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When my head hits the seat with a sigh, her arms drop. “Oh, brother. What happened?”
“For starters, I slept with him. Like, a lot.”
Kate winces. “Definitely nailed it, then.”
I huff a laugh. “Exactly.”
“Hang on, I’ve got just the thing for this story.” She stands to open the curtain to the main cabin and flags down another flight attendant using her thumb and pinky finger in an unmistakable code for,Bring me a drink.
The blonde Kate introduces as Coraline pops her head through the curtain a few minutes later and removes two mini bottles of vodka from her skirt pocket. “Who needs the goods?”
“That’d be me,” I mutter before taking them from her tattooed hands and guzzling them down.
I give them the Cliff Notes version ofHeather and Marcus had No Business Falling in Love, Yet Here We Are,complete with a freshly concocted plan to convince him to forgive me.
Kate turns to her friend. “There’s something seriously freaky about that island.”
“Honestly, I’m convinced there’s voodoo involved,” Coraline says with a shiver.
“Wait, what are you talking about?”
“Let me guess. At some point, you started feeling this weird pull toward Marcus, right?” Kate asks. “Almost like, no matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t keep away from him.”
I nod, thinking ofT’slastaand how dizzying that whole experience was. How even though I fought it, there was no resisting him.
“How the hell do you know that?”
They glance at each other, then back to me. “The same thing happened to us.”
I’m on the edge of my seat now as they share smiles brimming with secrets.
“Did it work out, you know, for you both?”
“It did. Granted, for me, it took three weeks, a little soul-searching, and a lot of faith that what I’d experienced on the island wasn’t just some lust-drenched fantasy.” Kate laughs. “I mean, just last week I chased Damon through LAX to tell him I loved him before he left the country.”
My eyes widen. “Wow.”
“It was very dramatic,” Coraline teases.
“Okay, well, not everyone has an easy love story like you.” She hooks a thumb at her friend. “Hot pilot she’s been in love with forever… Both of them got trapped on the island during Christmas… I’ll let you connect the rest of the dots.”
Coraline shoves her, and I laugh when they stick their tongues out at each other.
“If I’m being honest, I’m terrified it’s too late,” I admit quietly.
Kate’s manicured hand falls to my shoulder. “If Marcus doesn’t forgive you after everything you’ve done to make it right, then he’s an idiot, but so be it. At least you’ll know you leaned into your truth and put yourself out there. No more doubts.”
The seatbelt signpingsabove our heads, and Coraline gives her the signal to wrap it up. “Good luck, Heather.”
“Thank you,” I say, waving at her as she disappears behind the curtain.
Kate starts to follow, but then stops to look back at me. “Hey, do you remember what you said to me that day we ran into each other?” I’m grinning before she even finishes, “Take it all in stride. One minute. One hour. One day at a time.”
* * *
“You can do this,” I whisper to myself from the front drive of Marcus’s Seattle home.
The modern house lies in the middle of the woods, surrounded by rows and rows of massive trees. Cedar is heavy in the air, making my nose twitch, but with a view as stunning and peaceful as this, I have to wonder how Marcus ever manages to leave.
