Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 88220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Beau took his backpack from James and mounted it on his back. At least, that’s how I described the fluid way he carried the heavy bundle. I leaned in, he did too. I’d expected a kiss, but he bypassed my lips for my ear and said, “Take care of our family, and make sure Duke and Daisy get their runs in. Otherwise, they’ll get restless and make everyone crazy. Good luck with your case.” He brushed his lips against my ear, sending a sudden happy shiver down my spine.
“Call us when you can,” I said. He nodded and stepped away, waving a hand in the air as he walked backward, again trailing behind the group.
“Remember the phone rings both ways.” It was a phrase he always said when headed out for a climb.
“Be careful what you wish for. Our phone plan says we can talk internationally.”
Beau grinned brighter at me before ducking inside the airport. Through the windows, I tracked him to the check-in counter. I wanted to wait for a few minutes, be available if he needed anything or left something in the SUV, but the security guard’s whistle knocked me out of my Beau-induced trance. Beau glanced at me one last time and waved.
My mountain man. He’d come home with a longer beard, shaggy head of hair, and weathered skin crinkling the corners of his eyes. I couldn’t wait.
I climbed in the Tahoe and put it in drive, and sighed as I pulled away. It looked like vegetables were in my future. I’d do it for him until I’d had enough, and we’d have this conversation again.
Beau
I put my head in my hands, my thumbs circling my temples, trying to relieve the low-level headache I couldn’t shake. My inner being held on to a heavy sense of unease that had nothing to do with the flight I’d boarded. The idea of leaving while in a disagreement with Dash made me edgy. With each mile this airplane flew away from my family, the worry escalated. Whatever had driven me to continue with my vacation needed to take the wheel. Otherwise, I was turning around when we hit the ground.
Think about the positives. I understood that I regularly turned to a negative place to protect what I held dear.
A cool thing? I’d upgraded my airfare for a bigger seat. It wasn’t that big, my body still had to scrunch to fit properly, but it was better than economy. The treatment from the in-flight staff was excellent. The interior of the plane was dark, the lights dimmed. I should be sleeping. With my head against the headrest, I stared out the window at the night sky. No amount of redirection worked. Mere seconds later, I rose from my aisle seat, waking the person in the seat beside me. The antsiness that I couldn’t shake required movement, so I began to walk the aisle of the plane again.
“You doing okay?” a flight attendant asked as I passed by the galley.
“Yeah. Can’t sleep,” I muttered.
“I can help with that.” Her smile brightened, and she pointed in a direction behind me. She guided us to a hidden set of stairs at the front of the plane. My shoulders touched each side of the small stairwell, opening to what I assumed was first class with many empty seats.
“We’ve watched you try to get comfortable. The flight crew agreed to seat you up here until it’s time to deboard, but it’s our secret. Take a seat wherever you like. We have free internet up here.” She whispered all of this quietly then winked. I nodded in appreciation, but didn’t understand the wink. “The code’s on the remote control. Do I need to bring you anything?”
I shook my head, and quietly mouthed thank you. For this flight, she’d just become my favorite person ever.
“Blankets are in the cupboard. There’s a water bottle for you. We have about nine hours left until Istanbul. Rest up.”
She left me, trotting down the stairs. I clocked the location of the restroom and chose a seat about halfway down the aisle. I stretched out in the reclining chair with the water bottle on the small table inside the mini cubicle. This was what I thought I’d paid for. I dry swallowed a Xanax from my pocket, one of a few tablets my doctor gave me for the flight. Maybe it’d kick in this time.
I turned down the brightness of the phone screen to not disrupt those around me and entered the internet code in my cell phone, feeling the anxiety slipping away. Probably because I was texting Dash in the middle of the night with zero regrets of waking him.
“What are you doing?” I typed.
Instantly, the dots on the bottom of the screen bounced away. Of course, he was awake. It baffled me how he managed to function without sleep.