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Chapter One
Chase
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“Uncle Chase, you’re the best, thank you.”
“Don't thank me, buddy. I haven't found the game yet.” My ten-year-old nephew, Jeremy, had recently gotten into video games. I’d promised to find him one that was hard to come by, and I intended to do just that. “I've got to go, okay? I'm at the airport.”
"Yes! I'm going to tell Grandma that you’re my favorite uncle." He hung up before I got to say goodbye.
I immediately sent an email to my assistant, instructing her to start searching for the game. I’d also asked her to look into a surprise I was preparing for my parents, but she hadn’t gotten back to me yet.
I pocketed my phone and helped myself to a glass of champagne in the business lounge. My flight from San Diego to Cape Cod was boarding in twenty minutes. That gave me just enough time to relax a bit.
I still couldn't believe my best friend was getting married, and I was his best man.
Josh and I went way back. We met in college and had been thick as thieves ever since. He was almost like a sixth brother to me. I'd been shell-shocked when he announced his engagement two weeks ago, because he only met his bride-to-be four months earlier. Josh was a good guy, but sometimes he could be naive about things. He came from a wealthy family, and that was one of the reasons I was worried. The Hansons were prominent in the business world. I didn't know this Blair person from Adam. What if she was a gold digger? What if she was only interested inhis last name? Josh had nearly gotten married a few years ago, before he found out his girlfriend was only after his money.
I was obviously not going to voice any opinion on that. He was my best friend, and I was going to support his decision. Besides, I wasn't one to give advice. I knew my strengths. I’d built one of the country's most successful brokerage and financial service companies with my brothers, and I could do it again just as successfully. But romantic relationships weren't something I excelled at, so I withheld advice.
When Mom found out about the wedding, she warned me not to make any snide remarks to Josh. She knew I was a relationship cynic. Then again, she and my dad separated when we were still kids. They were on good terms now, although still divorced, but back then, it had been a shit show. None of my brothers were in relationships. Duncan had been for a while, and he got his son, Jeremy, out of it, but the relationship didn’t last.
I decided to head to the gate early, needing to check if they’d tracked down my luggage. Yesterday, I’d flown from San Diego to Seattle for a meeting. This morning, I came back from Seattle, but my bag didn’t make it. They’d promised it would be waiting for me at the gate.
I would've gone from Seattle directly to Cape Cod, but I had a meeting here in San Diego.
I gathered my things and headed out of the lounge. As I went past other gates, I realized several flights had been delayed or canceled.What the fuck?Granted, the weather was pretty bad for San Diego standards. The wind was blowing like mad, and the rain had intensified since I arrived, but it still didn’t seem like they’d need to cancel flights.
When I reached my gate, I headed straight to the airport attendant who was manning the counter. There was no announcement about the flight, but I asked just to make sure.
We’d better be on time.
"Are we going to leave as scheduled?" I asked her.
She looked up at me. "I don't have that information yet."
"I need to know." I was being pushy, and I was sure I wasn't the only one who had plans, but I couldn’t help it. I couldn't miss my best friend's wedding, damn it.
"It will certainly be delayed with this weather, possibly even canceled. I really can't give you any more information because I just don’t know. The storm is strong, and as of now, we don't have permission for takeoff for several flights."
I took a step back, swearing, "Fucking hell."
As the best man, I had a long list of to-dos for today and tomorrow, and this would complicate things.
I didn't want to worry Josh, but I had to tell him there was a possibility I wouldn’t make it to Cape Cod tonight. I called him, but he didn't answer, so I called my brother Duncan instead. All my brothers, except Wyatt, were attending the wedding too. Wyatt’s flight from London had been delayed, so he missed his connection and would arrive in Cape Cod after the wedding.
Duncan answered right away.
"Hey, are you boarding already?” he asked instead of hello.
“No. That's why I'm calling. The flight's delayed."
"For how long?"
"They aren't telling us."
"Did you call Josh?"