Chapter Two

“ T here are no other flights this evening. Tomorrow morning, there will be flights.”

“But tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve is in three—no, two hours!” Reese was trying to keep calm. She was, honestly. She knew it wasn’t anyone’s fault that there was a storm. She knew she was lucky that they were fast-tracked off the plane once the U.S. Marshall hauled out Mr. Drunk and Ms. Whiny. She even had three out of her five suitcases back. She’d made a new friend—a calm, cute, organized kind of friend.

Think of the positives. Derrick. Meeting Derrick is a positive. I bet we stay in touch after this. He’s a nice guy. How many guys would let you get in front of them in the most chaotic travel situation on Christmas Eve Eve? He wants to get home just as bad as you do.

“Ma’am—”

“And the time difference. I forgot the time difference. It’s already Christmas Eve in New York!” Reese clutched her chest and sent a complimentary bag of pretzels skidding to the ground. Behind her, Derrick, with his simple, sensible laptop case and backpack, sighed and retrieved her snack.

She would smile about that. Later.

“The storm will lift in a few hours, right? Or—or what about a flight south? Yeah! What about flights to Texas or Arizona? Anywhere on the Gulf Coast? Louisiana! And then give us a connecting flight to Buffalo.”

“Or Binghamton! Anywhere in New York,” Derrick spoke up behind her.

“I’m sorry, are you two together? I’ve been looking for single seats this entire time,” the clerk said, her smile fixed and a dark glare beginning to form.

“Uh. Yes!” Reese nodded—unfortunately just as Derrick said—

“No, not really.”

“He means that we’ll take flights together or separately, but we’re going to the same place.” Preferably together.

“I’ll look—for both of you. Sir, let me see your boarding pass and credit card, please,” the clerk sighed.

Reese stepped back while Derrick stepped up and handed over his paperwork and card, already prepared.

This is an emergency. I’m all out of spoons. I do not have enough spoons for an emergency tonight. I have to call Mom.

I have to keep Derrick with me.

That’s silly... but kinda true.

She was jarred from her internal panic by a huffy voice to her left.

“Lou, this is silly.”

“Quiet, Hannah.”

“I will not be quiet. This is a sign! First, you lose your keys. Then, our flight is delayed until eight. Now, it’s eleven! Eleven, Lou, and they still haven’t pre-boarded.”

Reese knew she had many faults. After all, Jeff had spent twenty minutes loudly proclaiming them to her through a locked apartment door.

Nosiness and impulsiveness were high on his list.

Idiot. He’s an idiot. Why didn’t I see it before? I’m not nosy and impulsive. I’m quick on my feet and inquisitive. Like a cat. Or an investigative reporter.

Shamelessly “investigating,” Reese sidled closer to a plump older woman with unnaturally black hair who was in the process of prying a shoe off of one swollen foot. Beside her, a man kept taking out an unlit cigar and then his cell phone, pacing around her in a circle.

“I don’t want to spend Christmas with Hank Meyer. You haven’t seen him since your twentieth high school reunion, and all he did was tease you about your beer gut and your hairline. You sulked for two months after we got home. I don’t care if he is renting a fishing boat next week—I don’t want to spend Christmas with that man. I want to spend it here with the kids!”

“The kids? The same kids that you say never call?” Lou chomped on the end of the cigar, made a face, then shoved it back in his pocket.

“They don’t call enough, but they were all disappointed when we said we wouldn’t be home for Christmas.”

“Well... We can’t host it now!”

“But we could go to Sarah’s house! It’s only an hour away. If we’re in Pensacola all week, we won’t get to see the boys when they come in from Fresno.”

“Pensacola!” Reese whispered, hand to her mouth.

“Sorry, what?” Derrick came to stand beside her.

She whirled to face him, eyes bright. “That couple has tickets to Pensacola. The wife doesn’t want to go. She wants to be with their kids for Christmas, not his old high school buddy.”

Derrick’s eyebrows slowly climbed. “Uh... That’s rough? Are you like—a marriage counselor?”

“Me? Oh, no, I work as an urban planning consultant for sewage and water infrastructure.”

“Then I don’t know what you expect us to do about their problems.”

“Get their tickets. A flight from Pensacola to New York is only around three hours.”

“How did you figure—”

“Shh! Geography and urban planning stuff. Ready?”

“Huh? Ready for—”

“To get them to give us their tickets!” Reese whispered urgently, mind working faster than her mouth. She knew that would be a problem. Derrick would probably run off screaming. Definitely run off screaming. If you were going to pull off a hare-brained scheme, you really needed to have both people aware of what was going on in said hare-brain.

