"Are you certain that you have everything, Tabby?"
She looked up from her bowl of oatmeal and gave her father a soft smile. "I think so. And this is going to be a short trip, so if I forgot something, it wasn't important in the first place." Her father nodded and went back to reading the newspaper as he finished his breakfast, and Tabitha smiled a little wider before she also finished eating. After putting her bowl and spoon in the dishwasher, she crouched down and opened her bag, going over everything in there. She'd packed for a week, just in case Alex was open to talking to her. She'd even included a book she'd been meaning to read, in case there was downtime.
Then she did a onceover of her purse, checking to see that she had chargers for her phone and tablet. She'd also placed her mother's last diary inside, along with a blank book of her own. Though it wouldn't be matching, like her mother's, Tabitha was eager to start keeping a diary, since it might give her children insight into her past, like her mother's had. Taking a deep breath, Tabitha looked up to see her father smiling indulgently at her. "Are you all set?"
"I think so. Are you ready to head out? I know that you're going to be late getting to the office because you're dropping me off."
He gave her an indulgent smile as he nodded. "I'm ready whenever you are, princess. What are your plans for when you reach Boston?"
"The aquarium, the hop on hop off bus, and maybe a museum or two. But first, I'll have to find my hotel and drop my bag off, so that I'm not lugging it all over town."
He nodded as he picked up her bag, following her out into the garage. "That's a sound idea. And you have the pepper spray, right?"
"Yes, Daddy. Though when I'm back from my trip, I want to start heading to the shooting range and learning how to shoot. If I'm going to follow in Mum's footsteps, I need to know how to fire a gun and hit my target."
"That's my girl," he replied as he placed her bag in the back seat. "And do you need any money?"
She shook her head as she slipped into the passenger seat. "I'll be using a little of my graduation money to fund this adventure."
"Still, do you have any cash on you?" She shook her head. "I'm going to give you a little, then. There might be a time when you can't use your card, okay?"
Tabitha nodded, quick tears stinging her eyes. "Okay, Daddy." He reached over and patted her shoulder before backing out of the garage and heading towards the train station. Tabitha pulled out her phone to double check that she had her train ticket in her wallet and that her reservation for the hotel was confirmed. Feeling a little more settled, she leaned back in the seat and watched the houses pass by. "I'm also going to see if Alex will talk to me, tell my stories about Mum. I hope that she will."
"I hope so, too, princess. But whatever answer you get, just know that I love you, and I'm proud of you for going after the answers you want."
She let out a watery laugh as she shook her head. "I wasn't going to cry this morning, Daddy."
He shrugged a little as he turned into the parking lot of the train station, parking close to the entrance. "I'm sorry, Tabitha. But you just had to know. Life is so short, after all." She nodded as she leaned over in the seat and hugged him tightly, trying to get her bearings back. Her smile wobbled a little as he kissed her cheek before pushing her away and pulling out his wallet, shoving a few bills into her hand as he smiled at her. "That should help, if you're in a position where you need cash. Stay safe, princess. I love you."
"I love you, too, Daddy," she whispered as she stuffed the cash into her purse before getting out of the car and then grabbing her bag. Squaring her shoulders, she took a deep breath and started for the entrance, turning at the doors to give her father a small wave before heading inside. After figuring out which platform she needed to leave from, Tabitha headed to Dunkin's to grab an iced coffee while she waited for the departure.
Finally, it was time to board, and she was able to find her seat in first class quite quickly, getting settled in before opening her purse and pulling out her diary and pen. She arranged her things on the tray table in front of her and opened the diary to the first blank page and took a deep breath before starting to commit her feelings to paper. It was awkward, at first, because she wasn't accustomed to the practice, but as the train pulled out of the station, Tabitha found herself getting in the groove, and unloaded all her fears about this trip onto paper.
"Ticket, please?"
