Chapter 1413

• NINE P.M. VICTORIA COACH STATION
• n the dank chill of a London winter’s night, Victoria coach station gleamed like a tacky Vegas oasis of neon and despera- tion. While she froze her ass off, Julia had plenty of time to wonder why they hadn’t renamed it. Coaches made her feel all Colin Firth and tight breeches and Gretna Green. One of the reasons she’d come to London was to experience the sense of history, but the dreary transportation hub wasn’t exactly what she’d pictured. The sense of anticipation, of sad partings and joyous meetings, however, she guessed remained the same.
• She hadn’t expected the bone-deep cold that made her Cali- fornia-acclimatized body constantly tremble. And why the hell was she standing out here at nine in the evening, when she could be tucked up in bed with a cup of cocoa, warming her feet on a hot water bottle? She’d taken to those small British comforts immediately.