PART 3
Linda admitted it was the first major step she had taken alone since Paul died.
Robert nodded slowly. “It took me three years after my wife passed before I went anywhere except the grocery store.”
Linda offered a quiet, sympathetic smile. “I barely left my town.”
“What finally changed?”
She thought about Hannah’s voice on the phone. “I was told to stay home for Christmas.”
Robert studied her thoughtfully. “By somebody who should have known better?”
“My daughter-in-law.”
He paused, taking that in. “And instead?”
Linda looked out toward the airplane window. “And instead, I’m going to Europe.”
Robert smiled softly, but said nothing more. They didn’t exchange phone numbers or promise to stay in touch. When they landed at Frankfurt Airport, they wished each other well and parted ways. Yet, that brief interaction was precisely what Linda needed.
The next morning at eight, Linda’s tour group assembled. Twenty-four travelers gathered around a sign held by their guide, Greta—an energetic thirty-five-year-old who clearly loved her work.
Linda soon found herself walking alongside Patricia, a sixty-nine-year-old retired attorney from Atlanta.
“What brings you here?” Patricia asked warmly.
“My daughter-in-law told me to stay home for Christmas,” Linda replied, the words slipping out unfiltered.
Patricia blinked in surprise. “So you booked a European vacation?”
“Yes.”
Patricia’s face lit up. “Good. People told me I was too old to start over. So I retired and did it anyway.”
Linda took an instant liking to her.
Nearby were Dennis and Beverly, a couple from Chicago who had been married for forty-three years. They moved together with effortless synchronization—Beverly glanced at a bag, Dennis picked it up; Dennis motioned toward an escalator, Beverly understood immediately.
Watching them brought a sharp wave of longing. Linda had once shared that kind of unspoken language with Paul. He had been the visionary, while she made things happen. Together, they navigated life as an inseparable team. Now, she was on her own.
For a brief moment, grief threatened to pull her under. But as Greta began leading the group forward, Linda followed. She hadn’t traveled across the world to spend twelve days mourning what was gone.
