the eight-or-so hours I had to wait to kiss her again seemed like an eternity.
She was all I thought about as I packed a small suitcase, and all I thought about as I tried to get a few hours of sleep. After the last seven years, it was hard to believe that everything would come down to the next few days.
I had to find a way to convince her that she’d be happy in Colorado—that I was worth the risk. It wasn’t a small thing I was asking. Hell no. I wanted her to uproot her whole life and transplant it thousands of miles away, all because I knew that the only way we’d thrive was together.
But what if her dad wouldn’t come?
What if she wouldn’t leave him?
The clock ticked steadily on the nightstand, reminding me that I had to be up in a matter of hours, but that didn’t stop my brain, or the nauseating turn of my stomach that reminded me that no matter how much I loved her, she’d never abandon her family.
I couldn’t let my dad’s crew die before it even had the chance to be resurrected, but I also knew I’d be a shell of who I was if Avery stayed in Alaska.
I had to make these next few days as perfect as possible.
6
Avery
“ W hat do you mean you’ve lost our bags?” River asked the airline attendant as we leaned against the counter the next day. After a delayed flight from Fairbanks, to running through the Seattle airport and barely making our connection to Denver, and then taking the smallest plane I’d ever been willing to get on to Gunnison…well, this trip was definitely off to a rocky start.
We’d been traveling for ten hours, and as happy as I was to be here and to see River’s hometown, I was also about to go full-on zombie apocalypse raid on that vending machine in the lobby if we didn’t find some food soon.
“I’ve tracked them as currently in route from Seattle to Denver, sir,” the small girl said as she pushed her glasses up her nose with a look that pretty much said, please don’t eat me .
Not that River was intimidating. Liar. River was huge and rather cranky at the moment. “It’s okay.” I put my hand on his bicep.
“It’s not okay,” he told me. “All your stuff—”
“I can buy what I need until it gets here.” I looked over to the girl who was furiously typing. “Can you have it delivered to Legacy when it gets here?”
She nodded. “Absolutely. The next flight comes in from Denver…” She typed, her eyes never going higher than River’s chest. “Tomorrow morning at seven thirty.”
“You have got to be kidding—”
I squeezed his arm lightly, then looped mine through it and hugged myself to his side. “That will be just fine.”
Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she took down our contact information. With each moment, River grew more tense, until I thought his muscles might snap under my fingers.
The attendant’s eyes widened to impossible dimensions when she looked behind us, and I turned my head. Bishop walked toward us, a scowl deepening with every step he took. Maybe I wasn’t the only one getting hangry over here.
“What’s wrong?” River asked.
“All the rental cars are gone. They overbooked or something.”
“How is that even possible?” River snapped.
“It’s pretty much just par for the course today,” I responded, laughter bubbling up.
They both looked at me like I was nuts.
“I called Knox, and he’s on his way here. We’ve probably got about another forty-five minutes before he shows up.”
“Perfect, just in time to grab food!” I said.
“Actually, the airport café closed about a half hour ago. I’m so sorry,” the attendant said, cringing as all of our gazes swung to her. “They close after the last flight of the day…which was yours.”
River’s jaw locked. “It’s only eight.”
“Small airport.”
“Let’s go wait outside,” I said. “I’ve never seen the sunset in Colorado.” Or anywhere outside of Alaska. I plastered a smile on my face and prayed it was enough to convince
She was all I thought about as I packed a small suitcase, and all I thought about as I tried to get a few hours of sleep. After the last seven years, it was hard to believe that everything would come down to the next few days.
I had to find a way to convince her that she’d be happy in Colorado—that I was worth the risk. It wasn’t a small thing I was asking. Hell no. I wanted her to uproot her whole life and transplant it thousands of miles away, all because I knew that the only way we’d thrive was together.
But what if her dad wouldn’t come?
What if she wouldn’t leave him?
The clock ticked steadily on the nightstand, reminding me that I had to be up in a matter of hours, but that didn’t stop my brain, or the nauseating turn of my stomach that reminded me that no matter how much I loved her, she’d never abandon her family.
I couldn’t let my dad’s crew die before it even had the chance to be resurrected, but I also knew I’d be a shell of who I was if Avery stayed in Alaska.
I had to make these next few days as perfect as possible.
6
Avery
“ W hat do you mean you’ve lost our bags?” River asked the airline attendant as we leaned against the counter the next day. After a delayed flight from Fairbanks, to running through the Seattle airport and barely making our connection to Denver, and then taking the smallest plane I’d ever been willing to get on to Gunnison…well, this trip was definitely off to a rocky start.
We’d been traveling for ten hours, and as happy as I was to be here and to see River’s hometown, I was also about to go full-on zombie apocalypse raid on that vending machine in the lobby if we didn’t find some food soon.
“I’ve tracked them as currently in route from Seattle to Denver, sir,” the small girl said as she pushed her glasses up her nose with a look that pretty much said, please don’t eat me .
Not that River was intimidating. Liar. River was huge and rather cranky at the moment. “It’s okay.” I put my hand on his bicep.
“It’s not okay,” he told me. “All your stuff—”
“I can buy what I need until it gets here.” I looked over to the girl who was furiously typing. “Can you have it delivered to Legacy when it gets here?”
She nodded. “Absolutely. The next flight comes in from Denver…” She typed, her eyes never going higher than River’s chest. “Tomorrow morning at seven thirty.”
“You have got to be kidding—”
I squeezed his arm lightly, then looped mine through it and hugged myself to his side. “That will be just fine.”
Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she took down our contact information. With each moment, River grew more tense, until I thought his muscles might snap under my fingers.
The attendant’s eyes widened to impossible dimensions when she looked behind us, and I turned my head. Bishop walked toward us, a scowl deepening with every step he took. Maybe I wasn’t the only one getting hangry over here.
“What’s wrong?” River asked.
“All the rental cars are gone. They overbooked or something.”
“How is that even possible?” River snapped.
“It’s pretty much just par for the course today,” I responded, laughter bubbling up.
They both looked at me like I was nuts.
“I called Knox, and he’s on his way here. We’ve probably got about another forty-five minutes before he shows up.”
“Perfect, just in time to grab food!” I said.
“Actually, the airport café closed about a half hour ago. I’m so sorry,” the attendant said, cringing as all of our gazes swung to her. “They close after the last flight of the day…which was yours.”
River’s jaw locked. “It’s only eight.”
“Small airport.”
“Let’s go wait outside,” I said. “I’ve never seen the sunset in Colorado.” Or anywhere outside of Alaska. I plastered a smile on my face and prayed it was enough to convince
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