“And are you okay to meet in Seattle? That way, we can do a road trip…make it a bit of a vacation, as well.”

“Totally okay with that, too.”

Then they considered times, choosing the third week in August. She said Chris could take a few days off. Perfect timing, Cord thought. Karen and Joey, his current clients, would have left by then. And school wouldn’t start for another couple of weeks.

Cord and Julie promised to keep in touch, to call each other every couple of days.

When the call ended, Cord felt staggered, as though he was living in an alternate reality. His mind kept repeating the same thoughts over and over. I’m going to see my mother. And meet my sister.

Half an hour later, he, Shallie and Carly were sitting at the kitchen table with laptops and several road maps, courtesy of Shallie. “How traditional,” Carly scoffed at the maps—but that didn’t stop her from taking a surreptitious glance now and then.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

THE TRIP WOULD be Wednesday to Sunday, August 14th to 18th—two days’ travel and three in Seattle.

They left at six and stopped in Missoula for breakfast with Mary Jean, Len and Holly. Then the Lewises took them to see one of the town’s most famous attractions, A Carousel for Missoula, with its hand-painted ponies. “How could we not go there?” Carly proclaimed.

She posted on her YouTube channel, with a video of the merry-go-round, referring to the trip as “an out-of-state visit with one of my potential dads.” She was no longer trying to make money from the site, as she’d informed Shallie and Cord; for now, she just wanted to keep in touch with her fans.

She was, as she repeatedly told them, stunned by the magnificence of the Rockies.

Meanwhile, she’d received a text from Lindsey, who’d visited Meg’s place to change the litter, feed and play with the cats. Meg was currently out of town undergoing tests, as Carly knew. But the surprising thing Lindsey revealed about this visit was… Guess who showed up? Eric! With his uncle Eli—in uniform. They found out about this from you guys. Anyway, Eric was decent to me, very polite and kept his distance, and was really good with Logan and Plum.

Carly was surprised but not really shocked to learn this.

They reached the outskirts of Seattle at eight thirty that evening, and Shallie took over the driving. Her 1920s apartment building was in the Waterfront neighborhood, Carly remembered from their night of making travel plans.

Tired though she was, Carly stared intently out the window. Between the still-bright sky and the streetlights, which had already come on, it was well lit outside. What a beautiful city!