“And thanks for asking how I’m feeling…”
Seriously, ugh…
Pushing her phone aside, she went back to looking at the links Babette had sent her and ultimately decided to go with the Airbnb cabin. The mountains were always a favorite place to visit, and she felt a pang of sadness when she thought about how much she would have loved for Knox to go with her. They hadn’t gone away anywhere together except the weekend they’d eloped and…
And now they never would.
“Maybe a remote cabin all by myself isn’t such a great idea. All that time alone will give me nothing to do but think.”
“One step ahead of you!” Babette sang as she breezed into the office. “There is a fabulous hike through High Bridge Trail State Park that you can spend an entire day on! They offer group hikes or you can go solo. The only rule is you need to turn your phone off on the group one. That’s the one I vote for.”
“Mmm…I’m not sure.”
“You guys! I baked banana bread!” Heather called out before walking into the office. “Warm from the oven! Who wants a slice?”
Maddie caught a whiff of banana and her stomach rolled.
“Oh, no…” she mumbled before running from the room and straight for the bathroom. It took several minutes for the entire contents of her stomach to come up and then a little longer for her to clean up. When she stepped out of the bathroom, Babette was standing there waiting for her.
“Still think it was just food poisoning?”
Groaning, Maddie pinched her nose lightly and walked back to her office. “Fine. Maybe it’s a virus. Which sucks because I usually love Heather’s banana bread.”
“She took it to the kitchen and put it in the refrigerator. I’ll spray some air freshener to hide the smell.”
“Thanks.”
“Or…”
Maddie glared at her. “I’m not going home.”
“Yes, you are,” Babette said firmly, handing Maddie her purse, keys, and phone. “The cabin is available all this week and you are not allowed to come back until next Monday. All your appointments are covered.”
“What?! How is that even possible? I wasn’t in the bathroom that long!”
With a small shrug, Babette smiled serenely. “I was already working on it while you were with Mr. Knight. So…off with you.”
“This is still my clinic,” she tartly reminded her assistant. “I don’t appreciate you making plans for me.”
“I know. But you’ll thank me later.” And with a nudge toward the front door, Babette said, “Catch you later!”
Before Maddie knew it, she was in the middle of the parking lot and wondering how her life had completely gotten away from her. Even though she hated the idea of being away from the clinic, the timing was kind of perfect.
If she wasn’t home, she couldn’t remember how Knox looked as he walked out on her.
Or how he looked in her bed.
Or how she could pretty much picture him in every room of her house.
“The mountains it is,” she murmured as she climbed into her car.
At home, she went online and made the reservation and decided to go big and book it for the entire week.
Starting tonight.
After packing a suitcase, she locked up her house and hit the road.
Or…tried to.