“Penny, I need this.” Bonnie let down her defenses for the first time since she arrived, allowing the pain to show through. The bright smile vanished as her lips twisted down and her shoulders sagged. “And I need you with me.” Her voice quivered. Penny could hear the tears she was holding back. “You’re my best friend. You are the only one I can trust. He-he, God Penny, he left me, just like my mom. I can’t believe it happened again. Why, why am I such a leavable person?”
“Hey, hey,” Penny reached out to grab her friend’s hand. “You’re not. You are the most amazing person I know. You’re confident, smart, funny, loving, and sexy as hell.”
She hoped to earn a laugh, but the expression on Bonnie’s face didn’t change. The pleading look in her eyes only intensified.
“Oh, Bonnie.” Penny chewed on her lip, absolutely torn. “You know I love you. I’d do anything for you, but….”
“It’s going to be amazing, Penny,” Bonnie continued, her words stumbling out faster now. “I promise. It will be amazing for both of us. I need a change of scenery, and you need a new place to be, to have an adventure. Maybe you love this little town and will spend your whole life here happily, but first you should really have an adventure. I honestly mean that for your own good.”
“It’s just….”
“Please.”
It was that simple word that undid her in the end, said in such a broken voice. Of course, the alcohol didn’t hurt. And the fact that maybe she had a point. Penny didn’t want to admit it, but a small part of her liked this idea. Deep inside her, a little voice cried out for something new, something braver. Maybe this was precisely the thing she’d been needing.
“Okay.”
“Okay? Really? Okay?” Bonnie held her breath, waiting for full confirmation.
“Yeah,” Penny breathed out the word, trying to let herself imagine the picture Bonnie was painting.
Before she even knew what was happening, Bonnie had whipped out her phone, pressing it to her ear. “Yes, Daddy. She’s in. You can change the booking for the tickets. We’re going.”
“Wait, what? Just like that?” Panic bubbled up as Penny told herself to grab the phone, throw it to the ground, and take it all back, to yell out, “No, this is a mistake.” But the squeal of excitement coming from across the table was infectious, and somehow, she found she was getting excited.
Bonnie was the only person in her life who could do this to her, convince her to dive into the unknown. As much as part of her was terrified, part of her liked this plan. Maybe she did deserve an adventure. Perhaps a change of scenery would quiet her fears and reassure her that she was in the right place. She would have something new before she completely settled down.
Chapter 3
Penelope woke from the deep sleep that had eluded her on the longer flight from Chicago to Dublin but claimed her almost instantly upon boarding the tiny plane to Cork. It took her a moment to remember where she was and how she’d gotten there. Then, in a rush, the memory of the last few days cleaning her classroom, packing her bags with Bonnie’s help, and boarding the plane her parents had so happily driven them to came back to her. Still disoriented, she turned to find the source of the discomfort that had woken her. Unsurprisingly, it was Bonnie pulling on and then squeezing her arm so tightly it hurt.
“Penny. Wake up.” The words were hissed at her insistently.
Penny lifted heavy eyelids, wiping away an embarrassing trail of drool, just as the plane dropped and then lifted again. The flight attendant’s voice came over the PA, informing them that they had encountered some light turbulence and to keep their seatbelts buckled. Penny’s fingers gripped the handrests so tightly her knuckles grew white as she turned to glare at her friend. “This? You woke me up for this? I could have quite happily slept through my death, thank you very much.”
Bonnie rubbed her arm lightly, her eyes sparkling. “We’re not going to die. And I didn’t wake you for that. Look.” She reached her arm across Penny’s chest to point out the window. “I didn’t give you the window seat so you could sleep. Believe me, I usually never give it up. But I wanted you to see the most beautiful sight in the world.”
Without loosening her grip, Penny turned towards the window doubtfully. What she saw was GREEN. Everywhere. She leaned in closer to the window until her forehead bumped against it.
It was the lushest, most beautiful shade of green she’d ever seen. The rolling hills were like a beautiful sea sweeping over the entire landscape. They were separated into large rectangular shapes by gray markers that had to be the old stone walls she’d seen in pictures but never imagined were still so prevalent.
“It’s, it’s….” Her sleepy brain worked to process what she was seeing.
“Go ahead, say it. It’s beautiful.”
“Beautiful,” Penny repeated, in awe.
And then her stomach, along with the plane, dropped. Her hands left the armrests to reach for Bonnie’s arm, which she clung to with all her might, tucking her head against her friend’s shoulder.
“Geesh. You weren’t so bad going over the ocean. Why are you so scared now?” Bonnie patted her friend’s head reassuringly as she spoke.
“That was a big plane. I don’t mind big planes. I hate little planes.”
“We’ll be down in ten minutes or less. Just hold on; we’re almost there.”
Penny did hold on, even as the captain’s voice came on to repeat the same information, also giving the time of arrival and air temperature outside. Although, as he said it in Celsius, it meant absolutely nothing to her.
They bumped once more, coming down, before settling into a relatively smooth landing and eventually coming to a stop.
