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He forced a wide smile to see hers, he hoped, but she didn’t share the same gesture. Trent smiled and waved at Liam as he brought Brittney into his arms. Liam’s gut said there was something very wrong, but time closed in on getting Sam back and settled before the wedding, and if Liam had his way, the family would be back together the way Brittney remembered them for one last family event.
Liam met the woman from the airline outside the door, and her gaze held to the people inside of the terminal. She shared the umbrella as the rain picked up and moved a little closer to him than he’d have expected from a stranger. Her perfume scented the humid air with spring flowers.
The woman shook from her trance. “Hi, I’m Callie Laurel. It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Young.” Her warm hand outstretched to him in the small area. He adjusted his body to shake her hand, brushing shoulder against shoulder with her.
Her warm smile invited Liam to smile, too. The move wasn’t one that felt very natural anymore. He wasn’t in a smiley place most days, and forcing one almost made him feel even worse.
“Nice to meet you, Ms. Laurel.”
“Please, call me Callie.”
He would, he liked the name.
Callie motioned to her right, and Liam had to force himself to divert his eyes from her. “This is Paul. The lead attendant for our flight.”
“Nice to meet you, Paul.” He shook Paul’s outstretched hand.
Two flight attendants on a small plane? Interesting.
“Ready to get into the air?” Callie asked as she turned to be shoulder to shoulder with him again.
“More than you’ll ever know.”
She nodded. “Then let’s get you on your way.”
Finding his brother had been tricky. As soon as Liam knew where Sam was, he’d packed a bag and he’d practically run out the door when Trent sent the details for the flight. He needed to meet the pilots and thank them for taking the flight on such short notice.
Flying never worried Liam, and if he hadn’t been going to bring his brother back, the thought of going to a tropical paradise would’ve had him packing his trunks and snorkel. The idea of lying on a sandy beach and slamming back about ten shots of tequila sounded both good and stupid. He wasn’t one to drown his troubles. There was too much to do. And this week was all about Brittney and her happiness.
The noise of the jet plane drowned out everything, but Liam swore he heard a man calling out for Callie. She didn’t turn around, so he continued to walk beside her. Maybe his head played games with him, calling out her name as some weird beacon.
With a motion of Callie’s hand, Liam entered the plane first and turned to the man outside the cockpit. “Hi, you must be the pilot.”
“Actually, First Officer, Jonathan Rush. Nice to meet you, Mr. Young. I hope you find your flight to Vegas and then our final destination of Monterrey enjoyable. If we can make it more comfortable, please let us know.” He shook Liam’s hand and then turned back to the cockpit.
Liam glanced around the room. “Is the Captain here?”
Everyone stilled. Paul cleared his throat behind Liam and Liam turned to face him. “Mr. Young, let me introduce our head pilot and owner of Hera Aviation, Callie Laurel.”
It wasn’t just the low ceiling height making him feel about a foot tall now.
“Pilot Laurel, I’m sorry. I assumed you were … the … flight…” Stop talking!
Callie’s lips pressed into a hard line.
“Trent speaks highly of you.” He threw out anything to make the situation better, but her eyebrows rose quickly, and she seemed taken aback.
“Does he really? I find it hard to believe that he speaks of our connection at all.”
She had him.
He chose to say nothing more over lies. He hated lying. His brother would’ve had Callie eating from his hand. Sam’s suave ways were the one thing that never got him into trouble, but Liam struggled with that same social ease. He’d gotten the sit-in-the-corner at an event and tongue-tied genes.
Callie motioned to the first row of seats. “That’s our marketing and sales manager, Meg Gilbert.”
Liam stared at a woman strapped into a chair, her hair in disarray like she’d had a run-in with a supernatural entity. She toasted to him, then slammed back what appeared to be whiskey or bourbon.
“She okay?” he asked Callie.
