Page 6 of Meet Me in Paris

I hid a smile. Grandpa Howie did seem like a lot sometimes. “Just put the phone down and enjoy yourself. We’ll be back before you know it.” Even the thought of my trip tomorrow made my heart pound. A lifetime of dreaming and I would be standing on Paris soil—er, concrete. Cobblestone? The ground, anyway, in less than twenty-four hours. “I’ll call you from Paris every night, okay?”

Jillian frowned. “Don’t make promises you won’t keep. You’ll be too busy to even think about me.”

“Not possible. I’ll be thinking about you every minute, wishing you were there with us.”

“Then why can’t I just come with you? I promise I won’t get in the way. I want to see Paris too.” Even in the dim light, I could see her lips pulled into a grumpy pout.

“Because it took Mom a year to scrape together the funds for the two of us. Besides, when you graduate, you’ll get your own trip with Mom. Maybe you can start planning it while we’re gone.”

I expected that to work. Distraction usually did with Jillie. But instead, her frown deepened and her voice went quiet. “I hate being left behind.”

In an instant, I saw my sister’s heart, so much like my own. I hated that Dad left us here. I hated that Alexis went with him. I could only imagine how much like betrayal it felt that Mom and I were doing the same thing, if only for a week and a half.

I pulled my sister in for a hug that she didn’t return. “After this trip, I’m not going anywhere. The college is only twenty minutes away and I’ll still be living here, so it’ll be the three of us until the sky falls in. Maybe even after that. You, me, and Mom forever. Okay?”

She grinned a little at the reference to a children’s book we’d both loved. “Whatever,” she said, trying unsuccessfully to hide her grumpy tone. “Just do whatever you’re gonna do and be back before Mom wakes up.”

“So you’ll disable the alarm? Just like that?” I’d expected a solid bargaining session.

“My graduation present to you. You’re welcome.” Sheshrugged. “Besides, Hunter said he’d give me twenty bucks to help you sneak out.”

My sister hurried down the hall before I could throw something at her.

Paris.City of love, light, and tiny hotel rooms.

My sisters and I stood in the doorway, staring at a bed barely large enough for two, let alone three. A couple of feet of floor space surrounded the bed, just enough for a person to skirt around the edges. A door on the far side led to an even smaller bathroom. There wasn’t room for luggage, let alone three women to walk around comfortably.

“Looks like one of us is sleeping standing up,” Alexis said.

Jillian and I looked at each other with raised eyebrows. This wasn’t exactly the wide, sweeping bedroom I’d found online. More like a hotel closet. I’d seen larger accommodations on cruise ships.

“Grandpa did want us to get closer.” I chuckled. The laugh died in my throat.

Jillian sighed. “In the 1800s, you’d have four to five siblings sharing a bed. We’ll figure it out. Sleep on our sides, maybe?”

Alexis grimaced. “Not a chance. I’m getting my own room.” She turned to leave.

“They’re full,” I told her, although part of me wished she would do exactly that. “I snagged their last room. They’re booked for weeks.” A miracle that we even had this place, tobe honest. It wasn’t easy to throw together a monthlong European tour with only two weeks’ notice. Eleanor had booked our plane tickets, but I’d insisted on booking everything else through work. It didn’t hurt to have the right connections.

Alexis groaned and sank onto the bed. “Are the three of us sharing a room on the cruise ship too? Because I’m going to lose my mind if I don’t get some sleep.”

That I could agree with. I didn’t sleep much on the plane, and by the looks of my bleary-eyed sisters, they didn’t either. “I think our room on the ship has two beds.” At least, the website said it did. I’d have to double check that.

She murmured an acknowledgment of some kind, looking as if she’d collapse into unconsciousness before this conversation ended.

It’s a free trip to Europe,I reminded myself. At least we weren’t sleeping on the street.

Jillian accepted our fate and now examined the room. Despite her exhaustion, my youngest sister’s eyes glowed with excitement. “This room is so charming! I can’t believe I’m here. My subscribers willlovethis. I wonder how old the building is.”

Then she opened the curtains, and we all went still.

“Oh,” I found myself saying, completely forgetting the tiny room. Because on the other side of the window lay a charming courtyard filled with flowers and vines extending three stories high. On the ground level, a stone path wound through what looked like a tiny park with tables.

Jillian squealed. “It’s like a movie!”

That I couldn’t disagree with. I felt as if we’d stepped into an adorable travel rom-com and were about to find our true loves the instant we stepped outside. The entirecity screamed romance.Which made sense, considering the whole City of Love thing.

No wonder Hunter never came home.

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