Page 77
As we taxied to the gate, I began to clean up my magazines and tossed my garbage into my bag. Smiling, I turned to Cass. “Good luck. Are you going to get to see your boyfriend soon?”
“Tomorrow,” she said. “He’s got a flight in the morning that I’m going to join him on. Although he doesn’t know that yet either.”
The plane came to a stop, and a ding came over the loudspeaker indicating it was safe to get out of our seats. I began to unbuckle. “Does he travel a lot for work or something?”
“He does. All the time, actually. He’s a pilot.”
I stood and opened the overhead, grabbing my bag. “Oh, that’s funny. So is my boyfriend.”
The cabin door opened quicker than any flight I was ever on before. The gods just seemed to be smiling down on me today—a smooth flight, pregnant traveling companion, on time arrival. Stepping into the aisle, I said, “It was nice meeting you. Best of luck with your pregnancy and everything.”
“Thanks. You too. I hope you get pregnant as easily as I did.”
I was just about to walk off the plane when I heard the flight attendant saying goodbye to Cass who was right behind me. “Good luck, sweetie. Give me a call later, and let me know how Trip takes the news.”
I froze mid-step. My mind had to be playing tricks on me. Turning around, I asked. “Did she just say Trip…how Trip takes the news?”
Cass smiled, thinking nothing of it. “Yes. It’s a nickname for my baby daddy. His name has three of the same letter so they call him trip for triple.”
I felt the blood rush from my face. “What three letters?”
“C. His name is Captain Carter Clynes.”
MY LUGGAGE WAS THE LAST left on the conveyor belt. How long had it travelled around in circles before I finally noticed it? How long had I even been standing here?
The joy I’d felt over the past twenty-four hours had completely transformed into a mixture of shock, panic and sadness. I couldn’t remember the last time deep sadness completely consumed me like this. My emotions had left me a frozen shell of myself as I stood in baggage claim.
I’d lost track of Cass sometime after she revealed the name of her baby’s father. To be honest, I barely remembered exiting the plane and arriving at this spot.
Finally lifting my suitcase off of the belt, I looked around at the crowds of people making their way through the airport. A part of me wanted to just run, but a bigger part knew that I had to hear it from him—that he knew her, that he was the father of this baby.
Was there a chance she could’ve been making it up? I quickly banished the thought from my brain, refusing to give myself false hope.
My head felt like it was going to implode between the intermittent intercom announcements, the sounds of the people rushing around me, and the fearful thoughts in my head. Everything seemed loud. Looking down at my phone, I realized I was late in meeting Carter at the airport lounge.
One foot in front of the other.
Go.
You have to face him.
The escalator slowly descended into what I was pretty sure was going to be my own personal hell.
When I got to the lounge, I closed my eyes to grab my bearings before entering. When I opened them, I spotted him in the corner. He was all decked out in his pilot’s uniform and looking up at a sports channel that was playing on the television. Just inside the entrance, I stood there with my heart pounding and admired his tall stature without him noticing me, for the sheer reason that it might have been the last time I could do it.
He suddenly turned around. My heart dropped when I noticed he was holding a large bouquet of flowers. When our eyes met, Carter’s mouth curved into the biggest smile. My heart was breaking with every step he took toward me. And with each step, his smile slowly faded once he realized that I was crying and that they weren’t tears of happiness.
He mindlessly threw the flowers onto a nearby table. “Perky? What’s wrong? What’s happening?”
Unable to speak, I gripped his shirt for balance.
“Did something happen on the flight?”
Still unable to form words, I nodded.
He pulled me into a hug, and I was too weak to resist. Crying into the crook of his arm, I could feel his heart beating a mile a minute against my cheek.
When he pulled back and examined my eyes again, he said, “Tell me what’s going on.” When I continued to remain silent, he begged, “Please.”
