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“Do you live in Chicago?” she asked.
They were on a plane bound there, so that was a logical question. But Chicago was also a popular layover airport, especially for international flights like this one.
“No, I’m heading to East Tennessee,” he said. “A little town called Misty Mountain.”
She gasped just as he was lifting his cup to take a drink. He paused and eyed her curiously over the top of his drink.
“You’ve heard of it?” he asked.
“You could say that. It’s exactly where I’m heading. My family lives there.” She laughed. “I guess I’ll be there a while…or until I figure out what I’m going to do.”
“You’re from Misty Mountain?” he asked, hardly able to believe it. What were the odds he’d be seated next to someone from Misty Mountain on his flight from England to Chicago?
Faith nodded. “Born and raised. Not many people move there after the fact.”
She was giving him a strange look. He got it. He’d chosen a small mountain townbecauseit was so small. Plus, it had a tourist trade, and he’d invested in a helicopter tour business that was thriving.
“I’m a newcomer,” he said. “But people have been good to me.”
She stared at him as though seeing him for the first time. If living in Misty Mountain was what it took to impress this woman, he was glad he made the move.
He lowered his drink and held it toward hers to propose a toast. “To Misty Mountain. Best town on Earth.”
She smiled and tapped her cup to his. They both took a drink, locking eyes. That was when he knew he didn’t want to walk off this plane and never see her again. They’d both live in Misty Mountain at the same time. He had to find some way to keep her in his life once they were both home.
2
Faith had planned to sleep on the flight from London to Chicago. Instead, she found herself sharing her life story with literally the most handsome man she’d ever seen.
Holden Pryce was his name, and his last name was a suitable one. The guy reeked of money. Yes, they were both seated in first class—a very expensive ticket, to say the least. Faith had gotten a last-minute upgrade from a sympathetic reservation worker at the airport. The worker also had an ended engagement in her past. The result was a nice, cushy seat in first class next to a super wealthy guy.
But it wasn’t his current location that made him seem wealthy. It was the designer logo on his quarter-zip pullover and the jeans that looked way too well constructed. It was the way he carried himself—like he was confident in who he was. Like he owned the world and the rest of them were just allowed to share it with him.
“And that’s my story up to now,” Faith said.
After dinner, they’d each snuggled under their separate blankets and reclined their chairs, pillows under their heads. This was the sort of easy conversation she should have been able to have with her ex, Dan. Things had never been like this between them. That should have probably been a red flag.
“So, your sisters are Charity and Ana Ardmore,” he said.
She smiled. “Charity, Faith, and Ana Grace. Grace makes more sense with Charity and Faith, I know, but Ana was named for my grandmother. The plan was for her to go by Grace, but Ana stuck.”
“If you have a daughter someday, you can name her Hope,” Holden said.
Her smile fell slightly. He hadn’t meant any harm with those words. He didn’t know she was thirty years old with a ticking biological clock. As the dad of an eight-year-old, he’d already done the whole “get married and start a family” thing, so he wouldn’t grasp that kind of pressure.
“I met your sisters,” he said. “Charity and Ana. Ana was just at my house not long ago, and Charity and her boyfriend sat across from me at the dinner theater.”
“Boyfriend.” Faith stared at him, trying to comprehend that this guy—a complete stranger—knew more about her sisters than she did. “Charity has a boyfriend?”
Holden frowned. “Some guy named Nic.”
“Nic Winters?”
After thinking about that for a few seconds, he said, “Oh wait. I have it in my phone.” After tapping around for a couple of minutes, he found it. “Yes, Nic Winters.”
Charity and Nic were back together. Faith really had been out of touch.
“That might be good,” she said. “People will be all distracted by their romance. Nobody will be worrying about what’s going on with my pathetic love story.”
