There was a bitter wind and Michaela pulled her jacket tighter, wishing she had a hat too. Fall in Wisconsin. Not so much of the beauty thing going on from outside the airport. Just a damned cold wind.

She still hadn’t told Trisha she was coming. She’d tried Trisha’s cell phone but it was disconnected. She didn’t have a home phone number for her. How bad was that? They, both of them, had done a piss poor job of keeping in touch. Michaela shook her head. 

Michaela had done as much research as she could before she left home, so now she followed the signs to the rental car lot. She was tired and her bag, unpacked and then repacked by customs was weighing her down. She tucked her head down into the collar of her jacket and walked.

Michaela’s eyes were gritty from lack of sleep by the time she reached Tricia’s home town. She wished she could stop somewhere and splash cold water on her face, wake herself up some before going to meet Trisha. She eyes her reflection in the rear vision mirror. She looked wrecked. Sighing, she concentrated on the road again. It was four o’clock in the afternoon. A chance then that Trisha was working.

She hoped so. She hadn’t been able to find Trisha’s address back at home, and there was none written on the post card.  She scanned the road. Place as small as this, there couldn’t be too many diners, surely?

There weren’t. Corner of Main and Sorrow Streets (who the hell named these places?) a diner, big windows in the front, Pat’s Place etched on them. She pulled over to the curb and looked in. Red and white décor, half a dozen customers and holding a coffee pot in one hand and order pad in the other, Trisha. Michaela felt dizzy. She coughed and tried to breathe.

Hand slippery on handle, she opened the car door and forced herself out onto the street and up to the door of the diner. She took a breath and pushed it open, stepped inside.  That was as much as she managed. She stood there, just inside the door, heart pounding, taking in the sight of Trisha in a red nylon uniform, a little apron tied around her trim waist. A sight. A sight for sore eyes.

Trisha filled coffee cups at one of the tables and turned around to see who had come in. The smile on her face fell away as her eyes widened in shock. She groped to put the coffee pot down on an empty table and took a few steps toward Michaela, still standing by the door.

Michaela swallowed, her mouth dry. ‘Trisha?’ she said.

Trisha had one hand over her mouth, eyes still wide in shock. She stumbled the last few steps and threw her arms around Michaela.

‘Michaela? Oh my God Michaela, why are you here? I can’t believe you’re here.’

Michaela buried her face in Trisha’s hair. Oh God, she smelled just the same. She wrapped her arms around Trisha.

There was murmuring through the diner and finally a voice spoke. Loudly.

‘Trisha?’

Trisha drew back and simply stared at Michaela instead. She angled her head toward the speaker, not taking her eyes off Michaela. ‘It’s all right Mom; I’ll just be a minute, okay?’

Trisha grabbed Michaela’s arm. ‘Come and sit down, all right? Before these people here get neck strain trying to see who you are.’ She shook her head. ‘I cannot believe you are here.’

She led Michaela to a booth along the wall and they slipped into the seats, twisting round to face each other. Michaela twined her fingers in Trisha’s.

She cleared her throat. ‘I’m sorry about the phone call the other night,’ she said. ‘I was being a bitch, you were right.’

Trisha was still staring at her and though she was just an apparition and would disappear at any moment.

‘Trisha?’ Michaela was suddenly uncertain. And hot. She untangled her fingers and shrugged out of her jacket. When she looked back, Trisha was still staring. ‘Trisha? You did want me to come, didn’t you?’

Trisha blinked. ‘You came because of that? Without even knowing why?’ she took a breath and blew it out between her lips. ‘Holy shit,’ she said.

Michaela shrugged. She took Trisha’s hands. ‘I missed you Trish. I’ve been missing you for months. So I came over. I’m sorry I didn’t say I would when you called.’ She ran out of things to say and gave a quick smile.

Trisha took her eyes off Michaela and took a quick look around the diner. Everyone had gone back to their coffee and food. Turning back Trisha took Michaela’s face in her hands and gave her a hard kiss on the lips. She kept her hands in place and shook her head. ‘I just cannot believe you came,’ she said. ‘This is such a shock; when I saw you standing there in the doorway I thought I was hallucinating for fuck’s sakes.’ She ran her hands over Michaela’s short hair. ‘But here you are, just because I asked. You don’t even know why.’ She sat up and grinned. ‘What if I was just drunk and being an idiot when I called? And you came all this way for nothing?’

Michaela leaned forward and kissed her, a softer touching of lips. ‘It was morning here when you called. You were just about to start work, remember? Not drunk,’ she said.

Trisha laughed. ‘Too clever by far,’ she said. ‘Just the way I remember you.’ She grasped Michaela’s hand. ‘I have to get back to work before Mom starts in on me. You hungry?’

Michaela realised she was. ‘Starving,’ she said. ‘Coffee be great too.’

Trisha stood up and nodded. ‘Coming up,’ she said and smiled. ‘I just cannot believe you’re here.’