Then, in three years, my plan will be complete. It may have taken longer than expected, especially with Luke signing another contract, but I'll get there. It'll happen. I've waited this long for Luke, I can wait a little longer.

MUCH TO MY SURPRISE, Felicity welcomed the cross-country road trip. There is so much that she's never seen or done. I forget that with money comes privilege. After our trip is over I can guarantee she will feel well traveled. I know I will. I even booked us a room at a resort in Reno so we can relax. By the time we get there, I'm going to need it.

Our first stop, New York City. Elliot mailed me a key last week so we are staying at his place for a few days since he won't be there. He knew I was bringing Felicity with me so his place is spotless when we walk in. I've never seen it this clean before. I wasn't even sure he knew what clean meant until I walked in and he proved me wrong.

"Elliot's a bit messy. I'm not sure what we're going to find on the other side of the door."

"It can't be that bad." I smiled at her and shook my head.

There's an envelope on the counter for me. I asked him to pick up a few brochures. I want to take Felicity to all the places she wants to see. I know the Museum of Modern Art is at the top of her list, but I'm not sure what else she wants to do while we're here. I've seen it all, but I wouldn't mind seeing it all again.

We get settled for the night and I snag the envelope off the counter. I empty the contents onto the couch between us. A note falls out along with a few brochures.

Reagan,

I hired a maid. I didn't want Felicity to think I'm a slob. I wish I could have given her the tour myself. It would have been fun to finally meet her. Tell her I say hi and to have fun. If there's anywhere you take her, make sure you visit the Museum of Modern Art. I think she'll like it a lot.

I'll call you in a few days. Have a great road trip. Hopefully, I'll see you both back home soon.

Elliot

He would hire a maid. I have a laugh before I pass his note over to Felicity. "I told you he was messy." She doesn't say anything. She smiles at me and folds the note, putting it back in the envelope before grabbing a few brochures.

"So, where do you want to go first? I was thinking we could start with either the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building. We want to go to Times Square after dark so you can get the full experience. What do you think?"

"How long do we have?"

"As long as you want, really. I don't have to report to work for two weeks." Our reservation at the spa is in ten days, but I can cut out a few stops I had planned along the way. Who really needs to see the World's Largest Ball of Stamps?

"Me either. Will we have time to go to all these places?" I look down at the brochures she has spread out on the cushion. Empire State Building. Statue of Liberty. Central Park. Museum of Modern Art. Rockefeller Center. Times Square.

"It'll take a few days, but we have plenty of time."

We spend the next few hours mapping out our time in NYC before turning in early. It's going to be a long few days, but it'll also be a ton of fun. We are starting with the Museum of Modern Art and the last thing we are doing is going to Central Park. I let Felicity decide where we go and when. This trip is for her after all.

New York City was a blast. Felicity didn't want to leave. If I hadn't forced her in the car, we may never have left. The promise of more fun ahead kept her from pouting all the way to Chicago.

We spend two days seeing the sights in Chicago. I hadn't been there since I was a kid so it was fun for me too. We visited Shedds Aquarium, Navy Pier and Millennium Park. I took Felicity to the Magnificent Mile for dinner and shopping. I found a few new things that I couldn't live without myself.

We stopped at the World's Largest Ball of Stamps even though I tried to skip it. Felicity insisted that she had to see it. I have to say, it was pretty cool.

Driving through the plains was the hardest part of our trip. There's not much to look at. Fields and highway stretching as far as the eye can see. I was glad when I saw the sign for Denver, even if it was still over a hundred miles away. I was excited to see the Denver Botanical Gardens. I was also ready to rest up for a day or so.

Two days in Denver and we needed to get back on the road. The botanical gardens were amazing. We also went to the zoo. I found out that Felicity is a lover of all animals. She made sure we didn't miss a single animal and the zoo is huge.

Reno is our next stop, but it seems like fate has a way of intervening. Not only did we see a sign for a ghost town and decided to stop but as soon as we were back on the road, we saw a sign for a winery. At that point we knew we were going to call it a day. More than one glass of wine after all the traveling we're doing and I'm going to crash.

It took four glasses of wine and a bottle to go. We ended up staying up late in our hotel room, laughing and drinking wine. Our trip has been amazing so far. We're almost home now and I'm sad that it's going to come to an end. Maybe we should make this an annual trip, something we take the time to do together every summer. That would be fun. Maybe not quite as long a trip from now one but still a substantial length. 3,000 miles is a bit far.

Felicity asks if we can skip Reno and keep driving. We're only four hours from home and she says it makes no sense to stop again. It's a little after five and I see her point, but I really wanted to pamper her one last time before we have to start being adults. It was a surprise, the spa. I have to tell her if I'm going to convince her to stop.

"There's a spa in Reno that I made reservations for us at. I can cancel them if you really want to keep going, but I was hoping that we could pamper ourselves one last time before we have to grow up and be adults." I give her my "pretty-please" look as she likes to call it. I only pull it out when I really want something. Right now, I really want a mud bath and a massage.

"That actually sounds amazing, Reagan. Thank you for everything. This has been the most amazing trip I've ever been on and it wouldn't have been as much fun with anyone else."

Her words bring tears to my eyes. I'm so lucky to have found Felicity. I wouldn't have made it through college without her pushing me, keeping me grounded and believing in me.

July 3, 2009

Luke,

I'm not sure why I'm writing you. I'm not even sure if the address I have is right. I guess I'm just checking in. I want you to know that I'm not living in New Haven anymore.

I graduated from Yale a few months ago and now I'm back in Pacific Grove. I'm right on the water. I never thought that I would want to be so close to it, but it's amazing. We spend most of our nights sitting on the back porch drinking wine and talking.

Felicity is here with me. Did I ever tell you about her? She was my roommate at Yale. She's amazing.

There's so much that I want to tell you but not in a letter. I want to talk to you, discuss the last four years of my life with you. I really wish you would come visit.

Elliot told me that you signed up for another four years. I hope you didn't do that to avoid seeing me. I get the feeling that you did. I wish I knew why. Where I went wrong. I wish I could fix this, fix us. Things were supposed to be different, remember? We were going to be great together. Like I said, I wish we could talk about this, in person.