Red Writing Hood -- Dusseldorf

It was a rainy night in Dusseldorf, and she knew no one here, and what was even more important, she had no idea why she was here. 


They’d parted in Bad Ischl, Austria. The time together had been magical, but her expectation was to never see him again. Then as she was leaving the B&B that morning, Christa had handed her the envelope. Inside was a train ticket to Dusseldorf and note from him asking, no begging, her to meet him there.


She really had no idea why she’d come. There was nothing left to say. Bad Ischl had been wonderful. It would always be a treasured memory, but that was all it could be. There was no future for them. She had a family in the States and he, well she didn’t really know what he had. 


They had met by chance checking in at the same time at the b&b. Gracie was there trying to recapture a memory of love and happiness from before it all fell apart. Christa was family by marriage and had extended the invitation for Gracie to escape from it all for awhile.  It had seemed a good idea at the time, but once she arrived, she was flooded by memories of the last trip to Austria. It had been with her husband, before the accident had turned everything sideways.


But now she was in Dusseldorf. Waiting in the train station for a man she’d only known for 10 days. She’d left family and familiarity to strike out to an unknown city with a virtual stranger. She sat in the bistro sipping tea, torn between hoping he would show up and wondering if he wouldn’t.


And then he was there -- standing right in front of her as if he’d materialized from thin air. He smiled and held out his hand to her. She was caught off guard by the way her heart skipped when their hands met. It had been so long since she felt that way. It seemed awfully early to feel with such intensity, to trust so completely. Really it wasn’t like her at all. Gracie Newstead was nothing if not sensible.


He sat down at the table and ordered a kaffe, and then began to tell her what had happened. How he’d wound up in Dusseldorf when Salzburg had been his intended destination. How he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind and he was determined that they should try to make it work. There had to be a way. He was willing to try. Was she?

for more stories go to Write on Edge