“Recalculating...”

“Shut up.” The reason that “Vera” couldn’t find an alternative route was probably because she drove through an uncharted wasteland. That wasn’t entirely true. It wasn’t a wasteland, but the scenery was certainly stark and wild. The gray clouds made the black cliffs loom taller and the hills a beautiful verdant green. The curvy roads wound haphazardly into those hills, threatening to tumble into blue-gray fjords. There were startling signs of beauty that caught Antonia by surprise, though. Along the roadside were yellow wildflowers and purple foxgloves that blew against tall grasses. And to her right, abandoned potato mounds were etched into the mountains like an ancient map of past misfortunes... It was breathtaking.

A city girl, Antonia had never seen anything like it. While she tried her best to enjoy it, she fought to ignore her fear of getting lost. She wanted to make it to the village before it got dark and things became more anxiety-provoking. Antonia did not want to accidentally hit one of the sheep who wandered onto the road or fly off a cliff. She was probably not in any danger of the latter, considering how slow she was moving. Shifting gears without grinding the clutch was still very challenging.

She spotted an empty scenic lookout up ahead with enough space to park several cars. Oh, thank god. Antonia pulled over again and carefully maneuvered her car for a U-turn. She stalled on the edge of the road and started again. When she successfully returned the car in the right direction, she was able to breathe easier. It took her a few minutes, but she finally found where she made her last exit.

“Continue for 15 kilometers to Letterfrack,” Vera recited.

“Thanks, you dumb bitch.” Antonia checked the time again. 6:27 p.m. Never mind the impending darkness, she only had thirty minutes to check into her cottage before she was screwed. After purchasing her food, she stopped by the customer service desk to buy a sim card for her cellphone and place a quick call to the cottage rental. Of course, this was all after meeting that interesting guy. Aiden? Antonia grinned. He was just as handsome as he was awkward. She laughed, remembering his frozen pizza offering. If that was his idea of flirting, she didn’t mind it at all. He was certainly easy to look at. Aiden was about as tall as Derek, but more broad shouldered and barrel chested. She noticed that his arms looked stronger too. She did wonder how old he was, though. The only giveaway was the sparse gray that peppered his beard and the way his bright green eyes crinkled when he smiled. His thick black hair was cut short with a side part and she remembered him smoothing it away from his heavy brow.

She was surprised by herself when she made a point to join his checkout line, even more surprised when she nudged his firm ass with her shopping cart. She hoped it wasn’t too forward of her, but the way his dark blue denim hugged his solid thighs made her act on impulse. The way his forest green sweater hugged his chest definitely made her act with urgency. Antonia was amazed that she actually flirted with a man and didn’t embarrass herself. She wished their time hadn’t been so brief because she could have stood there listening to his melodic Irish accent for hours.