96 Hours by Georgia Beers Page B

almost-smile that turned up the corners of her mouth. It was quite a sight. She wanted to ask if Erica was all right, but didn’t want to send her skittering back into her shell. Instead, they walked a bit farther in silence. When it felt right, Abby spoke.
    “It’s beautiful here.”
    “It really is.”
    “Where I grew up in Connecticut, it’s very green and there are lots of trees like this, but I was never close to a lake or anything. Were you?”
    “No. It’s pretty flat and dry where I grew up.”
    “What about where you live now? In Raleigh, you said?”
    Erica pursed her lovely lips, thinking. “It’s gorgeous there. Very green, lots of trees and lakes and trails for walking or biking.” The pursed lips changed into a slight frown. “I don’t get to enjoy it as much as I’d like.”
    “Work?” When Erica nodded, she asked, “What do you do?”
    “I’m a research scientist at a pharmaceutical company and I manage a team of other scientists.”
    “Cool.” Abby was impressed.
    “It can be.”
    “But?”
    “But my seven-hundred-dollar bicycle has become a clothes rack in my apartment,” Erica replied.
    “I see. Too much work and not enough play make Erica a dull girl.”
    “You don’t know the half of it.”
    “So why were you in the U.K.?”
    “I was meeting with a division of our company, trying to pitch a new drug, which turned out to be a disaster.” She blew out a breath and watched a hawk soar high above the trees. “Enough about me. What about you?”
    “What about me?”
    “What do you do?”
    “I’m sort of between jobs right now.”
    Erica squinted at her. “Between jobs?”
    “Yeah. I was a business major and I had a job in a small, up-and-coming company near home, but . . .” Her voice trailed off as she glanced over the water to their left.
    “But?”
    “I hated it.”
    “What did you hate about it?”
    Abby sighed, floundered around for the right words. “I just felt used up at the end of the day, you know? I was working ten-, sometimes twelve-hour days. I was exhausted. I never saw my family—and I was still living in my mother’s house. I was making good money but I didn’t have time to spend any of it. After a year-and-a-half, I decided I just couldn’t do it any more. I quit.”
    “Wow.” Quitting was something Erica had never done, not in her entire life. It was something she frowned upon, something her father frowned upon even more. Abby’s reasons made sense, but still. Erica had a tough time seeing herself doing the same thing. “You just decided one day you’d had enough and you just left?”
    “Exactly. I believe in happiness, you know? I believe we all have the right to live our lives as happy people. If we all did that, the world would be a better place, that’s for sure.”
    “You’re probably right about that,” Erica agreed, trying hard to imagine what it would be like to just up and quit her job, just walk out one day. “Did you have something else lined up before you left?”
    “Nope.”
    “No?”
    Abby shook her head, amused by Erica’s shock.
    “So, you just left. With nothing to head to? No plan?”
    “Didn’t need one.”
    “Wow,” Erica said again, wondering how incredibly irresponsible she’d have to be to do such a thing, especially living with her parents. Her father would kill her. “What did your parents say?”
    “They got it, you know? They totally understood and supported me. They’re awesome.”
    “They didn’t push you to find another job?”
    “Nah. I mean, I’m sure they wanted me to. Want me to. But, they know I will. When it’s right.”
    When it’s right? Erica had no idea what to say. The delicious relaxation of a few minutes ago was draining away like water through her fingers. Her brain kept tossing her images of her father’s reddened and angry face as he tried to wrap his brain around the fact that his daughter was a quitter with no plan for her future. He wanted her to be happy, sure; he