“I’d say.” He smiled but returned his attention to the controls while we were landing. When we were safely on the ground, he stuck his hand out to me. “It was an honor flying with you, sir. I have to say, you’re nowhere near as intimidating as I thought you were going to be.”
“Why would you think I was going to be intimidating?” I unbuckled my seatbelt. “I have the next few days off and I’m planning on seeing my mother. What’s intimidating about that?”
“I didn’t know that.” He undid the latch on his own belt and darted his gaze out the window. “Your reputation precedes you, Jaxon. I know there are a lot of you former Air Force guys flying for us now, but it never makes it any easier to actually meet any of you.”
“You did a great job.” I clapped him on the shoulder after I got up, grabbing my suitcase as I opened the door. “I’ll see you around, Joe. Stop being so afraid of people just because of what they did in a previous life.”
I tipped my hat, which I was contractually obliged to wear outside of the cockpit. Then I left the kid to his own devices and made my way into the terminal.
As soon as I stepped out, I was surprised to see a familiar face waving at me. “Jaxon! Oh, my baby boy. I’ve missed you.”
My mother flung her arms around me like it’d been weeks since she’d last seen me, but I dropped my case and hugged her back. “What are you doing here, Mom? I thought we were having dinner at your place.”
“We were, but this way, I didn’t have to wait until then to see you.” She let go of me and stepped back. “It feels like you’re always away these days.”
“We have our weekly dinner most weeks,” I said, picking up my suitcase again before wrapping my arm around her shoulders. “We had our dinner last week. What gives?”
She shrugged, glancing up at me with laughter dancing in her eyes. “Maybe I got tired of cooking and wanted my son to buy me dinner for a change.”
I laughed and hugged her closer to my side. “I knew there had to be a reason you came to the airport when you knew I was going to come see you anyway.”
Batting her eyelashes at me, she pointed at a steakhouse I knew she loved near the end of the terminal. “AJ’s never hurt anybody and that place is as good of a reason to drive out here as anything.”
“Really? As good of a reason to drive out here as your own son?” I gave her a little shake and she laughed again.
“With the amount of hours I’ve spent waiting for you to come home in this wretched place, those people have become my family just as much as you are.”
“You’ll have your steak medium-rare with a baked potato and veggies then, huh?” I couldn’t even argue with her about the hours she’d spent waiting there for me. The staff there knew her order as well as I did by now.
Even though it’d been a few years since my last deployment, they’d never forgotten her. She smiled up at me and wedged herself out of my grip. “Actually, I’m on a diet now. I’ll have the grilled chicken breast and a salad.”
I eyed her scrawny figure. “No one even knows how you ever gave birth to someone the size of me. You don’t need a diet. You need a steak or four.”
“Mrs. Scott, it’s so good to see you,” the hostess said when we walked up to her stand, cutting off whatever retort Mom had been about to come up with. She turned her attention on me, and her cheeks grew red. “Hey, Jaxon. We haven’t seen you for a while.”
I shrugged. “I’ve been in and out. You got a table for us?”
“For you? Always.” She took my mother’s arm and led her to a table near the bar but kept sneaking glances at me over her shoulder.
I wasn’t being immodest when I said Tiffany was always like that. Rumor had it that she and a few of her pals had a thing for ex-military guys.
Well, it wasn’t really a rumor. I’d heard it from some guys I knew personally.
Mom loved AJ’s, though, and she loved Tiffany right along with it. She even gave her a kiss on the cheek before she sat down. Tiffany smiled at her. “I’ll be right back with your menus and Dustin will be your server tonight.”
“Thank you,” Mom said. “You don’t need to bring us menus. Tell Dustin we’ll have our usual.”
She winked at my mother, then at me. “You got it.”
As soon as we were alone, Mom turned her brown eyes to mine. “So, what enchanting tales do you bring me of the great big world this time?”
“I was gone for two days,” I said.
She arched a brow at me. “That doesn’t change the fact that I haven’t seen you in a week. I don’t even know where you’ve been, which is why I’m asking. Tell an old girl some stories about the world outside of Texas.”
“I’ve told you a thousand times I could get you a seat on a plane anywhere you wanted to go.”
She rolled her eyes. “Did I say I wanted to go anywhere? I just want to hear the stories about where you’ve been. Lord knows, you’ve traveled enough for the both of us.”
“I went to Fiji on this last leg,” I said. “Australia before that. Quit making it sound like I’ve seen the world. You know I mostly see the insides of airports and hotels.”
“Only because you’re not making the most of this opportunity.” She made her eyes big as she stared at me. “You’re thirty-eight, Jaxon. Live a little.”
“I’ve lived plenty, thank you very much.”
Sighing as she shook her head, she spread a cloth napkin over her lap, flattening it before bringing her eyes back to mine. “I’ve always tried to teach you to chase the moments, but you’ve forever been too busy trying to catch the next flight instead.”
“If you knew about half the things I’ve done, you definitely wouldn’t be saying that.” I flashed her a teasing smile. “Have I told you about that bar in Singapore—”
She lifted her hands. “I never said I wanted to know about it. I just want you to have some fun while you still can. You’re no spring chicken. One of these days, you’re going to look like me.”
