Then, on the itinerary in her lap, Keira caught sight of a word that made her stomach drop. Tour guide.

Of course there’d be one, she realized now. Just because she’d fallen head over heels in love with the last tour guide, who’d then gone on to shatter her heart into a thousand pieces, that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be one for this assignment! Something about the thought felt dangerous to her. Was it just because of what happened last time? Keira wondered. Or because she had a spark of hope that it might happen again?

She shook the thoughts away and focused instead on the destinations. Touch down in Naples, and a night there before taking a train to the Amalfi Coast. A ferry to Capri. A gondola ride to a place called the Blue Grotto. Rome. The Vatican.

If she’d been going on vacation, Keira would have been thrilled with the itinerary. She looked at pictures of the places she’d be visiting on her iPad and they were all stunning. It was like the perfect romantic getaway. But that was just the problem. She’d be visiting some of the most awe-inspiring locations in the most romantic country on earth and she’d be doing it without Shane.

And to add insult to injury, she’d have to write about something she no longer felt. It would be like hitting herself over the head with romance day after day, rubbing salt into the wound of her heart, knowing that her own great love had been lost. It didn’t seem fair. Poetic injustice, Keira thought to herself. She just couldn’t get excited about the trip.

Feeling herself sliding into a depression, Keira called over the air steward and ordered herself a drink. Then she put her work things away and checked her social media accounts, which was always a great way to distract herself.

The drink arrived and Keira sipped it as she scrolled through Instagram, looking through a million pictures of cats, Bryn’s photos from the disastrous double date night at Gino’s, and Maxine’s most recent sponsored charity marathon. Then she noticed that Shelby had posted something that had received thousands of likes. It was a simple photo of her hand, and there was a ring on her wedding finger.

“No way!” Keira cried aloud, almost spilling her drink.

Garrett, the man in the seat beside her, looked over, frowning. “Is everything okay?”

Keira waved his concerns away. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Shelby hadn’t said a thing about marriage being on the cards. In fact, she spoke so rarely about her partner, David, that Keira sometimes suspected they’d secretly called it quits. How wrong she’d been! The two had been together since college, after all, so had a good seven years under their belt already. Marriage was the logical step for them. And yet it still stung for Keira to see it.

She called over the air steward again. “I’ll have another,” she said.

She needed something to calm her nerves. The man beside her looked over suspiciously. Keira just gave him a cold look, and he returned his focus to the movie, pretending he hadn’t been snooping in the first place.