Chapter 26

"I wish I could see New York at Christmas time," Ashley cooed wistfully into the iPad during their evening call.

"There's always next year." Dusty smiled from her vigil at the base of her small bed, where she was packing for her early train as they spoke.

"I just wish I wasn't so busy with the campaign," Ashley moaned. "It truly sucks not being able to see you."

"It will get easier," Dusty said positively, though a fearful part of her wasn't so sure. What if their lives only became busier as time drew on? What if eventually they didn't even have time for one another, for their calls? The thought was unbearable and made her momentarily cease packing and bite her lip.

"No! I can't go on like this!" Ashley declared. Dusty saw her rustle around on her own bed, where she was perched for the conversation, retrieving a red leather-bound diary and then frantically typing into her laptop.

"What are you doing?" Dusty asked, frowning at the small digital screen.

"How are you fixed for February 4th?" Ashley asked, glancing briefly at her diary and then at the laptop screen, the iPad now being ignored.

"February 4th? What, why? I don't know." Dusty shook her head.

"Well, you now have plans," Ashley said sternly, writing something in her diary and then unleashing her fingers in a flurry of graceful keystrokes against her laptop keyboard.

"I do?"

"Yes, consider this my early Christmas gift to you." Ashley smiled, looking back at the iPad screen.

"I've just ordered myself tickets to come to New York for a week in February."Dusty was speechless. She stood frozen with clothes in hand, unable to drop them into the waiting duffel bag, her mouth hanging open. The reality of meeting up with her friend in just a few months made her realize just how much she'd truly missed her, and her eyes began to well up. "Hey, come on, thanks will suffice." Ashley sniffed, growing tearful herself.

"Ash, that's so amazing. I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too." Ashley wiped at her eyes, careful not to smudge her carefully applied mascara.

"I wish we could hug right now." Dusty smiled.

"Me too, but that will be the next invention, digital hugs." Ashley winked.

"That'd be good." Dusty abandoned her packing and sat on her bed by the iPad.

"I can't believe you're going home tomorrow," Ashley noted, glancing at the duffel bag in the background.

"I know."

"Do you think it will be weird?" Ashley asked, frowning with concern.

"I don't know, maybe," Dusty admitted.

"But I can't wait to see my mom and Dust." As she spoke, she scanned her apartment and realized that for possibly the first time ever, she was excited to go back to the trailer. It would be an improvement on her current dwelling.

"Do you guys go big at Christmas?" Ashley asked. "My dad goes all out. He even buys two turkeys; it's nuts. He puts four trees up at the house, not to mention all the lights! Christmas is his favorite holiday. You'll have to come over one year just to see my house in all its gaudy madness!" Ashley laughed.

"Yeah." Dusty smiled and then cast her glance downwards. "Christmas has been low key with us since my dad died."

"Oh." Ashley's cheeks grew pink as she feared she'd accidentally stepped all over a delicate subject. "But I want to make it special again," Dusty added, not wanting to make her friend feel bad. "I just don't know how."

"I think you just being there will make a big difference," Ashley said. Dusty thought of the feeling she felt when she saw all the wondrous lights of the city. She wished she could somehow bottle that feeling and take it back with her to West and then release it in the small space of the trailer and let her whole family feel its magical warmth.

"I'd better go. I've got an early train." Dusty yawned, the various sweet treats of the day courtesy of the office making her drowsy.

"Okay, well, I'll speak to you when you're down there. Have a safe trip." Ashley waved into the camera on her iPad, and Dusty waved back. "I could do with another digital hug." Ashley smiled.

"Me too." Dusty agreed before signing off the call with a flick of her finger. Alone in the emptiness of her apartment, she considered calling Valentine. She was apprehensive about seeing her back in West and wondered if a precursory call might help ease any tension between them. She'd come close to calling her before but thought better of it. Staring hard at her iPad, Dusty recalled the last time she'd seen her. She'd waved her off at the West platform, setting her free to fulfill her dreams of attending Princeton. Now she was going back, back to the platform, back to the town.

What if Jeff was right? What if she had changed but Valentine had not? Sighing, Dusty decided against calling her and flopped down on her bed. After her head connected with the pillow, it didn't take long for sleep to take her.

****

The station was obscenely busy with people frantically trying to make it home for the holidays. Dusty had thought that an early departure time would help her elude most of the crowds, but she had been wrong. She pushed her way through the throngs of people, pulling her duffle bag along with her, already regretting having packed so much but not daring to leave anything of value back in her apartment.

People were pushing and shoving, craning their necks to check departure times. It was so chaotic. In contrast to the chaos there were ethereal Christmas songs being played through the sound system, and the whole station had been touched by the same magic as the rest of the city, being covered in angelic lights and boasting a fabulously tall, ornately

decorated tree.

Each time Dusty became overwhelmed by the intensity of the station she'd look up at some of the décor and feel herself instantly relax. Finally, she arrived at the platform, and her train was already there waiting, eager to transport her away from the city and back to her mundane life. As she boarded, she noticed that even the train, not being a permanent fixture of the city, was lacking some of the station's luster.

There were decorations on board, but they appeared shabby and old, leaving Dusty with a sad rather than magical feeling. She tried to push any negative feelings to the back of her mind and found an empty window seat and hurriedly settled down before it could be taken.

Around her were families trying to get their children to be quiet, and solo travelers like her going back to their home states, their faces pinched with a mix of excitement and regret. While going home was great, leaving the city was not. The city was vibrant and full of pulsating energy. Home was a small town where she wasn't sure she really belonged anymore.

Pulling out her iPad, Dusty put on some music and put her headphones on, wanting to drown out her own thoughts. She had a long, lonely journey ahead. She thought of when she'd been on a train destined for Paris. How much fun it had been to travel with Ashley. They'd drank champagne and slept through the momentous part of the journey when they'd have crossed countries and entered France. Warmed by her memories, a faint smile pulled on Dusty's lips.

As small as West was, it had managed to launch her into the great wide world. She'd studied at Princeton, been to Europe and now lived in New York City, so the town couldn't be so bad. Searching her feelings, she knew that it wasn't the town she was reluctant to see, it was the woman who was there, the woman who had changed everything for her, the woman who had essentially saved her life.

Dusty rummaged in her duffel back and found the note she'd kept safe ever since she'd read it the last time she'd journeyed back to West. Her eyes scanned over the familiar cursive, and her heart rate quickened. She read the final few lines and wondered if Valentine still held those words true.

But please know that should you return to West, or should you wish to return to me, no matter how much time passes, I will be here, ready and waiting. True love does not diminish with time.

I know that now. As Dusty scrutinized the letter, the train surged into motion, heading down the track, pulling away from New York and heading in the direction of West. Whether or not Valentine still meant what she had wrote, Dusty was soon going to find out first hand.

Feeling breathless with anticipation, Dusty put the letter away once more and focused on the music pulsating through her headphones, letting the melody pull her away from her thoughts and relax.