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“It’s too early for this philosophical stuff,” he mumbles, and I laugh. “You’re wise beyond your years, Mae.”
“I’m an old soul. Maybe I’ve already lived a thousand lives.” I rest my chin on his shoulder and study the freckles across his cheeks. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m better now. Roommate. Nanny. Therapist and philosopher. I’m not paying you enough.”
“I’d do it for free, you know.” I rub my thumb across my neck, reaching for the necklace I still can’t find. “I need to stop dragging my feet; our flight leaves in three hours, and I’m not finished packing.”
“I’ll let you get back to it. I’m going to say bye to June, then I’m heading out.”
“Sounds good. I shared my location with you, by the way,” I say, and Dallas frowns. “This morning, in our text thread.”
“You did?” He pulls out his phone and I see my name pinned to the top of his messages. “Why’d you do that?”
“Because I wanted to. If I can’t answer you right away, I want you to be able to see where we are.”
His face softens into an expression of gratitude. The wrinkles around his eyes smooth over, and his frown melts away. “Thank you.”
“Thankyoufor giving me your credit card this weekend. June and I are going to buy all the stuffed animals at the Cleveland Zoo gift shop. There are going to be so many giraffes around here, you won’t know what to do with yourself.”
“You know how much she loves the zoo. She’s going to talk your ear off the whole trip.” Dallas stands up and knocks me in the head with the pillow that’s been resting on his knees. “Do you have y’all’s tickets?”
“Yup. Two first class seats are safely tucked in my purse along with enough food to feed the entire plane.” I nudge his shin with my foot. “Go say goodbye to your daughter. We’re going to be fine. I promise.”
“Okay.” He drags himself to the door and looks back at me. Nothing about it is a quick glance; Dallas takes his time. He studies me from my head to my toes, and I’ve never felt so on display. “See you in Ohio, sunshine.”
TWENTY-TWO
MAVEN
Flyingwith a four year old was easier than I thought it would be.
It helps that June is perfect. She’s the most go-with-the-flow kid I’ve ever met.
The flight attendants kept coming up to us and giving her goodies; an extra package of cookies. A pair of wings I pinned to the front of her shirt. A collectable airplane trading card to commemorate her first flight.
I took photo after photo and sent them all to Dallas, waiting impatiently as the shitty Wi-Fi did its best to deliver the snapshots at thirty-six thousand feet in the air.
I got a dozen messages back from him.
Tell her she can be a pilot, to the photo of her wearing the captain’s hat during boarding.
Fuck protein today, I guess, to the photo of her eating the chocolate chip cookie that came with the inflight meal.
A morning nap? You have magic powers,to the photo of JB passed out, her head against the window and her mouth open.
My girls, to the photo of June and me when we touched down in Cleveland, followed byI’m saving that one.
I grinned for too long at that response.
After a quick ride to downtown Cleveland in our private car, I unload our bags in the driveway for our hotel.
“Daddy!” June screams at the top of her lungs.
I turn and see Dallas jogging toward us in his practice gear. A Titans shirt stretches tight across his chest, and black athletic shorts sit low on his hips. There’s a backwards hat on his head, and my insides rearrange themselves when he scoops JB into his arms and spins her around.
“Hey, baby girl,” he says. “How was your flight?”
“Daddy, we went in an airplane,” she gushes. “We were high!”
