I stared down at the ticket and accompanying note in my hands, the plans to leave immediately for Annapolis quickly fleeing from my mind. Someone had sent me a ticket to Scotland. For years, I'd dreamed of seeing the beautiful rolling green countryside and exploring the cobblestone streets. And now, there was an opportunity right at my fingertips. But was it real?

The words on the note swooped together as I attempted to read:

For you, book lover and adventure-seeker:

Take this ticket to Scotland for a way to get away from the hardships that burden your heart. The plane leaves on Tuesday, December 12th at 7pm from Dulles International Airport. 

If you choose to partake, you'll find Fionn MacLeod, owner of MacLeod's Book Emporium at: 21 Dunn Street.

May you find what you're looking for in the famous book town, Wigtown.

I dug my phone out of my purse and called Sydney.

"Em?" she answered on the second ring. "I thought you were leaving for Brena's. Is everything alright?"

"Syd, someone sent me a ticket to Scotland," I said, placing the phone on speaker so I could hold the note in my hands.

"Oh my god, that's amazing! Who was it?" From the background, I could hear the clanking of dishes and the voices of her roommates.

"I have no idea." Sitting down, I peered closer at the contents of the envelope and read the note aloud. "Do you think I should go?"

"Hell yeah!" she responded before I barely finished asking the question. "Em, this has to be the opportunity of a lifetime. Do you know how many amazing bookshops they have in Scotland?"

I glanced at the note again. "How do we know it's even legit? For all we know it could be a serial killer."

Sydney snorted. "I doubt a serial killer would write you a note."

"True."

"I think it sounds like a fantastic opportunity. When did it say you would go?"

My gaze scanned over the ticket. "Next week. I would still have the weekend with Brena and then I'd leave on Tuesday."

"That's perfect!" Sydney said. "It's just enough time to get some time off but also to make sure you don't back out."

I laughed. "You really wanna get rid of me? I'm not gonna go that easy." Even though I couldn't see her, I could feel Sydney rolling her eyes on the other end.

"No, of course not. But getting away from here might be a good way for you to cleanse yourself from Kyle."

"That's true." I glanced at the clock. 4:40 pm. I really needed to head out if I was going to beat the rush.

"Just think about it, Emilie," Sydney said. "I'll see you tomorrow at brunch."

"See you then." I ended the call and blinked at the ticket. Now that I looked closer, it was for one-way only.

Why would someone send me a one-way ticket? I shoved a pair of chunky heels in the bottom of my suitcase.

In fact, why would someone send me a ticket at all?

I slammed my trunk closed.

If I went, I was sure to find out. After all, it had been months since I did anything spontaneous, and anything previously spur-of-the-moment had been tainted by Kyle.

Maybe I just needed another opinion.

Maybe it could be a second chance for love.

I shook my head. Doubtful. If I was going to Scotland, it would be for the books, not the guys.

The ignition of my KIA rumbled to life and I pulled out onto the road. Despite the hour on a Friday afternoon, very few cars lined the roads. I arrived in Annapolis an hour later, still nowhere close to figuring out what I was going to do about Scotland.

"Em!" Brena called out. She ran down the steps of the house. "I'm so glad you could make it. C'mon, Jared is inside." She lifted my suitcase from the trunk and I followed her to the front door.

The townhouse was adorned in lights, giving off a warm glow amidst the cold December afternoon air. My feet refused to move forward.

"Em?" Brena said when she realized I'd stopped moving.

"Sorry." I shook my head and forced a smile. "Let's go inside."

Brena frowned, her eyebrows knitting together. She kept quiet as we entered the hall. Jared, her fiance, thundered toward us with a huge smile on his face.

"Well well well. It's good to see you, Emilie." He gathered me into a hug and I buried my face in his chest, breathing in the familiarity.

Jared and Brena had met at a party when Jared was visiting a friend out at Towson. He had grown super close to all of us and even more when he started dating Brena. I always said he was like a brother to me.

"Good to see you too, Jay. Thanks for letting me stay for the weekend." I pulled away and gave him a once over. "Did you get taller?"

He laughed. "Maybe you're just shrinking."

Brena rolled her eyes. "Okay, you two. C'mon, get settled in, Em." She took my coat and hung it up in the hall closet.

"Guest room still at the top of the stairs?" I asked.

"Absolutely. Go take a load off and we'll order pizza for dinner. I thought we could have a nice quiet night in," Brena said.

"And I'll be out of your hair, too," Jared piped up. "I promised Brena I'd stay upstairs."

I raised my eyebrows. "Upstairs?"

"Yeah. We got the sleeping bags and the futon set up in the basement already. It'll be just like college."

Jared snorted into his beer and Brena smacked his arm.

I laughed. "I'll be back down in a few. Can you make sure to order those cheesy garlic knots with the pizza?"

