Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 63174 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63174 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
“But you can make it a reality,” I said. “All you have to do is say yes.”
“Okay. Let’s do it. We’ll visit my dad first, and go from there. He’ll be so excited. Should we surprise him, or tell him we’re coming?” He thought about it for a beat and answered his own question. “Let’s surprise him. And I like your suggestion about leaving tonight. If we’re going to do this, I don’t want to wait.”
“Great. Let’s get going, then.”
As we left the coffee shop, he took my hand. I assumed he did that because this whole thing made him nervous, and he needed reassurance. I held it securely as we headed down the sidewalk.
Pretty soon, we reached Miss Lady Jane’s and paused to read the large notice on its closed front door. It was a thank you from the club owner to the patrons, staff, performers, and the community as a whole for three great decades. He also explained that even though it was hard to say goodbye, he had to put the love of his life first.
At the bottom of the notice were two photos. The first looked like it had probably been taken in the 1980s, judging by the clothes and hairstyles. It was of two men in their late twenties, who looked happy and totally in love. The other photo was of the same two men in their seventies, obviously still every bit as happy and more in love than ever.
Kit said softly, “Can you imagine? They’ve had all those wonderful years together, and their next chapter is just beginning.”
He’d said that mostly to himself, but no, I couldn’t imagine it. That would never be my reality.
As I held Kit’s hand in mine, I was struck with a profound sense of loss.
But now wasn’t the time to feel sorry for myself. I’d made a promise to Kit to take him places and show him things he’d only dreamed of. And I was going to deliver on that promise, even if it was the last thing I ever did.
6
Kit
The entire evening was a whirlwind. Over the course of three hours, I found myself out of a job, packing some bags, and taking off on a spontaneous road trip with Devon.
Our housemates had been almost as surprised as I was by this turn of events, especially when I told them I didn’t know exactly when we’d be back. But Devon seemed completely confident about all of this. Then again, he also brought along every single thing he owned. That seemed to suggest he didn’t expect to return here at the end of the trip. Maybe he thought the curse was going to take him out before that could happen.
Despite that, he was all smiles as we got underway. After one of our housemates drove us to a rental company, we picked up our online reservation—a cute, royal blue camper van. It had a compact kitchenette, and a table and bench seating that converted to a full-size bed somehow. I thought it was very cozy, and that it would have made a wonderful place to live, back when I was homeless.
By eight p.m. we were on the move, heading south on the one-oh-one. We’d brought along a bunch of blankets and pillows, and I wrapped myself up in a fuzzy lavender blanket like a burrito—not because I was cold, but because it was comforting.
I was excited about seeing my dad, and confident we were going to make that happen. But at this point, the rest of the trip felt hypothetical. That was why I decided to wait before messaging Hal and letting him know I was coming for a visit. There was no reason to get his hopes up, only to call back later and tell him it wasn’t happening after all.
Not that I wanted to be negative. Devon was being wonderfully kind and generous, and he’d presented me with an incredible opportunity to experience something I’d only dreamed of. I really was grateful.
It was just that all of this had happened so fast that it was overwhelming, and it triggered my anxiety. That in turn activated the part of my brain that was used to disappointment, which kept telling me this was too good to be true.
Devon could tell I was anxious, which sent him into caretaker mode. After a while, we took a break for dinner at a roadside café, and he made sure I ate. As we returned to the van, he took my hand and said, “I know this trip is way outside your comfort zone, but I’ve got you Kit, I promise. I’m going to take good care of you.”
I grabbed him in a hug, and he held me tightly. “Maybe it was a bad idea to start our trip tonight, before you could process any of this,” he said. “I was just worried you’d talk yourself out of it if we didn’t leave right away. Then later on, you might have regretted missing out on a wonderful experience.”