Page 89 of Hello Stranger

“Transcontinental railway tickets! Across Canada!”

Guess not. “What does that mean?” I asked.

“We’re traveling from one side of Canada to the other!”

“On a train?” I asked. Did they even still have those?

“Vancouver to Halifax, baby!” she said, in a voice like we were about to high-five.

But I refused to validate this madness. “I don’t understand.”

“We’re eloping. On a train. Witt bought the luxury package,” Sue said. “He used up his savings.”

“Okay, that’s a red flag, right there.”

“Hush. It’s romantic.”

“I don’t know if you know this,” I said, “but Canada is really big.”

“Yeah!” Sue said.

“So this isn’t like a weekend jaunt or anything. It’ll take at least…” I paused to calculate.

“Fourteen days,” Sue supplied.

“Fourteen days!” I repeated. Then, to confirm: “That’s two weeks!” Then, just to make it sound even more ridiculous: “That’s afortnight!”

“It’s sixteen days with travel time.”

“What about work?” I demanded, grasping at straws. “Don’t you guys have jobs?”

“We figured it out. Don’t worry about it.”

“What about your parents? Won’t they be pissed?”

“He got their permission beforehand. Which made them love him even more.”

She sighed like the resistance in my voice was excitement. Like wewere going to swoon about this together. “It’s a sleeper train,” she whispered.

Why was she whispering? “Don’t people get murdered on those?”

She paused. “Wait. Are you not excited for me?”

I backtracked. What kind of friend wasn’t excited for her best pal when she eloped with a former college track captain? “I amveryexcited for you,” I said, worrying again about my acting.

“That’s a relief,” Sue said.

“When do you leave?”

“That’s the thing,” Sue said then. “We’re at the airport now. So if you have an issue, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

“You’re eloping—right now? As we speak?”

“It was a surprise,” Sue offered meekly.

“But—” I said. Was it unsupportive of me to point out that she was abandoning me during the one week—the only week—when I needed her the most?

“I know,” she jumped in, not making me say it. “We’re supposed to do the portrait this week.”

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