Brena fake saluted. "Already on the list, girlie."

I smiled, shaking my head as I lifted the suitcase up the stairs. With the door closed, I pulled out my laptop. My fingers hovered over the keys as the login screen for the library came up on my webpage.

No work. This weekend was about two best friends spending time together.

With a sigh, I closed the laptop again and shoved it under the clothes in my suitcase. When I emerged down the stairs a little while later, Brena and Jared's voices drifted over to me in hushed tones.

"...really worried, Jay. She's my best friend and I hate seeing her like this," Brena was saying.

"You didn't know the guy was going to turn out to be a cheating asshole," Jared argued. "You had no way of knowing that when you set them up."

"Yeah," Brena sighed. "I still feel responsible somehow."

The floorboards creaked under my feet and I cursed. Brena jumped up from the couch, whipping around to face me.

"Em, hey. We didn't hear you come down."

I waved it off. "It's okay."

Brena winced. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough to know you still feel guilty about Kyle," I admitted, "even though I've told you a hundred times it wasn't your fault."

"See, I told you." Jared stood up when the doorbell rang. He came back a minute later with three boxes of pizza and two containers of cheesy garlic knots. "I'll leave you ladies to it then." He walked out of the room, taking the top box of pizza with him.

I took his place, tucking my legs under me as I crossed my arms over my chest. "So, you want to tell me why you're back on blaming yourself for my asshole ex? I thought we were done with that. You know I'm in a better place now."

Brena sighed. "Em, are you? Are you really happy? When Sydney called me today, she said you've been really distracted. You've bailed the last three times we were going to have a girls night. And you spend every minute when you're not sleeping, working."

I flicked my leg out in front of me and sunk deeper into the sofa. "I like to keep myself busy."

"Yeah, but at what cost?!" Brena threw her hands into the air, her voice raising with annoyance. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

I shook my head. "No, you're right. Look, do you think we can just put the Kyle argument on hold? I wanted to come out here to get away from all of that."

"Absolutely." She stood up and reached for my hand. "I'll even let you pick the movie tonight."

I scoffed in mock offense. "You better."

Laughing, we gathered the dinner and drinks and settled in together in the basement. The pizza and garlic knots were just what I needed for some extra well-needed time spent with Brena.

The envelope with the ticket weighed heavily on my mind as I helped Brena clean up the dishes from dinner. When I returned to my room to change, I saw it poking out of the top of my purse, egging me on.

"What's that?" Brena's voice caused me to jump when she poked her head into the guest room.

"Oh this"—I fished out the envelope—"It's, um, a ticket to Scotland."

Brena's eyes widened. "Girl! When were you going to tell me? The creative writing program, right?"

I shook my head. Until now, I'd forgotten about the writing program I'd applied to on a whim in Scotland. The 3-year program would offer me a chance to write in the places famous authors had written; travel through Scotland, Ireland, and Wales; and immerse myself in a culture that I had grown to love on paper.

My attention snapped back to the present moment when I caught Brena still staring at me expectantly. "I wish, but no."

"Then who do you know in Scotland?" She wrinkled her nose.

"No one." I bit my lip. "But it's addressed to me, and I don't know..."

"You should totally go."

"You think so?" I shoved it back into my purse as we walked back down to the basement together.

"Yeah. Once in a lifetime opportunity, right? And you've always wanted to see Scotland." Her eyes lit up with hope. "Maybe you'll meet someone."

I rolled my eyes, but found myself smiling. "Maybe." But doubtful. The last thing I needed was for Scotland to break my heart.

***

That night, I laid on my back looking up at the smooth cream-colored ceiling with a million thoughts racing through my head. The futon groaned as Brena shifted her weight in her sleep and I shut my eyes.

"Emilie, are you still awake?" she whispered.

I swallowed. "Yeah."

She turned to face me, tucking her hands under her pillow. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier. You have every right to be hurting right now. I shouldn't have been pushing you to move on so quickly. He really hurt you, made you uproot your life for his own filthy mistakes."

"Yeah, I know. It's okay. I'm trying not to think about it." I rested my arms over my eyes.

Brena reached her hand out toward me and I entwined our fingers together. Her touch was comforting. "Time will heal, Em."

"I know."

"If you don't want to talk about the wedding this weekend, we don't have to. We can just make it a total girls trip. Walk around the harbor, shop, get our nails done, anything."

I smiled. "You're a great friend, Brena. Truly. But this wedding is about you, okay? And I'm not going to ruin that. Plus, you're right. I do need to move on."

"But you can't move on if you're just going to hide away. Em, I love you. But I hate seeing you hurting." Even in the dark, I could see the frown that formed on her face.

"I know," I said. The word 'Scotland' flashed in my vision. "I won't hide away forever."