Page 4 of Full Send

“I’m telling you, V. I’m gonna find a cowboy. Just watch me work,” she says.

I can’t help but shake my head and laugh. I’m starting to believe she’ll pull it off when she’s this serious.

“Geez. I didn’t realize how ready I am for this trip. All of it, even catching up with Collin too,” I say, winking at her.

Saying it out loud now, I’m starting to believe myself and actually looking forward to unplugging on this trip. I rarely take much time off, so this trip is a rare treat to get more than two weeks off at once. Thankfully, I was able to combine the week long holiday office closure, a little of this year’s vacation time, and a week of next year’s vacation time for the first week in January.

“Of course you are ready, V. You’ve practically planned the next two weeks down to the hour!” Lizzy scoffs.

Ok. She’s pretty on point with that. I’m a fanatical planner. I get a sense of relief, of control over my life. It doesn’t always work out, case in my point my life right now, but at least I feel prepared.

“And speaking of your brother, remind me again why Collin is going to be there with us?” Lizzy asks head recoiled back, raising her perfectly sculpted eyebrows.

I know she wanted this to be a girls trip, but it’s Collin’s condo too. I mean I get her hesitation still. Despite her being my best friend for over a decade, Collin and her have only met in passing a couple of times over the years. When we were in college, Collin was an hour away at the University of Cincinnati. Then when we graduated, she was on west coast while he stayed in Cincinnati. It just always seemed like they were ships passing in the night at the edges of my life.

I laugh, reminding her that Collin being at the condo will have its perks. “Just think of him as our house boy? Lighting the fireplace for us, taking out the trash, picking up carryout. You know, all the stuff we don’t want to deal with on vacation.”

We cackle together at the thought of it.

“Ok,V. I guess that’ll be fine,” she says with a smile and an eye roll as we’re interrupted by the flight attendant with our mimosas.

“Just what I needed. Nothing gets the vacation started like a mimosa. Am I right?” I say, still smirking about Collin.

“Duh, girl. We’re gonna need more of these on the trip for sure! I hope Collin has the condo stocked with OJ and Prosecco. Or is that off limits for him to buy too, and a liquor store run is already planned?” she asks, eyebrows raised looking down her nose at me.

“Lizzy Lizzy Lizzy…” I shake my head, a wide smirk on my face. “You’re damn right I planned for that. There’s a liquor store attached to the grocery store. One stop shopping.”

“Fine by me. More time for drinks at this condo I’ve heard so much about,” she says as she raises her glass in my direction.

“Vacation mode?” I raise my glass to hers.

“Vacation mode.” She looks at me gleefully as we clink our glasses.

Chapter 2

Veronica

Twins

Just like that, we’ve started our descent into Jackson. Even as a little girl, the landing approach on a clear day has never failed to take my breath away. The timelessly majestic Teton mountains, those jagged granite peaks, forever stretching towards the sky and so tantalizingly close, are visible to the west, just outside the windows of the plane. Over thirty years later and my reaction to this view still hasn’t changed. Breathtaking.

I’m clearly not the only one that’s impacted by these mountains, as I look over and see Lizzy. It’s her first time coming to Jackson and it seems my description of the view was understated.

“They’re just… beautiful. I haven’t seen peaks like this before, not even back in Utah,” Lizzy utters in quiet disbelief and amazement as she stares outside, her perfectly made up face practically glued to the window. “They look so close, like you could reach out and touch them if you wanted to.”

Her childlike excitement brings a bit of warmth to my heart. I love seeing people happy about the same things that bring me joy. Like somehow if they weren’t as excited as me, I’d have oversold it and let them down. It’s also a rare treat seeing sass queen Lizzy let her guard down, overtaken by the sight in front of her. For once she’s just absorbing it all.

A few moments later, we touch down and we’re at our gate. We stand up as soon as the seatbelt light goes off.

Yes, we’re those people.

Well at least I am, I’m ready to get off the plane and move on with the day. Even on such a short flight, it’s been a long travel day and it feels great to stand up and stretch out.

“Gotta love a short connecting flight,” Lizzy says, reaching into the overhead bin for her small carry-on bag.

“Then you’re really going to like this small airport. They’ll have the stairs up to the plane and we’ll be at baggage claim in no time.”

Just as I told Lizzy, we’re off the plane in minutes, walking down the steps since the airport doesn’t even have jet bridges. We’re in what feels like a new world. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, feeling the cool crisp mountain air fill my lungs and chill my face. The mountain air brings a sense of calm over me that I haven’t felt in ages.

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