Tales From a Broad by LLC Melange Books Read Free Book Online Page A

feet in the air?”
    “Actually, to be exact, it went four hundred
and forty three amazing feet high. The view of London was
spectacular. Especially at night.”
    The look on Tess’s face was really something.
She seemed to have come alive as she talked. I opened my mouth to
speak, but she cut me off at the pass.
    “Hey, did you know Big Ben is really the name
of the bell in the tower? Locals just call it the clock tower.
That’s what Mark told me. By the way, he’s so smart, Aunt Lu. He
just finished his M.B.A from Boston University.”
    I nodded in approval. “He sounds...”
    “We have so much in common too!”
    I bit the inside of my cheek to keep a
straight face. I couldn’t recall ever seeing her this excited about
any guy.
    “Books, movies, TV... You name it. Anyway, he
and his brother are going to be in Paris at the same time we are.
So, maybe I’ll meet up with him. If that’s ok with you,” she
quickly added. “I don’t have to see him. We’re just friends ...
though it might be nice.”
    I looked at her and rolled my eyes. “Gee, you
think?” I said pointedly. “Of course you’re going to see him!”
    I rummaged through my snack bag for peanuts
and noticed a string had come loose on the hem of her skirt.
    “You’ve been fiddling with this so much that
you’re coming undone.” I reached over and twirled the string around
my finger before I gave it a gentle tug. “It’s really beautiful
though.”
    And that it was. The skirt fell above her
knee and was made from a thick lime green cotton fabric with pale
pink swirls cascading throughout. The hem was about two inches wide
and a darker pink textured ribbon.
    “Did you get it on Portobello Road?”
    “No.” Tess smiled shyly. “You’re kind. I made
it the night before we left.”
    I swallowed the peanut whole. “You made this? You made this? Oh my God, Tess.”
    “What? It’s not a big deal, Aunt Lu. It took
me an hour. Finding the fabric was the hardest part.”
    “Oh, just shut up and say thank you. It’s
amazing. Here I thought home décor was your thing. This trip is
getting better and better. I’m travelling with a designer.”
    Tess gave me a funny look as she paused to
reach into my bag for a handful of peanuts. “And I am
travelling with a total nut bag.”
    * * * *
    We arrived in Amsterdam at nine that night.
Since we had to change trains in Brussels, the trip had taken a
little more than six hours. We went straight to the hostel, which
was thankfully much nicer than the one where we’d previously
stayed.
    The brick hostel was a quintessential
seventeenth century Amsterdam-style house: tall and skinny, but
thick on charm. It sat across the street from a canal and
overlooked the Jordan River through its massive windows. Wooden
flower boxes adorned the windows and overflowed with sleeping
tulips. The sweet smell from the flowers mixed with the salty scent
of the canal, resulting in a soothing aroma that wafted through the
air.
    A bicycle built for two was parked in a rack
outside the hostel. The whole scene reminded me of a postcard. It
was somewhere I really wanted to be.
    Tess and I were both tired and decided to go
right to bed. The lack of sleep I’d accumulated had started to take
a toll. I listened to the rhythmic sound of water lapping against
the canal as I drifted off to sleep.
    We woke up the next morning feeling refreshed
and ravenous. Since we both agreed one of the first things on the
day’s agenda was to eat a hearty breakfast, we wandered next door
to a diner.
    “So how are you?” Tess asked me, her eyebrows
knitted together in a concerned expression as we waited for our
waitress to bring the breakfast we’d ordered. Her head was tilted
to the side, and she looked at me expectantly.
    “Good,” I shrugged. “We have our own room for
now, so let’s just hope the other two beds stay vacant.” I crossed
my fingers in the air and cleared my throat. I had a hard time
meeting her gaze.
    “And hopefully