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He left the plane, and I watched him approach Declan. They spoke briefly, shook hands, and then Draven got into the car I had arrived in, and left. The SUV that had dropped Declan off left as well.
Declan turned to the jet and headed towards me. I could see the smile on his face when I waved to him through the window. The stress I’d heard in his voice early wasn’t reflected on his face.
Once inside, the pilot greeted him, and they exchanged updates before he came to sit beside me. “Sorry for the delay. There were some last-minute things I needed to attend to.”
“You’re here now. That’s all that matters.”
The pilot’s voice came on the intercom instructing us that we would be leaving and to fasten your seatbelts.
He buckled his seatbelt and then reached over and took my hand in his. “Are you ready for your adventure?” he asked. I nodded and he went to pull his hand away and I held onto it tightly. “Don’t worry. It’s a short flight.”
“I’m not afraid of flying.” I met his gaze and added honestly, “I just like the feel of your hand in mine.”
Declan seemed surprised at my candidness, but relaxed his hand in mine and said, “It’s all yours.”
The jet’s engines came to life, and soon we were in the air. “Are we headed to the States?” I asked.
“No. I have a sailboat waiting for us about an hour from here. It has been stocked with just about everything I could think of, however, we can stop and shop for essentials for you that I may not have thought of.”
Any womanly items I needed were packed in my small suitcase. “I should be all set. Thank you again for doing this. I never imagined you’d have it all done so fast. I mean...I only mentioned it last night and we’re already in the air this morning. It’s like you were just as anxious to leave Tabiq as I was.”
“There was only one thing about Tabiq that held my attention. You.”
I wanted to hear that. Maybe even needed to. This wasn’t an adventure that I was looking forward to as much as time with him. Time for us to see if there was anything between us other than our memories. From the look in his eyes, he was feeling the same way.
“Declan, we never really spoke about why I fled Tabiq all those years ago. I mean, I know I told you that there was no one in Tabiq who could protect me, but there is so much more.”
“I assumed so.”
“But you never asked,” I said.
“And I won’t now either. I figure if there is something you want me to know, you’ll tell me. I’m here to listen, here for you to lean on, and here just because you want me here. Never feel any pressure to do or say anything you don’t feel comfortable with. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t want you to feel free to ask me anything. I’m not great at sharing. Maybe it’s all those years of focusing solely on work. I tend to keep a lot inside,” he admitted.
I could see him doing that because I was the same way. “Seems like another thing we have in common. Can’t wait to see what else there is.”
“We have as long as we want to find out,” he replied.
It sounded great, but not in reality. There was only so long I could stay away and since he had a business to run, I was sure he had a lot less time than I did. “When do you need to return to California?” I asked.
“The nice thing about owning the business is you can set your own schedule.”
That wasn’t a real answer. “And I also know if you neglect it, you lose it. No matter how much I want to spend months on the ocean, I say we should limit it to a week or so. How does that sound?”
“It sounds as though you’re more concerned about my job than I am. But I agree with you. We should set some kind of time limit. I’m sure your daughter would like the same as well. Speaking of her, how did she take the news?” he asked.
I bit my bottom lip. “Well. I...”
His eyes widened. “You haven’t told her, have you?” I shook my head. “Why?”
“It’s not that I'm afraid to, but what is she going to think? This is so out of character for me. I don’t want her to think some stranger has come and seduced me. It’s not like that at all,” I said.
“Not at all. So why don’t you try telling her the truth. You could call her now and if she has any questions about me, I’m more than happy to answer them. I have nothing to hide,” he replied.
“But how do I explain us? How we met?” I asked.
“Venus, how much does your daughter know about...you leaving Tabiq when you were nineteen?” he questioned.
“She knows I had to flee because of her grandfather. She also knows that he paid for us to have new identities so his father couldn’t find us and that her father gave us enough money to build a new life in Canada. I may have mentioned a man coming with a boat to bring us to Canada, but I can’t remember. Not that it wasn’t important, but I wanted her to stay focused on family, and why I had to take her away. Not how she was brought to Canada. Does that make sense?”
