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“I’ll mark it down. Sorry, Eric, it won’t happen again.” I forced my budding anger into the pit of my stomach to let it rot and pulled from the depths of my soul a smile. There was no warmth in it, but I forced it to stick to my face anyways as I headed over to greet the couple with my clipboard in hand.
Mitch grabbed my hand before I made it ten feet, and this time, he didn’t let go. “We really need to talk, and I’m not letting you go without with a promise to chat.”
I stared, unable to steady the pounding of my heart and the sour building in my gut.
“Cedar, please. I found the red box with my name and the words happy anniversary on it.”
Chapter Twelve
Mitch walked outside, turning back once. I still hadn’t managed to pick my jaw up from the floor. Why did he open the red box? I had hidden his gift in my drawer… and in my haste to slam my clothes into the bag, it must’ve fallen out. Damn. And his name was on it, along with a tag that readHappy Anniversaryso why shouldn’t he open it? Double damn.
“Ah, Miss?” The older woman called out to me, and I collected my wits to focus on her.
“Yes, sorry.”
“There’s no mechanical issues, are there?”
“I can assure you the plane you’ll be riding in is a fine piece of aeronautical engineering. Let’s get you all set up and ready to go.” I led them back to the counter and inputted the info I needed into the computer, tagged their bags, and added them to the trolley behind me.
“Your Captain will be out in a few minutes and your flight will be taking off as scheduled. In the meantime, why don’t you have a seat over there and help yourself to any drinks?”
Once they gathered their personal items off the top of the countertops, I headed over to the water cooler and poured myself a paper cup’s worth and tipped my head back, chasing it with two more.
Between processing the passengers, I paced between my desk and the door to the tarmac, wearing an imaginary line in the concrete floor. I should’ve felt relief that Mitch knew, and it should’ve been my first reaction, but as the day dragged on, the tension built in my achy shoulders and my head pounded with a raging headache. Probably didn’t help I’d been grinding my teeth all day.
However, the worst part of my day hadn’t even hit mebetween the eyes yet. Eric had just returned from his cross-island flight and was refueling his plane whenshewalked into the building.
At the end of her arm was her child – Mitch’s son – dragging his suitcase.
“C’mon, Jackson.” She sounded exasperated and worn out.
Jackson wore a sleepy expression and fought to keep his eyes opened.
“Hi,” she said, putting her purse on the counter. “We’re heading to Seattle.”
I assessed the look she gave me, but I was sure she only saw me as the ticket agent and nothing more. There was nothing in her eyes leading me to believe she knew I was with Mitch.Waswith Mitch.
“I’ll just need your information and your bags.” I walked out from behind my desk and over to Jackson. “Can I take your bag? Do you have your Mr. Fluffy?”
“You remember that?” Jasmine asked.
Normally, no, I wouldn’t be able to recall past information about a passenger, but she was different. Guess I knew back then there was something about her I needed to store in my memory bank. “Of course. All our visitors are important to Cheshire Bay.”
“I could use someone like you on my team.” She winked, and pulled her head back to take me in. “Wait, you look… You’re Mitch’s girlfriend, aren’t you?”
I swallowed, more audibly than I expected, but if I answered, it was all going to be lies. There were pictures of Mitch and I all over the apartment. Clearly, she’d spent more time there than I realised.
“I’m so pleased to finally meet you. Mitch said you were visiting a friend, so I’m sorry we didn’t get to meet and hangout.” Her face lit up as if we were old buddies and had simply missed out on seeing the other, rather than me avoiding her like the plague. “Jackson, honey, why don’t you go and have a seat on the couch?”
He nodded slowly and lumbered over, climbing onto the long couch, and resting his head on the armrest.
“Is he okay?” I flipped my gaze between Jasmine and Jackson.
She lowered her voice. “I gave him some Gravol. He doesn’t travel well, and this way, he’ll sleep for the flight and shouldn’t get sick.” She threw her hands out to the side. “I don’t know where he got that from. Mitch, maybe? Does he travel well?”
Hell no, but it wasn’t my place to say anything.
“That’s okay, you don’t have to answer.” She sighed and offered me a small smile, her voice rich with understanding and acceptance. “I’m sorry if my being here has caused any tension between you and Mitch. He speaks so highly of you and how much he’s in love. He’s a great guy, and I’m happy he’s found that special someone to share his life with. He was never as happy when I knew him as he is with you.” She leaned over the ledge of my desk and squeezed my hand. “I promise, we’re not going to be a pain in your sides, and Mitch already knows I’m not after him for any form of child support. I’ve even offered to have papers drawn up where he’ll give up any parental rights to Jackson. I have a fabulous job with outstanding benefits, so I don’t require anything from him, other than these documents signed because his name is on the birth certificate.” She patted her bag while maintaining deep eye contact with me. “But like I told Mitch, and the same extends to you, you can be as involved or uninvolved as you want to be and whenever you come to Seattle, you have full use of my guest suite.”
