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I haven’t even told my mother and father I’m coming home.
They’ll be happy I’m home, though. I’ll most likely be able to go back to school. At this point, I’ve only missed a couple of weeks.
But then I’ll be in Grand Junction, and Dave will be on his ranch outside Snow Creek.
On the other hand, whatever’s going on with his family may not give him a lot of time to spend with me.
Something I hadn’t considered before, but I consider it now.
He’s not sitting with me. He’s sitting with Brock.
I jerk as a voice comes over the intercom. “We are now boarding flight nine forty-seven nonstop from Paris to Denver. Boarding group one, you may board.”
We all rise and gather our carry-ons. I force my feet to work as I grip my passport and my phone. I scan my boarding pass and follow Brock and Dave onto the aircraft. Brianna follows behind us.
We get onto the plane, and I check my seat assignment, expecting it to be next to Brianna.
It’s not.
It’s with Dave, and Brianna and Brock are together with lie-back seats.
“Oh,” I say, when I see my seat.
He smiles at me. “I thought it might be nice if we enjoyed the flight together. Is that okay?”
I take a deep breath in. “As long as you don’t mind me gripping on to you for dear life.”
“If it comes to that, I don’t mind if you’re on my lap.” He smiles.
Some of his joviality has returned. But he’s not back to the Dave who met us in Europe before the fiasco on the chartered plane.
“How’d you get through this?” I ask. “You seemed so calm when it was all happening, but then afterward, you were as shaken up as anyone. But now…”
He closes his eyes and breathes in. “I’m trying to focus on gratitude, Maddie. On the second chance we were given. And honestly, going to the Louvre helped me a lot.”
“Yeah, you mentioned that at dinner. But you didn’t say much more.”
He frowns. “I’m not sure it’s anything I can put into words really. Just seeing the works of the great masters, learning about them, thinking about how much more there is to life than any singular incident. Plus, like I said, we’re pre-disastered now.”
I laugh. Sort of. It sounds more like a joke.
“I’ll feel better once the plane is in the air,” he says.
“You sure about that?”
“Not really.” He lets out a short laugh. “But I’ll get a cocktail.”
I smile at him, reach over, and squeeze his hand. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For being here with me. For the necklace. For the last couple of days together. I just want you to know that whatever happens, I appreciate everything. This meant something to me.”
“It meant something to me too, Maddie,” he says. “And it means something to me. Present tense. This isn’t over. Not by a longshot.”
“I didn’t mean to imply that it was.”
He cups my cheek. “Then stop talking in past tense. I’ll probably be busy when we get home, dealing with family stuff. But I will make time for you. We’ll see how this goes.”
