Whoever said 'answers are the only comfortable mysteries' clearly never had a cheating fiance.

That was the only thing on my mind as I filled coffee orders. Every blonde head, every giggle, every pair of heels clacking on the linoleum brought me back to that fateful day three months ago.

"Em! Emilie!" my co-worker Sydney shrieked as coffee spilled over the plastic cup I'd been filling.

"Shit! I'm so sorry," I apologized to the customer whose order I now had to re-do. I grabbed a rag and began to clean off the counter while Sydney re-made the order and got him a free drink voucher.

She handed him his new drink, apologizing again and calling out "come again!" before turning to me.

"Ay, dios mio. Em, that's the third time this week," she said, her brows furrowing. The sound of the ice machine grinding out cubes for the iced drinks drowned out the conversations from the customers sitting in the shop.

I threw the soaked rag to the side. "I know. I just got distracted."

Sydney bit her lip. "Em, you've been distracted a lot lately. Are you sure you were ready to come back to work?"

The aroma of freshly brewed coffee punctuated the air between us, offering something sweet to contrast what had been tainted.

"Yeah." I picked up a ticket for a new order and started gathering ingredients. Chai tea latte. One of my favorites. At The Bumble Bean, we added a hint of ginger for an extra bit of zing. "I have to get out of the house sometime. And at least I'm not in that apartment anymore."

"You made a good decision moving in with Mackenzie and Aubrey," Sydney agreed. She took a moment to ring up another customer then shifted back to me. "But you're still worrying me right now. You spend your mornings here and your afternoons at the library."

"That's usually how it works when you have two jobs," I said. I grabbed a lid and sealed it on top of the latte before handing it to the customer.

"Have a nice day!" I told her. She thanked me and left, her fingers wrapped tightly around the cup as if it were her lifeline. I guess caffeine would do that to you.

"Anyway," I continued. "I feel safe here and it takes my mind off of things."

She rested her hand on my shoulder. "Em, you know we have a really comfy futon if you want a place to be, well, not alone."

The flitter of conversations filled the new silence between us. Customers sat in the cushy booths listening to music through headphones and clacking away on keyboards. Books stacked high joined them on the mahogany tables, the only company for studious college kids.

"I think I'm gonna take my break," I mumbled as I untied my apron and hung it back up on its hook. The morning rush was over and I desperately needed to clear my head.

Without another word. I swiped my hands on my jeans and grabbed my purse and jacket from the break room before pushing through the back door. Sydney had known me long enough not to follow, although while I was usually grateful for that, today I really needed my friend.

Outside, the cold, salty air hit my cheeks immediately as I walked to my favorite bench that overlooked the water. Just a short walk from the coffee shop, it was the best place to get a fresh perspective. The horn of the tugboats echoed across the harbor, and tourists laughed and exclaimed as the small vessels bobbed along in the water.

Flashes of that night swam in my mind. Eight years we had been together. Five additional months engaged. Two weeks before our anniversary. It made me wonder how many times he'd actually cheated. Of course, being Kyle, he'd denied everything in his own pathetic way.

Yeah, like I was going to believe that the girl walking around in the spiky heels and red lacy lingerie was there to clean the apartment.

"Baby, I swear this wasn't what you think!" he cried out. His bare chest gleaned from whatever oil she'd been using on him.

I shuddered at the memory. Lavender. It was my lavender oil.

Bzz! I jumped as my phone vibrated from the side pocket of my bag. I quickly fished it out and tapped the screen, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Bren, hey." I smiled. "What's up?"

"Hey, Em," my best friend, Brena, said on the other end. Brena and I had been best friends since our random roommate assignment freshman year. "Syd just texted. She's worried about you."

Oh. I sighed. "Don't worry about that. It's nothing."

"Emilie, it's not nothing. I'm worried about you too." She paused as someone else said something I couldn't make out before she spoke again. "Why don't you bail early and come spend the weekend with me and Jared? I mean, you're already coming for the maid of honor fitting on Saturday."

Brena and Jared lived in a townhouse in Annapolis, where Jared had gone to the Naval Academy for college. He was sticking around, at least for the time being, but he knew that he and Brena might have to pick up and leave at any point.

I stayed silent. A few weeks after Kyle and I had gotten engaged, Jared had proposed to Brena. Since meeting them, it had always been the plan for us to have a double wedding. It was going to be everything I ever dreamed.

Until Kyle decided he had other dreams.

"You are still coming for the fitting, right?" Hurt and concern crept into her voice.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Yes, of course I am." She was my best friend. There was no way I was letting her down. Just because I wasn't getting my happily-ever-after didn't mean I had to ruin hers. "I've already told my boss that I have to leave early from the library."

Brena laughed. "Em, you're assistant manager at the library. You practically are the boss."