She looked up at the conductor and gave her a small nod as she dropped the pen onto the tray before grabbing her phone and calling up the ticket, letting the conductor scan it before she moved on to the next person, and then Tabitha went back to writing, finishing her thoughts before closing the diary and setting it to one side before opening Instagram and taking a quick selfie and posting it. When that was uploaded, she then scrolled through her feed, liking a few pictures as she went.
The train moved quickly, but it would still be nearly ten hours before she reached Boston, and she sighed a little as she pulled out her chargers, plugging in her tablet before connecting to the Wi-Fi and opening YouTube. After shoving her headphones over her ears, she called up her watch later list and started the first video. Her attention was split between the view outside and what she was watching, but it was nice to listen to something as she watched the scenery and took a few pictures with her camera.
A few hours passed like that before her stomach growling became too much to ignore. Packing up her things, Tabitha made her way to the café car, setting her bag down at an empty table that she could keep an eye on it while she grabbed a quick lunch. Taking a seat at her table, Tabitha opened her chips and slowly at them as she took out her mother's diary and began to read the last entries once more. The sadness wasn't quite as strong this time, and she was able to slowly read what her mother had written, savouring the words on the page.
Once she'd eaten, Tabitha returned to her seat in first class and made herself comfortable, pulling out the pashmina shawl and draping it over her body before turning towards the window and staring at the scenery once more. The blurriness of it soon lulled her into a light sleep, and the next thing that she was aware of, the conductor was waking her up. "We're going to arrive in Boston in about fifteen minutes, hun."
"Thank you," she murmured as she sat up and stretched. It didn't take long for her to gather up her things and then she was stretching to work out the kinks in her back. Picking up her phone, she scrolled through the notifications, grinning to see the messages that Karen and Bruce had written to her. She texted them back in one message, sending through a few of the pictures she'd taken before dropping the phone into her purse and taking a few deep breaths. This was the furthest away from home she'd ever been on her own, and her nerves were starting to get the better of her. Still, she knew that she was smart enough to handle the unfamiliar city and not be an easy target. She had picked up some lessons from her mother, after all.
After getting off the train, Tabitha found a secluded corner of the station and sat on the open bench, taking her phone out of her purse and plugging in the address of her hotel. It was a thirty minute walk, and after all the sitting she had just done, it would be nice to walk, as it was still light out. Taking a deep breath, she shouldered her purse and grabbed the handle of her bag and set off using the directions her phone gave her. And still, the thirty minutes turned into an hour, as she stopped to take pictures and people watch along the way.
Finally, she arrived at the Revolution Hotel, and checked in, handing over her ID and debit card. After receiving her room key, Tabitha headed up to her room and collapsed on the bed, feeling the exhaustion of travel suddenly descend upon her as she pulled out her phone and dialed her father. "Hi, Daddy."
"Tabby! Are you in your room?"
"Yeah, and it's beautiful. I'll post some pictures on Instagram later, so you can see it, but I'm glad to be here, safe and sound. I wanted to do a little exploring tonight, but I think I'm just going to head to a nearby restaurant, have supper, and then come back and relax."
"That sounds like a good plan, Princess. Will tomorrow be a fun day, or are you just going to rip the band aid off and see Alex?"
"Fun day. I need to settle myself before I'm in a good headspace to meet with her. I don't want to waste my shot by saying something stupid, after all."
"All right, I'll expect pictures from tomorrow, then. And please, if you can fit it into your schedule, take a whale watching tour. Your mother loved those, so I know that she'd be happy if you experienced that, too."
"I will, I promise. And I'll send so many pictures to our group chat that it might get annoying. Love you!"
"Love you, too, Princess."
They ended the call, and Tabitha sighed as she got to her feet once more, making certain that her room key was in her pocketbook before heading out once more, intent to find somewhere that would satisfy her hunger and maybe give her a view while she ate and tried to make her plans for when she saw Alex in a few days. Now that she was so close, her nerves were starting to act up, and like she told her father, she didn't want to be turned away by foolish words. Still, she had hope that things would go well, and that she might find out the stories that she wanted to hear from the woman, and gain new insight into her mother's life.