Page 98 of Leaving the Station

Even if I’m not the one who forced her to tell Aya about moving to Seattle, I was still part of it.

“At least you’ll know that I’m close by,” I tell her.

“That sounds nice,” she says, and I agree.

“By the way,” Aya says. “My mom told me to tell you thank you. You know, for the party.”

I’m surprised by this, but try not to show it. “Well, tell her that it was my pleasure.”

“And she said that in the winter we might take the train again and go to Leavenworth!”

“That’s awesome,” I tell her, though I’m still suspicious of Nanami.

Leavenworth is this little town that’s a couple of hours outside of Seattle. It’s popular in the winter because it’s in the mountains and always gets snow, and it’s designed to look like a quaint Bavarian village.

“This train passes through Leavenworth too!” Aya says. “Butwe only get to stop for fifteen minutes, and my mom said that’s not enough time to see everything, so that’s why we’re gonna go back.”

“Your mom’s right,” I say, though that gives me an idea.

Because Leavenworth is basically a little European town.

And right before Oakley told me she was rejoining the Church, she told me she had planned to go to Europe. She wanted to see what she’d only read about in books. Instead, she slept in a crowded hostel in New York.

Maybe she’ll never get there, and maybe we’ll never see each other after this, but we could have this one afternoon.

Thursday, 6 a.m., Chugging through Washington

There are a few things complicating this plan.

The first is that I don’t even know if Oakley’s still on the train. The second is that, like Aya said, the stop in Leavenworth will only last a few minutes.

But I can work around both of these complications. I have to at least try.

“Goooood morning, my dear old friends,” Edward says over the loudspeaker. “This is your final wake-up announcement from yours truly, Snack Conductor Edward. For the last morning of this glorious trip, I have sticky buns, bagels, and of course, coffee. Come on down and say goodbye! I’ll miss you folks!”

For the first time, I’m not vaguely annoyed by Edward’s morning announcement. In fact, he’s exactly who I want to see.

“Assistant Conductor Zoe!” Edward says when I make my way down to the snack car.

“I earned the assistant conductor title?”

“Absolutely,” he says, bowing dramatically. “Where’s Oakley? I was going to bestow assistant-conductor-ship upon her too.”

I stare down at the freshly mopped snack car floor.

“What happened?” he asks. “Did you two get into a fight?” I nod, holding back tears. “Oh, no no no,” he says, coming out from behind the snack counter to give me a hug. I lean into him, and—no surprise here—he’s an exceptional hugger.

“I don’t even know if she’s still on the train,” I tell him. “She’s from Eastern Washington, so she might be getting off soon.”

He pulls away from the hug and stares at me, confused. “I saw her in the sleeper car a little while ago as I was passing through. She looked upset, but she was definitely still there.” He laughs to himself. “I guess this explains why she was moping around the corridor.”

“Edward,” I say, pulling him in for another hug. “I’ve never loved a person more.”

“I’m honored,” he says, blushing, as he retreats behind his counter. “Coffee?”

I nod. “And a sticky bun.”

He grins. “I knew you’d cave eventually.”