“Put your shoes back on, Hannah. Look, we’re at the top of the list now, see?” Lou adjusted a faded orange and white ball cap and pointed toward the sign showing pre-boarding, boarding, and departure status.

“Shit, this has to be good. And fast.” She dragged Derrick toward the couple as Hannah reluctantly began to wedge her shoes back on.

“ What has to be good and fast?” Derrick balked, pulling back against her, lean frame surprisingly strong. “You’re not a mugger, are you?”

“Are you kidding? I’m too clumsy,” Reese hissed, yanked hard, and collapsed into a seat right across from the older couple. Channeling all the angst of the last day and the frustration of trying to fly home for Christmas, Reese tipped her head back and let out a dramatic wail.

All around her, people stopped. Stared.

Good. Let them look.

“Uh... Reese. I...” Derrick fumbled his lines, but he came and sat beside her, looking panicked.

She gripped his hand hard, forcing off Jeff’s misbegotten promise ring and shoving it into his palm. “Oh, Derrick! I’m sorry. I just... I so wanted you to meet my family this year—before it’s too late. You know my mother hasn’t been well. Oh, honey! And now... Now we’ll never make it to Pensacola!” she sobbed, flinging herself forward.

Reese raised her eyes from the soft white shoulder of Derrick’s shirt, telling herself not to notice the nice, crisp scent of his neck, that faint smell of aftershave that was subtle and spicy without making you wish you could open a window.

People were milling away now. Big city. Airport drama. Seen one hysterical lady, seen them all.

But this show wasn’t for them—it was for Hannah and Lou.

“Oh, honey. Shhh. Don’t talk like that. There, now.” Derrick patted her back awkwardly.

“I know you said you had something that would make me feel better, but—but I honestly don’t know what could make not getting home to see my mother this Christmas seem okay...” she sniffled.

“Um. Well...”

“Propose,” she mumbled in his ear under the guise of nuzzling into his neck to dry her tears.

His hands gripped her convulsively, and it felt—good. Definitely good. Strong and safe, although bewildered. “What?” he demanded, turning his head so that his lips collided with her ear.

It was probably static that zipped down her neck and spine, reminding her that Jeff hadn’t touched her since before they had that fight on Thanksgiving morning. “The ring is in your hand. Pop the question. Trust me!”

“I... Reese, look.” Derrick sat her back into her seat and stayed kneeling in front of her with a grave expression on his face.

Oh, shit. I blew it. I blew this so bad. He’s going to hand back the ring and walk away and everyone in this airport will know I’m a pathetic liar. I can’t even keep a fictional fianceé.

“Reese Brittijn—I know we both want to get home this Christmas. The memories we’ve shared, growing up in the same town—the gingerbread building contests... The Halloween parades... When I left for college without making you my girlfriend, I never thought I’d be lucky enough to run into you half a world away—and then I did. We met again in San Francisco, and everything just felt so right. So perfect. You’re the only girl for me, Reese. I want to spend this Christmas and every Christmas with you. Marry me?”

Her throat temporarily closed up. It seemed like a million years had passed before she took her own ring back and slipped it onto her finger with a squeaky “Yes!”

Derrick swooped her up and whirled her around, his cheek to hers. “Oh, my holiday wishes are coming true! If only I could make yours come true and somehow get you on a plane to Pensacola. I want to ask your parents for their blessing.”

“Excuse me! Did you say Pensacola?”

Derrick put her down and shoved her forward. Behind her, she could hear his shaky exhalation and the soft thud as he collapsed into a chair.

“Yes, yes, I did.” Reese wiped her eyes and beamed tremulously at Hannah.

Lou took out his cigar, threw up his hands, and pulled out his phone. “Hank? We’re not coming,” he muttered as he walked away.

“Honey, I just knew we weren’t meant to get on that plane. You hurry home to your family. And congrats! I was just thinking to myself that you two looked like the cutest couple!” Hannah opened her beige purse and took two tickets from it. “You’ll have to come to the ticketing agent with us—and fast! It looks like they’ll be pre-boarding soon.”

“Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me. Honey? Come on! Grab your bags,” Reese cooed, smiling at Derrick.

He shook his head once, then grabbed the luggage. “Coming, darling.”

DERRICK WAITED WHILE Hannah confirmed that his money had made it into her Paypal—which he’d also had to walk her through setting up. He’d insisted on paying top dollar, but Hannah wouldn’t hear of accepting a penny above what they’d paid—a paltry one hundred and fifty bucks thanks to booking months in advance on a super saver date.