Mom’s face barely had any sign of wrinkles. Her eyes were bright, and even though she’d never dyed her hair, it was still a rich auburn color. “I don’t see anything wrong with that.”
“You will.” She thanked Dustin when he brought our coffees. Then she turned serious again. “When are you going to start exploring these wonderful places you fly to?”
“Actually, I’ve been thinking of doing just that.” It’d only been for the last fourteen hours that I’d been thinking about it, but it was true. “I got to talking with a man in the airport lounge before takeoff. He’d spent the last two months in Fiji. Seemed to think it was the best place on earth.”
“Fiji, huh?” She dipped her head from one side to the other. “That could be nice.”
“Yeah. The guy kept talking about how beautiful it is, and I think it’d be nice to see it. I’ve done the route now so I might stay for a little bit sometime.”
“You should go,” she said. “Didn’t you say you have some days off?”
“Yeah, but to make it worth my while, I’d have to see about getting some extra days off.” Not that I didn’t have vacation days saved up. I had the damn things coming out my ass. “I’ll check with the airline to see when I can take them.”
“As long as you don’t fall in love with somebody over there, I’m all for it. I need you here with me, and I’m not going to Fiji.”
“Well, that escalated fast.” I grinned at her. “I wouldn’t be going to fall in love with a local girl and spend my life sipping out of coconuts while teaching at a flight school. It’s called a vacation. You know how that works, right?”
“Right, but I also know how life works.” She gestured to my phone, lying on the table. “Call the airline. Ask them about some time off. It’ll be good for you to take a breather.”
“I didn’t actually mean I was going to call right this minute.”
She frowned at me. “Why not? You’ve only got a few days off. Optimize them. Adding to them is better than wasting them.”
“Jesus.” I shoved my hand through my hair. “I haven’t even showered since I got off my last flight and you’re already pushing me onto the next one?”
“As if that’s something new to you.” Mom waved a hand at my phone again. “Go on. Even if they approve your leave, you don’t have to get back on the plane while you’re still in your uniform. I’m sure they’ll have a flight once you’ve showered and changed. Just don’t let life wait on you any longer, Jaxon.”
Relenting with a sigh, I picked up my phone and looked up the number for our HR department. The receptionist was nice, but she couldn’t help me. “I’m afraid the woman who runs that part of the department is out right now. I’ll pass on the message to call you.”
“Don’t worry about it.” I made eye contact with my mother. “I’ll call her back again another time. It’s nothing urgent.”
Mom huffed out a short breath at me, but even she couldn’t bring someone back into the office who was already out for the day.
I shrugged when I hung up. “She’s out. I’ll call her back. I’ll see Fiji one of these days, Mom. It doesn’t need to be today.”
Chapter 3
LINDSAY
I sat on my couch with my feet tucked in underneath me, staring at two birds in a tree in my backyard. My long hair was tied in a messy bun on top of my head and my face was bare of any makeup. A cup of tea dangled between my fingers in my lap, but it was probably cold by now. I didn’t really know how long I’d been sitting there since I made it, but I’d only had about half of it.
My thoughts were racing, but at the same time, my mind was at peace. It was difficult to explain how I felt. I guessed I didn’t really know how to feel. Who would know how to feel less than a day after being left at the altar?
No one expected that kind of thing to happen to them. I was no exception.
A key turned in my lock at the front door, but I didn’t get excited. It wasn’t Will coming back to beg me to give him another chance—not that I wanted him to.
Ember was the only person with a key to my place and she used it liberally, never bothering to call ahead anymore.
“I’ve got breakfast,” she said. “Tell me you haven’t eaten yet.”
“Not since yesterday,” I replied, not moving from my position. The scent of freshly baked goods preceded my friend into the room, making my stomach grumble. “You’re an angel. Please tell me those are from Newmarket Bakery.”
She grinned, throwing herself down beside me before stretching her legs out in front of her and propping her feet on the coffee table. “You know it. Best sticky buns in town. I got us Super Fudge Brownies as well, since it’s a special occasion.”
“Why is it a special occasion?”
“It’s not every day you get stood up on your own wedding day.” She reached out to pat my leg. “How are you holding up?”
“I don’t really know.” I shook my head before leaning it back against the couch to look up at the beams in my ceiling. “I just didn’t see it coming. I feel like there had to have been some kind of sign that I missed. I should have at least suspected something.”
“Will isn’t exactly very in touch with his emotions. He’s on one solid level all the fucking time. How do you think you could have suspected it when the inflection of his voice never even changes?”
“He’s not that bad.” I rolled my eyes at her. “You can stop ragging on him now. He’s out of the picture, remember?”
“How can you say he’s not that bad when he ran out on you just yesterday? You should be ranting and raving about what a total and utter dick he is.”
I lifted a shoulder and released a breath through my nose. “I honestly don’t feel like ranting and raving about him. I understand why he did what he did. I might even be a little bit relieved. It just came as a surprise, is all. I thought I was the one settling, not the other way around.”
