Lucy pushed open the door to go to the parking lot after work, grateful for her new coat. She pulled the fur-trimmed hood of the fitted black parka up over her head against the bite of the wind. Flakes of snow were whipping around the parking lot.
Lucy jumped inside her car, shivering a little as the cold vinyl pressed against the backs of her legs. Growing up in Toronto, she thought she knew how to cope with cold, but it was still only fall here. As she waited for the engine to warm up, she worried about what winter would bring.
When Lucy pulled into her driveway, she saw an unfamiliar car parked next to her usual spot. She wondered if Janelle had company. She couldn't have been more wrong.
When she stepped out of her car, Lucy's jaw dropped. On the top step outside her apartment door, shivering in a leather bomber jacket, his dark, curly hair dusted with snowflakes, sat Frederick.
Lucy ran up the steps. "Frederick!? What are you doing just sitting there? Come in before you freeze," she insisted, unlocking her door as quickly as she could.
"This is not fall," he groused. He stood in Lucy's entryway rubbing his hands together vigorously to warm them.
Lucy shut the door against the cold, then stood and gaped like a fish at her unexpected guest.
"I thought of something," said Frederick without preamble. "We need to do a test-run."
"A what?" Lucy asked.
"A test run. You need to spend a week with me in the city."
Lucy's brain struggled to catch up to Frederick's rush of words, never mind his sudden appearance.
"What city?" She asked the first thing her mind latched onto.
"Any city. New York, London, Paris. Los Angeles is warm this time of year."
Lucy plopped onto the couch. "You lost me. What are you talking about?"
Frederick followed her into the living room, then spoke more slowly. "I want you to have a chance to see what my regular life is really like, so I want you to spend a week with me, on my turf, and see it for yourself. You can't decide against something if you've never tried it."
"Oh. You might have a point." She considered his offer for a moment. She unzipped her coat and pulled off her boots as she tried to decide how to respond. "What if I agree to this experiment, and at the end of it, I still don't think I can handle it?"
"I'll quit. I'll retire and move up here with you. We can have a log home built on a lake and watch the sunset together every night."
Frederick painted an appealing picture. Lucy was almost tempted to agree, but it would be the height of selfishness to do so.
"Frederick, that's crazy."
"Not as crazy as never seeing you again."
"I can't let you quit. I've seen you in front of the camera. This isn't just a job for you, it's who you are. You'd go nuts if you weren't acting. You wouldn't be you anymore." He wouldn't be the man she'd fallen in love with.
Frederick pondered for a moment. "I could commute?"
"What, see me for the odd weekend, a month straight once a year? We'd both be miserable."
"Quit pissing in my cornflakes, woman. I'm trying to make this work."
Lucy gave an exasperated bark of laughter.
"We'll just have to give our trial run our very best shot, then. And if it doesn't work?" He swallowed hard. "We know we gave it our best shot and we go our separate ways."
Lucy fiddled with the drawstring for her hood as she mulled over his words. Saying goodbye to Frederick as second time would be incredibly painful.
But if it worked, if there was a chance they could make a proper go of a life together, wasn't it worth the risk? After all, what was a little more pain considering what she'd already been through?
Lucy looked at Frederick sitting across from her. He was leaning forward, his hands on his knees. His eagerness was almost palpable.
"Yes," she said. She saw Frederick's face brighten. "But not a whole week," she amended. "How about a weekend?"
Frederick shook his head. "Four days, minimum."
"Three."
"Done."
"But I have a condition."
"Anything."
"No sex."
"Anything but that."
Lucy snorted. "I mean it. If we're really doing this to see what your life is like, I want a clear head. Not to mention, I'm going to need to leave the bedroom to see it." And if she could manage not to sleep with him, it would be marginally less painful if she had to say goodbye.
Frederick pressed his lips together and exhaled heavily through his nose.
"No sex for two days and two nights," he proposed, "And after the third day, you either fly home or share my bed."
Lucy tingled all over at the intensity of his last three words.
"Can you promise to let me make up my own mind and not to try to seduce me?"
"No. But I can promise to be subtle about it."
"Good enough," Lucy said. She wasn't sure she would have believed him if he'd agreed. "Mr. Asherton, I believe we have a deal," Lucy said, starting to let herself feel excited about this second chance. "Now that we've gotten business out of the way, would you like to stay for dinner?"
"Thank you, but no. I already booked a room. If you said yes, I wanted to be able to leave before you had a chance to change your mind."
Lucy suspected that he'd also wanted a handy retreat in case she turned him down.
* * * * *
Frederick came back for a short visit the next day so that they could work out the details. They compared schedules and found a four-day block two weeks hence that would work for both of them.
In the spirit of the exercise, Lucy had suggested that they spend their time together in London, as that was where she thought she could get the best sense of Frederick's life. Frederick promised her that London was considerably warmer than Squirrel Falls in November.
He left again, leaving her with only a friendly kiss on the cheek, but promised to call as often as he could.
* * * * *
Hangers screeched along the bar in Violet's closet as she searched through her collection of dresses.
"You're sure you don't want to go low-cut?" Violet asked. "I'd have a lot more options for you if you did."
"No cleavage," said Lucy.
"Prude. Ah! Here we go." Violet pulled out a navy-blue dress. It had a sweetheart neckline that was still a little low at the center for Lucy's purposes, but acceptable. The dress had fitted, three-quarter length sleeves and a full skirt that would fall to her knees, at least.
"Oh, that's pretty," Lucy said, taking the dress from Violet. She had the perfect pair of shoes in her closet to go with it. "You're sure you don't mind if I borrow three?"
"I give it six months before I can fit into my old clothes again, let alone go somewhere fancy enough to deserve them. Of course I don't mind."
"I really appreciate this. I've got that red dress that Frederick gave me,"
"Which is stupid gorgeous, by the way."
"But I need at least two more. And I'm only wearing the red one on the last day."
"Right," Violet nodded.
"Do you think I should, you know, stay that third night?" Lucy asked.
Violet considered. "I think you should follow your own heart. But honestly? If your long weekend is even halfway bearable, you should jump on that man and not let go. He makes you happy, Luce."
"But what about my job? I made a commitment to you to stay for a full year."
Violet stood still, looking thoughtful. "Be right back," she said.
Alone in the room, Lucy looked through the small pile of dresses on Violet's bed: the navy blue, plus a sage-green one perfect for fall, and a black-and-white print that she thought would work for day rather than evening.
Violet returned carrying a stack of torn-open envelopes.
"What are those?" Lucy asked.
"Resumes," Violet replied. "People applying for your job."
"What?"
"Don't get mad, hon. I can explain. Remember that time I spent in hospital waiting for Kestrel to be born?"
"Yeah."
"That was when you first told me that Frederick wanted you to go away with him. I called some contacts and spread the word that there could possibly be an opening here."
"You tried to give away my job covering your maternity leave before your baby was even born?" Lucy asked, more shocked than angry.
"I had nothing to do that week but make phone calls and boss people around. It seemed like a natural move."
"Oh, Violet," sighed Lucy, "Just to get the full picture here, have you followed up with any of the applicants?"
"I didn't for a long time. And please don't be mad, Luce, but when you told me about your trial run with Frederick, I kind of arranged for a couple of phone interviews next week."
Lucy wondered whether to hug her or strangle her. It was highly presumptuous of Violet to start looking for a replacement for Lucy, but knowing that that detail was under control would let her be more objective about her coming weekend. Gratitude won out, and Lucy hugged Violet.
"Thank you," she said sincerely.