BooksBarbecue
Back First Comes Love
Chapters (92)
  1. First
  2. Love Connection
  3. Zero
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. One Month Later
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Six Months Later
  21. Sixteen
  22. Seventeen
  23. Eighteen
  24. Nineteen
  25. Twenty
  26. Twenty-one
  27. Twenty-two
  28. Twenty-three
  29. Twenty-four
  30. Six Months Later
  31. Twenty-five
  32. Twenty-six
  33. Twenty-seven
  34. Twenty-eight
  35. Twenty-nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-one
  38. Thirty-two
  39. Thirty-three
  40. I Have Never
  41. One
  42. Two
  43. Three
  44. Four
  45. Five
  46. Six
  47. Seven
  48. Eight
  49. Nine
  50. Ten
  51. Eleven
  52. Twelve
  53. Thirteen
  54. Fourteen
  55. Fifteen
  56. Sixteen
  57. Seventeen
  58. Eighteen
  59. Nineteen
  60. Twenty
  61. Twenty-one
  62. Twenty-two
  63. A Christmas Date
  64. One
  65. Two
  66. Three
  67. Four
  68. Five
  69. Six
  70. Seven
  71. Eight
  72. Nine
  73. Ten
  74. Eleven
  75. Twelve
  76. Thirteen
  77. Fourteen
  78. Fifteen
  79. Sixteen
  80. Seventeen
  81. Eighteen
  82. Nineteen
  83. Twenty
  84. Twenty-one
  85. Twenty-two
  86. Note from the Author
  87. Sneak Peek – To the Stars and Back
  88. Two
  89. Three
  90. Four
  91. Also by Camilla Isley
  92. About the Author

Why is this happening to me? Today of all days.

“I’m sure you’ll find a cab outside. It shouldn’t cost you more than the rental. I’ll need your credit card back to issue a refund.”

“Here.” I take the card out of my wallet and pass it to her.

A minute later, she hands it back. “The refund has been issued and the funds will be available to you in two business days to a week.”

“Two business days?” I exclaim, bewildered. “You mean to say that my card’s still maxed out?”

“If today’s charge maxed it out, yes. It will stay that way until Tuesday at the very least.”

“Can’t you issue a refund in cash?”

“No, madam, we’re not an A.T.M.”

“So now I don’t have a car, and you’ve taken the money to pay for the cab. What am I supposed to do?”

“There’s a train to the city, and I’m sure you’ll be able to find a bus to Napa, but we’re not a tourist office. Now, I kindly need you to step aside so I can serve our next customer. Have a nice day.”

“You too,” I say. Rot in hell, I think.

***

Two trains, three buses, and four hours later I finally arrive in Yountville, the town in Napa where my final bus stops. With all the connections, I barely managed to close my eyes for half an hour here and there. I’m exhausted. But I’m not giving up. I’m a woman on a mission.

I look around the deserted bus stop to see if I can find a taxi station. Jake’s getting married in some sort of fancy castle in the area, and I need someone to take me there. Yountville looks like a cross between an Old West outpost, a French country town, and a Disney park—thanks to a garden of stone mushrooms on the side of the main road. Maybe tapping one would turn them into the cutesy trolls from Frozen.

Mushroom trolls aside, the town looks desolate. No cars zooming on the street, no passersby, no one. The only open place seems to be a red brick building with an ivy-covered wall that looks like a shopping mall. I head there to ask for some information and enter a chocolate shop with the cutest truffles you’ll ever see on display. A nice looking girl is standing behind the counter leafing through a magazine. She looks up as a bell above the door chimes, announcing my arrival.

“Hello. How may I help you today? Are you looking for a present?”

“Err, no. Actually, I was wondering where I could find a cab.”

“Oh.”

Another oh. I don’t like ohs.