Page 49 of Oh, Christmas Con

The restaurant was small inside but fit plenty of people. Maye and Tracy grabbed a two-seater table along the wall. An old-timer at the breakfast bar nearby offered a friendly nod as Maye scoped out the restaurant.

“You gotta try the donuts,” the man said.

“Did you say donuts?” Tracy perked up.

“They’re made fresh everyday. Always start with a donut,” he said.

“Great advice,” Maye added.

The man turned toward the kitchen behind the bar and shouted, “Coupla donuts for my friends here.”

“Coming right up,” someone shouted back from the kitchen.

“So what’re up to?” he asked as he turned back around. “Hiking the trial or—”

“No, we are definitely not hikers,” Maye’s disgust came across loud and clear as the man raised his hands innocently.

“Whoa, okay,” the man leaned back in his chair.

“Sorry,” Tracy interjected. “She’s just been through a sort of traumatic situation with an ex-boyfriend turned hiker, so she’s a little sensitive about hikers at the moment.”

“Well, I’m sorry to hear that. I won’t bring it up again,” the man gestured as if to zip his lips shut.

“He dumped her to walk the Appalachian Trail,” Tracy continued.

“Tracy!” Maye scolded. “I’m sure this nice man doesn’t want to hear all about my sob story.” Maye shot Tracy a look to warn her against any more details.

“But Maye,” Tracy argued as she shot back an even more forceful look of warning, “this nice man recommended the donuts. The least we can do is offer some friendly conversation.”

For the next forty-five minutes, Maye and Tracy told Luther at the bar all about Maye’s breakup, Tracy’s Christmas Cousins scheme, and why they were road tripping to Halifax.

“Well,” Luther said, “I don’t think they have homemade apple pie on the Appalachian Trail he’s on, so I think you made the better choice.”

Tracy perked up yet again. “Two slices of apple pie please!” she shouted toward the kitchen.

“Coming right up!” a voice called back.

“So,” Tracy continued chatting with Luther, “do you know of any high cliffs where we could ceremoniously throw some clothes off?”

“A cliff?” Luther thought. “I don’t know about that, but if you’re looking to get rid of some clothes we have some donation centers in town. Why not drop them there?”

Maye liked this idea and started to look for the donation spots on her phone.

“Now you have me thinkin’,” Luther continued. “If you’re driving east anyhow, then Irving Nature Park in St. John’s, New Brunswick is a sight to see. Trails, observation decks, beautiful coastline…”

“Oh, wow,” Tracy said while looking at her phone. “Look at this place, Maye.” She flashed her phone screen in Maye’s direction.

“Wow yes, very cool. Maybe we’ll make a quick stop,” Maye said, with no real intentions to stop there. After this, she planned to make as much progress as she could. She figured this stop earned her enough road trip cred to be able to put her foot down on more unexpected stops.

Maye and Tracy paid their bill, said goodbye to their new friend, Luther, shouted a thank you back toward the kitchen, and got back in the car. Then, they dotted around town, spreading Randall’s clothes like ashes at thrift stores and shelters. With each donation stop, Maye’s heart filled more than she thought it could. Each volunteer was grateful to have extra clothes to offer patrons, and each made sure to tell Maye how helpful the extra layers would be in a few months.

As Maye sorted the last of the clothes into the collection bins at their final stop, she breathed a trembling sigh, and wiped a few tears from her eyes as Tracy hugged her from the side. “You know, at first I was just looking forward to spitefully getting rid of Randall’s stuff, but I actually feel amazing right now. Like a sense of calm has settled over me and I feel completely refreshed. I mean, part of me is glad to be able to stick it to Randall a little bit, but most of me just feels good about helping whoever will benefit from this. A little petty? Sure. But these are the types of things that can happen when you walk out on someone and it awakens their soul.” And then, Maye surprised both Tracy and herself. “You know what? Let’s go to that nature park Luther told us about.”

“Really??” Tracy was giddy. “Maye Daniels Road Trip Edition activated!”

They got back to the car and added the Irving Nature Park to the GPS. It only added an hour or two to the trip, and Maye was ready to soak in the new experience.

The next hour and a half were the closest thing to hallucinating Maye had ever experienced. Every song on the playlist slapped, she ate every piece of candy and potato chip that Tracy handed her, and even drank the energy drink that Tracy got for her that morning. Maye had achieved road trip nirvana.