the runway towards our gate.
"It's an airport. They don't typically rank high on tourist attractions," I smiled. I didn't bother admitting that I'd been staring out the window, too, in hopes of seeing the bay or maybe Alcatraz. I'd never been to San Francisco, but it had always topped my list of hopeful destinations.
This trip was a graduation present from my parents. I'd just graduated from the University of Missouri and because I’d spent the better part of my life buried in the pages of a book, they had arranged to send Lily and me away to one of the biggest book conventions around. I was ecstatic; an entire week in San Francisco surrounded by books. Obviously, they knew me well.
Some people wanted to go abroad, or lounge around on the beach, but I was a self proclaimed book nerd; a book convention with my best friend was pretty much top of the line for me. I didn't care if that made me weird.
Lucky for me, Lily and I shared a love of fiction. We'd spent our formative teenage years living on my mom's Harlequin books and a steady diet of Nicholas Sparks and Nora Roberts. Like the books we loved, we had evolved into more diverse readers. But, we still loved romance best and more than anything we loved talking about new books we had discovered. Finding new amazing authors was like a game; both of us wanting to introduce a book to the other and watch them fall in love. It was like sharing an amazing secret. We would talk for hours about the characters, fall in love with them, cry with them, laugh with them. It was one of our favorite pastimes and it connected us.
So, yeah, this trip was the best gift I could have wished for. I was giddy with excitement and anxious to get out of this airport and to the hotel.
We padded our way to the baggage claim chattering randomly as we joined the crowd of waiting passengers. I stared at the opening, spitting out bags, as my head bobbed to the loud beeping of the baggage alert, my foot tapping impatiently. The belt turned slowly, carrying everyone's luggage past but ours. I had nearly convinced myself that our bags were lost somewhere in Dallas when my familiar red bag with the sock monkey luggage tag hanging from the zipper drifted by.
Bags in hand we headed out to the line waiting for cabs. The air was cool and I pulled my jacket closed against the breeze.
"You think we'll go over the bridge?" Lily asked. She had a handful of pamphlets in her hand, having grabbed them while we were waiting on our bags.
"I hope so," I beamed. I couldn't wait to see the famous Golden Gate Bridge in person, especially with the fog rolling in over the water. I didn't even care that Lil and I were the epitome of tourists right now. I was going to embrace it. I hadn't traveled much in my life, my family vacations had consisted only of the occasional camping trip or weekend in Branson. I’d certainly never traveled much on my own.
I followed Lily into a cab and let out the tiny squeal of excitement that I'd been working at holding in since we'd landed.
As expected, San Francisco was beautiful. It was an instant love affair, the perfect backdrop for this week. I wanted to freeze time and just stay here forever. I looked over at Lily as she shivered in the seat next to me. She was always cold, a sun goddess at heart. I, on the other hand, was made for cloudy days and cool temperatures. I loved them, they soothed me. Too much sunshine made me grumpy. I know, that sounds crazy, but I think some people are just made for shadows. To me there was something comforting about the clouds and the rain; the way they hung around you like a blanket or washed away every worry. It invited you to cozy up, reflect, and lose yourself in a story. It was my happy place.