I grinned. "As if. Listen, I gotta run but I'll see you tonight, Bren."

"See you tonight. It's gonna be Em and Bren hitting the town!"

I laughed and hung up. Brena knew I didn't like to party. But I hated it a little less when I was with her. And that made it all worthwhile.

***

The early afternoon light filtered in through the glass-paned windows of the library. I sat in the back room, typing away on my computer. Two more chapters to edit before I could call it a day and get over to Annapolis.

'You're' is 'you are' I thought to myself as I corrected it, the green suggestion sticking out on the page. I shook my head. This client wanted me to focus on the general content of her story, but I found myself pulling at the grammar errors instead.

A knock sounded at the door and I didn't even look up from my work as I grunted an affirmation.

"Emilie, you need to get going if you want to miss the traffic to Annapolis." My boss, Liv, crossed her arms over her chest.

"Almost done." My fingers flew over the keyboard as I typed out new comments for the writer.

Liv crossed the space between us and leaned forward, blocking my light. "This is your best friend, Emilie. I've known you girls for years, ever since you first wandered in and plopped down to study for your finals together freshman year."

"Yeah." I flickered my gaze up to meet hers.

"The library and your clients will still be there when you get back. Which means no work this weekend. If I see you logging hours, I'll block your remote access."

Heat crept to my cheeks. Liv knew me too well. She made me assistant manager for a reason.

"You're the best employee I've had and you know this library like the back of your hand," Liv had said when I stared at her in shock. "Of course I want you as assistant manager."

"I'll go in a few."

"Now, Emilie." She narrowed her eyes.

I knew that look, and I knew well enough not to mess with it.

"Okay, okay." I gave in. "Thanks, Liv."

She gave me a nod. "Have fun this weekend. Please try to enjoy it. Even though you're not getting married, Brena deserves to have her best friend at her side."

"I will, I promise."

My laptop pinged with a new email and my gaze flickered to the screen.

Liv took that as her cue and she left the room. I clicked on the new email with the subject line, Re: Living the exchange life and an attachment.

As part of an exchange program in college, our creative writing class was matched with a class at a European university. We were encouraged to make new connections, and while the class only lasted a semester, I had been emailing with my pen pal Catriona for six years now.

Em, long time no chat! You've been MIA for three months and I've missed chatting with you. How are things? I've been assigned to design a piece for the spring line at my agency and you are my inspiration! See the attachment for the sketch.
Xo Cat

I smiled as I read through the email. It was sweet of her to check up on me. I clicked on the attachment and my eyes widened. Catriona had designed the most beautiful brown suede jacket paired with a chunky belt and open-toed wedges. She was really making waves for herself. I hit reply and typed out a response:

Cat, hey! Sorry for going AWOL. These last few months have been really hard for me since—

I paused, thinking about what to say next. Was I really going to tell her about what happened? Catriona had been a good friend to me, staying in touch all these years. Most of the other students in that creative writing class had ditched their pen pals after the semester. But me? I'd found a friend who I could count on. Even when Catriona knew I hadn't emailed for three months, she'd tried frequently to stay in touch. The unread emails in my inbox proved it. Sighing, I continued:

—ending my engagement. Your design looks amazing! I can't wait to see it on the Paris runways someday. Hope you are well.
Xo Emilie

The email disappeared from my drafts with a whoosh, and I packed up my things to head home. My watch indicated that it was only 4:00pm but I needed to finish packing my suitcase for my weekend with Brena.

I sighed, passing the vendors that lined the streets and avoiding eye contact. They were friendly, but today I didn't want to make any chit chat.

Not many people were mulling about which I figured was because of the cold. I wrapped my scarf tighter around my neck, hoping to block out some of the wind. Luckily, the row house was only a few blocks away. It was the perfect distance from both the coffee shop and the library.

My two roommates, Mackenzie and Aubrey were friends from college whom I'd reconnected with after my break-up. They were more than happy to offer up the empty third bedroom to me. Neither was around very much which was why I'd agreed to move in with them after Kyle.

As I unlocked the door to the rowhouse, I narrowly avoided a collision with Mackenzie on her way out.

"Ah, sorry Mack." I sidestepped to let her pass.

"Hey, no worries." She reached back to tighten her auburn ponytail. "I left your mail on the kitchen table. I'll be back after my class."

"Sounds good, thanks. Just a reminder I'm headed out for the weekend."

She squeezed my arm. "Right, have fun!"

As promised, a stack of mail sat inside on the table. I placed my purse onto the counter and flipped through the mail, most of it catalogs that I figured I would look at when I got back from my trip. Then a small white envelope dropped onto the ground. Crouching down, I picked it up and frowned. The envelope had no return address and my name stared back at me in big swooping letters.

What the...? From the envelope, I produced a handwritten note with an address and an airplane ticket.

To Scotland.