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“Did Dave try to get you to stay with him?” I ask.
“No,” Maddie says.
I sit on the edge of my bed. “Are you okay?”
She nods. “I will be. Just a little shaken. It’s not like I have a choice in the matter. I’m not in your position, Bree. I don’t have a man I can just ask to comfort me.”
“Sure you do. If you like Dave, I’m sure he?—”
“I do like him, Brianna. I’ve crushed on him forever, and he’s been wonderful. But he’s a Steel.” She gazes toward the mirror in the room’s vanity, frowning. “And I’m just me.”
I pick up a pillow. “Do I have to beat you over the head again, Maddie? Why are you back on this train?”
She doesn’t reply.
“You listen to me,” I say. “And listen good. Our plane came pretty darned close to crashing into the English Channel tonight. I don’t care what the pilot says about it being normal. I saw the look on the flight attendant’s face. She was scared too. Think of how lucky we are.”
She nods. “I know. It’s all I’ve been thinking about.”
“Yeah? Then why are you playing the A Steel could never fall in love with me card?”
She purses her lips and scratches the side of her head for a moment. “You know what? You’re right. Dave and I will hang out for the rest of the tour, and if something happens, great. And if not? I’m lucky to be alive.”
“There you go. That’s how you should be thinking.” I place the pillow back on my bed. “We’re in Paris, Mads. I don’t speak a word of French, but we’re in Paris!”
“I speak some French.”
“Perfect. You can be our makeshift tour guide tomorrow.”
“Won’t we be on a guided tour?”
I shrug. “I have no idea. Brock said to sleep in a little after the debacle on the plane. We’ll meet for a late breakfast slash early lunch at ten thirty.”
“Sounds good.” Maddie yawns. “You want to use the bathroom first?”
“Go ahead,” I tell her.
“Okay, thanks.”
Maddie opens her suitcase, grabs her toiletries and pajamas, and heads into the bathroom. A moment later I hear the shower turn on.
Not a bad idea.
I want to wash this day away too. I’m still freaked out, and I wish I were in Jesse’s arms, but I’ll live.
I lie down on my bed and close my eyes.
I’m suspended in air, weightless, like a feather caught in an updraft. The cabin of the plane is dark, and all I hear is the deafening roar of the engines, like mechanical beasts that thrust us through the sky.
But now they’re faltering, choking on some unseen obstruction, and I can feel it—the pull of gravity tugging at my bones.
Next to me, Jesse grips his armrest, grips my hand. Is he praying? Is he bargaining to some deity for his salvation?
Then Jesse’s gone—disappeared into a void.
The plane lurches to one side, and a collective gasp fills the air. We’re on a roller coaster, the tracks creaking beneath us, threatening to collapse. I close my eyes, trying to block out the terror around me, but it’s no use. It’s already seeped into my soul, flooded every inch of my being.
“Jesse!” I cry out.