Reese was getting her new boarding pass and making a final search for her two missing bags.

He was thinking.

I hate acting. I’m no good at it.

Remember the time you were supposed to be the Letter A in the school’s alphabet play, and you barfed all over Letter E?

Where the hell did that proposal come from? It sounded real—even to me, and I knew it was fake! She looked so surprised. Didn’t think the nerd could act, huh?

Well, that’s fair. I didn’t think I could act, either.

But because I followed the human tornado and her cascade of candy wrappers, I might make it home for Christmas dinner—maybe even Christmas morning, if miracles happen.

“Thank you, young man. I didn’t want to travel anyway. I’m so glad you get to spend the holiday with your loved ones—and I’m thrilled I get to do the same. I think my husband is secretly glad, too. Oh, here now. Take one for you and one for Reese.” Hannah put two mini candy canes in his palm. “I had these in my purse for my grandchildren, but now that we’ll be home in an hour instead of a week, I have time to do a little last-minute shopping, and I can spoil my babies. If you listen to me, young man, you’ll do the same. Spoil that girl. She seems like such a sweetheart.

“Oh, she is. She is!” he enthused, and he meant it. Somewhere, under the insanity, Reese radiated kindness and happiness, an eagerness to move and do. His Grandmother Bernadette would call it “zest for life.”

He didn’t have that. According to Grandma Bernadette, he was going to be dead several years before he was buried if he didn’t learn to live a little.

Well, this adventure is going to be one I’ll never forget. Can’t wait to tell Grandma. Heck, can’t wait for her to meet Reese. I mean, there’s no reason we couldn’t have a drink in Pine Ridge sometime. We’ll both be living there by the sound of it.

“Merry Christmas, and thank you again!” Derrick waved as Lou gave a bashful smile to his bride of many years and they hobbled off together, Hannah limping on swollen feet once more stuffed into too-small heels.

“They’ll send my bags out express. I’ll borrow stuff from my mom for the week until a store is open, and at least I have some stuff. They’re even going to make an exception and let me put it up front. Come on! They’re boarding!” Reese whirled past him, grabbed his wrist, and he was gone, following her in a happy, confused haze.

Oh, no.

I like her.

I like my pretend girlfriend, and she’s just gone through a bad break-up. And she’s a little nutty.

“Are you okay?” Reese asked as they stood in line.

He took one of her bags and held out a candy cane. “From Hannah. Candy cane?”

“Ooh, yes, please! I love sucking on hard things. It stops me from saying whatever floats through my brain. That’s why I always have peppermint drops and stuff with me.” Reese eagerly tore open the plastic and stuffed the tip of the candy cane in her mouth.

Derrick did the same, hoping her trick would work and prevent him from saying what was floating through his brain.

You love to suck on hard things?

I’m a mature man! A security software engineer! I do not hear the words sucking on hard things and immediately think—

Crap. Yes, I do.

“Mmm. Minty,” Reese sighed. “This should keep us awake for a couple hours while we plan our next move.”

“Move? Us? Our?” he burbled, completely clueless and inarticulate.

She’s doing things to me, purely by accident. I’m a Christmas casualty.

“Well, I don’t really want to spend Christmas in Pensacola, silly. We need to look up what flights we can get. Or a train! Would a car be too slow? Hmm. Maybe not with people taking turns at the wheel...”

“Oh. Okay.”

“I mean—unless you want to split up. I wouldn’t be surprised. I did just throw you into the middle of my stupid idea.”

It was a stupid idea. But it worked. As an engineer, the outcome was the main thing more often than not. “It worked, so it wasn’t stupid.”

“You’re an incredible actor,” Reese said over her shoulder, passing her papers to the woman at the jetway.

“Yeah, uh—when I’m motivated, I guess,” he mumbled and watched her trot ahead.

Damn it. She’s actually more than cute. She’s hot. That baggy sweater can’t hide those long legs and that perky little pair of buns.

I’m a degenerate.

Reese is just an acquaintance. A scheming partner in a crisis situation. Nothing more.

“Have a pleasant flight, sir. Happy holidays.”

“Thank you, you, too!” Derrick heaved a sigh of relief and ran to catch up with Reese.

She held out her hand and hopped in her fur-lined boots, letting out a little squeal before colliding with his chest in an off-balance hug. “We did it!” she squealed.

He hugged her back. Maybe this could be something more!