Amanda breathed a heavy sigh of relief after she ended the call. “That wasn’t so bad.”
“Your mom seems like a really nice person.”
“She’s wonderful.”
The sunset was as dramatic as they both had hoped. The only disappointment was the pictures just didn’t do it justice and as the last shimmers of light faded from the sky, Amanda desperately tried to commit every second of it to memory. With their mission accomplished they returned to the car and began their trek home.
Chapter 5
Viktor stopped for gas before heading back on the road for Edinburgh. Amanda insisted on contributing and forced Viktor to accept 20 pounds amid much protest.
“When do you leave for Spain?” Viktor asked as they drove down a winding, wooded back road.
“The day after tomorrow.”
“What are your plans for tomorrow?”
“I haven’t thought that far ahead,” she admitted.
“So you prefer spontaneity over structure?” he observed.
“Well … to some extent,” she agreed. “At least on vacation anyway. I have some idea of what I want to do but I don’t necessarily plan every step ahead of time. I’d rather be relaxed and go with the flow than have every minute accounted for.”
He knew exactly how she felt. “I am the same way … If you don’t mind another drive, Urquhart Castle is pretty neat. It’s right on Loch Ness. We could spend the day.”
“That sounds wonderful. You don’t mind spending another day with me?”
“That’s a silly question,” he laughed. “Why would I mind?”
“I don’t know,” she said, feeling embarrassed.
“What time should I pick you up?” he asked.
“What time do you get up?”
“I’m up early.”
“Me too. Is 7 too early?”
He shook his head. “Nope. We can either grab a late breakfast when we arrive or stop somewhere along the way.”
“Can we decide tomorrow?”
“Yep,” he agreed.
She grinned, feeling excited about the next day. She leaned back on the headrest and relaxed as she watched the darkened twists and turns of the road in front of them. She suddenly awoke and saw that they were on the highway.
“How long was I out?” she asked.
“A couple hours,” he replied.
She rubbed her eyes and sat up. “Are you tired?”
“A little, but I’ll manage.”
She yawned and tried to wake up. “Where are we?”
“About 30 minutes from Edinburgh.”
“How far is your hotel?”
“From yours?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“Oh, only about 5 minutes.”
“That’s good. I’d hate for you to have even further to drive.”
Amanda looked at her watch. It was after midnight which, while late for her, would be perfect for her mom. She decided to call her when she got back to her room.
Viktor dropped Amanda off in front of her hotel and waited until she was inside before leaving. Amanda felt exhausted, yet refreshed at the same time. When she entered her room and connected to the Wi-Fi, she saw she had a message from Sheila and decided she should probably read it.
Hey Amanda, Gavin and I thought we should all do something together tomorrow since it’s our last day. Text me when you get this so we can set something up.
Amanda felt annoyed. Where was Sheila’s interest in doing something together when she was alone and had no one? Now that she has plans with Viktor, suddenly Sheila wants to hang out. Amanda wasn’t sure whether or not to reply. Part of her wanted to just ignore it and leave Sheila out of her plans. But she still had Spain and France before she met up with Viktor again and she didn’t want to completely sour their relationship. She struggled with what to do.
It was late and she knew Viktor would likely be heading to bed soon so she decided to call him and see how he felt about spending the day with Sheila and Gavin. If he was against it, then that was her answer. She called his phone.
He answered, “Miss me already?”
She chuckled. “Something like that. Listen, I have a question for you.”
“Okay.” He then waited for an awkward amount of time as she struggled to formulate her question. “Is everything okay?”
She took a deep breath and decided to just spit it out. “Sheila texted me. She wants to meet up tomorrow.”
“If you want to do something with her, that’s fine,” Viktor said, thinking she was calling to cancel.
“No, I don’t want to do something with her. That’s just it.”
“Oh.”
She sighed heavily as if grieved.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I don’t want to meet up with her, but I feel like I should. Even though she’s been a jerk, I still have 2 weeks left with her and I don’t want it to be a nightmare.”
“I understand. I’ll do whatever you need.”
“Why are you so nice to me?” Amanda asked rhetorically.
“Because it’s easy,” he replied.
She closed her eyes and smiled, feeling humbled by his concern for her. “Would you be terribly upset if I told them where we were going to be and let them decide if they wanted to join us?” she asked.
“Them?”
“Oh, yeah. She wants to bring her new, rich boyfriend. Sorry, I forgot to mention that.”
“Perhaps it would be best if we took separate cars,” he suggested.
“I’m all for that,” she readily agreed. “I could tell them to just meet us there if they want.”
“You can do that. I won’t be upset.”
“Viktor, you are a lifesaver. You don’t even know.”
He chuckled. “I’ll see you tomorrow. And don’t worry. We will have a good time, no matter what.”
“I can’t thank you enough.”
“Get some rest, Amanda,” he gently admonished.
“Okay,” she agreed with a smile. “I’m just going to make a quick call to my mom and then I’ll be in bed.”
“Good night,” he said.
“Good night.”
After Amanda texted Sheila to tell her where she could meet her the next day, she initiated a video call with her mom.
“Hi Sweetheart!” her mom greeted her. “I see you made it back to your hotel?”
“Yeah, Viktor just dropped me off.”
“You had a nice time with him today?” she said, fishing for more of the scoop.
“I had a fantastic time. Mom, he is so nice. I feel like we have