“Trust me. You were the one settling.” She flicked a hand at a photo of Will and me on the mantel. “You’re eleven years younger than him, you’re gorgeous, and you don’t even have one bald spot. He is almost exclusively bald spots.”
I smacked her in the arm. “He’s very sensitive about his hair situation. Don’t be mean. He really isn’t a bad guy. He’s going to make some woman very happy one day.”
“As long as it isn’t you.” Opening the stamped brown paper bag in her lap, she dug into it and extracted a treat, handing it over to me. “He might be a nice guy, but that doesn’t mean he’s the right guy for you.”
“Pray tell then, who would the right guy for me be?” I tore a bite off the mouthwatering pastry and waited patiently while she moved her lips from side to side in thought.
“Someone fun. Possibly a little spontaneous. Hot obviously. He’d have to be smart, too, and funny.” She snapped her fingers and smirked. “I’d also vote for a guy who doesn’t only do missionary.”
“Why are you so obsessed with my sex life?” I laughed. “I swear you’re more invested than I am.”
“That’s only because you don’t know what you’re missing.” Her smirk melted away. “You deserve the best of everything, my friend. You just don’t seem to realize it. That’s all I want for you. The best.”
“Well, that seems like a bit of a tall order at the moment.” She didn’t miss the edge of emotion in my voice.
Reaching out to pull me into a hug, she held me tight before releasing me just as abruptly. Her hands landed on my shoulders and she looked into my eyes, her hazel ones fierce with determination.
“Oh no, you don’t. I get that this came as a massive shock to you, but it doesn’t mean that you don’t deserve to be happy or that you won’t be. It’s not a tall order. It’s a completely realistic order. You just need to find the right guy. It’ll happen.”
“Says the woman who believes humanity is broken and that everyone she meets has an ulterior motive?” I gave her a sad smile. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe people are just shitty.”
“Obviously, they are.” She winked. “But there are good people out there. Like you. You’re good. If anyone can find another good person out there, it’s you.”
“I did find a good person. He just didn’t want me.” I stated it as fact because that was what it was.
Ember pursed her lips before letting out an exasperated huff. “You didn’t want him either. Not really anyway. It was a convenient relationship for both of you. That’s it. It should never have gone as far as it did.”
I didn’t immediately protest against her assessment. I couldn’t because I was pretty sure she was right. The day after being left at the altar, I should’ve been heartbroken but I wasn’t. I was more concerned about what this meant for my plans for the future than the actual breakup.
“It went as far as it did because both of us felt like the time was right. It was the next logical step to take. As it happens, I am now completely out of logical next steps.”
“That’s the best news I’ve heard all week.” She flashed me a slow grin when I frowned at her, clearly seeing my confusion. With a roll of her eyes, she sat back on the couch and gave me a pointed look. “It’s good news because it’s going to force you to stop trying to force your life into a daily planner. Or any kind of planner, for that matter.”
“How is that good news?” My heartbeat faltered at the mere thought of having to shoot from the hip or make decisions on the fly. I had to-do lists to make my to-do lists. It allowed me some measure of control in life—not much, but it was better than nothing.
My best friend knew me more than well enough to know where my thoughts had gone. She was much gentler when she looked at me again.
“It’s good news because sometimes we just need to let things happen. You and Will both tried to force this, and obviously, neither of you were completely ecstatic about the prospect of your impending nuptials. You approached the whole thing like a business deal and left all the details, like your fucking dress, to his mother.” She rolled her eyes. “I mean, it was
your wedding dress for God’s sake. Surely, you couldn’t have felt like it was an extra little thing that didn’t fit in any other category.”
“Will said it meant a lot to his mom to take care of it,” I said meekly. I had no other excuse. “At least I’ve learned from this experience what I don’t want in a dress.”
“There we go.” She smiled. “You found a silver lining.”
I let out a very unladylike snort and reached for a brownie. “It’s not much of a consolation. I still don’t know what I’m supposed to do from here. Knowing what I don’t want in a wedding dress when I don’t even know if I’ll ever get married isn’t exactly useful.”
“Do you still want to get married?” she asked. There was no judgment in her tone, only curiosity.
Ember never understood why I wanted to get married in the first place. As much as she talked about finding the right guy, it was only because she thought that was what I wanted.
I shrugged. “We’ll see. Trying to plan it that way didn’t work and I’m not sure if I can live with the alternative of just waiting and seeing if it ever does.”
“I’m not sure there’s any other way to do it,” she said sympathetically. “On the bright side, you’ve got a couple of weeks off work now, don’t you? You have plenty of time to wrap your head around all this.”
“That’s part of my problem.” I blew out a breath. “I already took time off for the wedding and the honeymoon and I’m just going to be sitting around the house. I don’t need time to wrap my head around stuff. I need to get on with my life. You know how much I hate empty days in my planner, and I’m staring at almost two weeks of empty days now.”
Her teeth sank into her lip before she perked up. “So go on your honeymoon.”
“What?” I scoffed and held up my hands. “No, that’s a terrible idea. It would be the most depressing thing in the world to go to a romantic resort booked for my honeymoon alone.”
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