Page 47 of Nathan
“Mariestad.” I wrote it down on the notepad with the hotel’s logo on it. And just to be sure I had the right town, I spelled it out to him.
“Yes. That’s it.”
We exchanged a grin, and I exclaimed, “I’m excited. It feels like we’re rebels running away from home.”
“I know! I’ve never eloped with anyone, but I imagine it would feel this way.”
My grin widened as Nathan hurried to say, “Eloped wasn’t the word I was looking for. Sorry, it just slipped out. I meant, uhm… escaped.”
“Sure you did.” I flashed another toothy grin as I laughed. “It’s a good thing Mariestad isn’t Vegas, or I’d be worried that you’d get me into trouble.”
Nathan covered his face briefly. “I say stupid things sometimes.”
“No, it’s fine. I needed a good laugh, so thank you.” I should end the call, but having Nathan on the phone felt comforting, and scooting further down on the bed, I rested my head on the pillow. “Do we need to bring anything?”
“Jacob said that all I need to bring is clothes and food, so I figure I could go shopping while we’re there. Any allergies?”
“No.”
“Are you still vegan?”
“More like vegetarian.”
“Shame. I make a great lasagna.”
I gave a theatrical sigh. “Don’t tempt me. Lasagna is one of the things I miss the most.”
“A little meat won’t kill you.”
“I’m trying so hard to stay away from any animal products. Every time I see someone eating a delicious lasagna I convince myself that it’s made with insects or snake meat. That way I’m no longer tempted.”
Nathan played along. “What do you mean, you pretend? Isn’t all good lasagna made with ground-up grasshoppers and snake?”
We were both smiling from ear to ear from the silliness of it all. After being under massive attack, it felt so freeing to joke around.
“I’d better get my stuff packed then, but keep me posted as soon as you know which airport we can get a flight out of,” Nathan said.
“I will.”
“I hope we can make it happen. Your assistant doesn’t have much time to work with.”
“Whitney is used to it. She worked for a manic movie director before me, and he would throw crazy assignments at her just because he was bored. It was almost a sport for him to find a limit to her creativity. My sweet Whitney says that working for me is the easiest job in the world.”
“Well, if she feels that way, maybe you could have her pre-order food supplies for a week and have it delivered to the airport with a rental car. If she can dothat, I’ll give her an award for personal assistant of the year.”
“I’m putting my money on Whitney. She’s never failed me before.”
Nathan ran a hand over his black hair, the edges of his eyes crinkling from his genuine smile. “So, we’re really doing it?”
“Yes. I can’t wait to beat you in whatever board game we can find up there. But just so you know, I’m passionate about Monopoly.”
“You’re on, but you’d better not be a sore loser.”
“Ha! You’ll never know because you won’t win.”
“We’ll see about that. Text me when you know more. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yes, tomorrow.”
