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CHAPTER ONE
Kit
I frowned as I looked through the airport terminal. Juno had said she’d meet me here, and I couldn’t see her anywhere. Technically, she wasn’t late yet. My luggage was still somewhere in the depths of the airport and its inner workings. No doubt on some conveyor belt somewhere, slowly being moved from the plane to where I now stood.
I’d come a long way already to be followed by my luggage and then reunited with it. And it came with a feeling of dread that the airline had somehow screwed it up, and the bags had gone to Timbuktu instead of New York, where I was.
To make matters worse, I didn’t know if this was the final destination or not. Juno had been cagey about it. And I’d only agreed to visit and be one of her bridesmaids on the understanding that she would be here and help me get the rest of the way. I didn’t travel well, and she knew it.
For the next few minutes, I stood near an empty rotating belt, checking my phone to see what baggage claim I was supposed to be at or if I had a message from Juno letting me know she was late. Then I checked the board above me again. It still said the same thing.
I was in the right place. Had been for the last fifteen minutes. But I couldn’t bring myself to trust it and stop checking. I could just see them sending the bags somewhere else by mistake and not letting anyone know.
Another few minutes rolled by, and I started foot-tapping. Almost immediately, a guy to my right glanced my way. I stopped and looked away, not sure if his angry look was because I had been making an irritating noise or because he was also wondering where the hell his luggage was.
More people came to wait, the slower ones off the plane now catching up as well. I’d paid for priority and upgraded just so I knew everything would be in hand and I wouldn’t have to anxiously wait for anything while I got more and more worked up, and here I was, unable to get my bags and go like I had hoped.
If only Juno were already here. She would know how to handle it, and she’d stay calm. No doubt she’d talk to me, ask me about the flight, and distract me until the luggage arrived, and I could simply take mine and go. Instead, I was anxious, alone, and I didn’t feel as if I could express any of it without annoying my fellow passengers.
Well, one in particular. I snuck a glance in his direction and saw him looking up at the board, his phone in hand and open. Maybe he was just like me and simply anxious. Not wanting to take on his anxiety as well as my own, I kept my glance as brief as possible at first. His demeanor would only affirm there was something to be anxious about.
Feeling a little braver, I studied him for a moment. He was in a well-cut suit, his arms defined underneath the fabric but not so much that the fabric strained. I couldn’t see the front of him, but a white color showed over the deep blue jacket, and he had shiny white shoes that had been polished so much I could see my reflection in them.
I admired him from afar, aware that even if this man wasn’t already thinking I was an irritation to his day, he was way out of my league. I was completely sure that his shoes alone cost more than the entire luggage bag I was waiting for and everything in it. He was probably someone in first class who had a bag in priority anyway because of his status or how often he flew. Might even be an off-duty pilot.
Whoever he was, I knew not to get in his way again, so I turned my attention back to the carousel. Bags were coming out now, but none of them had the priority stickers they should have. He frowned, and I wondered if he was going to cause a fuss. Perhaps if he did, I could follow. Two passengers could get to the bottom of it better than one.
Yeah, keep thinking of ways you might just get a chance to talk to the guy who is otherwise so far out of your league that he won’t even look at you unless it’s to stop you from annoying him.
I tried to contain the sigh of despair that threatened to come out of me and pushed thoughts of him away for a second time. Finally, I spotted the colored band of a priority bag. It was followed by another and another. They weren’t the first unloaded from the plane, but soon enough, I no longer felt the same anxiety.
The fifth bag was the color of mine and looked about right, but my brain made me question it anyway. It wasn’t until I saw the colored ribbon I’d wrapped around the handle and sewn in place that I felt relief.
Manhandling it off the conveyor was another struggle, but I was soon moving back from the crowds, my luggage in tow and the way to the exit fairly clear. Before I could take two more steps, I almost tripped over the bag of a guy rushing past and across me, the guy not even noticing until I did.
“Sorry,” I said without thinking.
He glanced my way and looked me up and down. I couldn’t read his face, but it was Mr. Irritated from earlier. Whatever was bothering him, he didn’t respond to me now.
I watched him walk off with no responding apology or even a mutter of aggression. Just…nothing. He went up to someone holding a name on a sign. ‘Mr. Whitby.’ I lifted an eyebrow, sure I’d heard of the name but unable to place it. There was still no sign of Juno. I exhaled and moved closer to the exit so she’d at least be able to find me when she did show up.
Again, the anxiety started to claw at the back of my mind. What if something had happened to her? Images of car crashes, people dying, her tripping and falling, and more innocent things like her not noticing the time flashed through my head. What if she argued with Jack, was upset, and called off the wedding?
Pulling out my phone, I connected to the airport Wi-Fi and checked for messages from her. If the wedding wasn’t happening, surely she would have said something?
There was nothing, but I noticed it had only taken me about forty minutes from the plane landing to get through border control and baggage claim. And my plane had landed early. Juno wouldn’t be expecting me yet.
But as more passengers left or found their signs and were taken somewhere else, I grew more anxious anyway. My palms began to sweat, and I found myself fidgeting with the ribbon on the top of the case, picking at the stitching I had so carefully done.
Another planeload of people approached the baggage claim from the other side, and even more people hurried past me. A few glanced sympathetically my way, but still no Juno.
Finally, I spotted my friend hurrying in from outside as she stuffed sunglasses into a small handbag. She almost dropped it and frowned. It was the first time I had ever seen her with a handbag, and I smiled at how badly she was handling it.
She saw me a few seconds later and gave up trying to get the handbag back on her shoulder. Instead, she hurried over, clutching it awkwardly to her torso.
“Kit! You have no idea how good it is to see you. I hope you didn’t have to wait too long.” As soon as she was close enough, she dumped the handbag on top of my suitcase and pulled me into a huge hug.
I hugged her back, feeling relieved. There was nothing like a friendly face to make everything better. As she pulled back, she took a good, long look at me.
