Page 10

Chapter Ten

JACK

I inhaled the smell of Ava’s shampoo as her head bounced on my shoulder. I was jealous that she’d managed to doze off. I was annoyingly wide awake, even wider awake since I’d become the pillow for her head. After the pastry incident, I considered giving her a little push, so she could rest her head against her new buddy, Hank, but I couldn’t do it. It irritated me to no end that I actually didn’t mind having her head there.

The bell for the seatbelt sign chimed through the mostly sleepy cabin. The pilot came on. I could barely hear him through the constant engine buzz and because he spoke incredibly fast, but I caught the word turbulence. The second his speaker switched off, the plane began to shift side to side like a giant, lumbering elephant. I glanced across the way where a woman had slid up the window cover to peer out. We were flying through some dense clouds. There was even a bolt of lightning in the distance. The plane creaked as it twisted a little left and right. Ava’s head slid down, but without opening her eyes she propped it back on my shoulder. Her long black lashes fluttered lightly, and I thought she might wake, but she was such a seasoned traveler it seemed she’d trained herself to sleep through anything.

I’d regretted telling her we were complete strangers sitting next to each other on a plane. I would have liked to have someone to talk to, someone to chat with to pass the time on the long flight. Even if it was Ava Lovely. In fact, maybe even especially because it was her. She’d traveled far more extensively than me, and I was sure she had some incredible stories to tell. But I’d never asked her about it. Maybe I was jealous. Maybe envious. I’d started out as an adventurer, but Gwen never liked it when I left for long periods of time. She gave me an ultimatum to stop traveling or she was through with the relationship. She’d also insisted we get married. I had no idea what moved me to give in to her demands. Part of it was pressure from the parents to settle down and start a family. I knew almost instantly after the wedding that we weren’t suited for each other. Gwen wanted the whole thing—picket fence in a small town and a nuclear family where dad comes home after a long day at work and mom’s waiting with dinner on the table. After a year of trying to get pregnant, I thought that was sign enough that we weren’t compatible. All she wanted was a baby, and all I wanted was more freedom, more adventure. And then it happened. Gwen got pregnant with Holly, and while I wouldn’t change that part of my life for anything, Holly’s birth only saved the marriage for another two years. Gwen and I grew farther apart, and I was left with a permanently broken heart knowing I’d never be a full time dad to Holly.

The plane bucked a few times and then gave one good jolt that felt almost as if the plane was dropping from the sky, causing a hurricane of gasps in the cabin. Ava sat up straight and grabbed my hand. It took her a few seconds to shake off the sleep and remember where she was. She looked over at me, blinked her incredible green eyes and then dropped her gaze to our clasped hands. She lifted her hand as if my hand had burned her.

“Sorry,” she muttered.

“No problem. However, if the plane does drop from the sky, I’m afraid holding my hand isn’t going to do much good.”

She smoothed the hair that had gotten ruffled from resting on my shoulder. “I didn’t hold your hand. I grabbed instinctively for the arm of the seat, but since you’ve been hogging the armrest, your hand was in the way.”

“I had to rest my arm there so I could keep my shoulder—you know, the one you were using as a pillow—propped up for your head.”

She chuckled. “You aren’t seriously going to tell me that I was sleeping with my head against your shoulder?”

“Like a little baby, one with a slight snore. What’s that shampoo, tea tree? Aha, so you do blush. I wasn’t sure. Now I know. Not a bad look on you.”

She sat back and crossed her arms defensively. “I don’t snore.”

“Right. My mistake I guess.”

“Stop this.”

I looked at her. “Stop what?”

“Stop this whole ‘cool as a cucumber’ act. It’s not you. You’re supposed to be uptight and cranky and complaining. This suave confidence bit is annoying.”

I chuckled. “Right. So, you’d prefer cranky me? ‘Mr. Scrooge vibes,’ I believe you said.”

She pointed at me. “See, you’re doing it again.”

“Not doing anything. It’s just once I realized my hideous fate was sealed, I came to terms with it. That, and Holly got invited to a slumber party, which was far more exciting than a weekend with Dad.”

She had no response.

“What? No snarky reply?”

“No, I’m glad she found something fun to do. I felt bad that her weekend had been ruined. And yes, a slumber party with friends is about the number one fun thing you can do on a weekend.”

“I guess someday going anywhere and doing anything with her dad will be cringe-worthy.”

Another jumble of turbulence caused more tension amongst the passengers. The woman with the open window shade pulled it abruptly down when a lightning bolt flashed incredibly close to the plane. Ava reached under the collar of her shirt and pulled out the silver chain that had been tucked inside of it. She fingered a medallion with a carving of a Celtic cross. She spotted me staring as she rubbed it between her fingers.

She lifted it higher for me to see. “A good luck charm from my grandmother. She believed heavily in magic and spirituality. She had so many superstitions. Sometimes my sisters and I would avoid touching the saltshaker for fear that some of it might spill. And don’t get me started on days when a magpie landed unwittingly in our yard. She knew I loved adventure, so she left me her good luck charm. Her last words to me were ‘Never leave home without the necklace. It’ll see you safely through whatever the world has in store for you.’ So far, so good.” She tucked the necklace under her shirt.

“Interesting. A scientist who believes in the power of a good luck charm. Goes a little against our kind, doesn’t it?”

She twisted in her seat to see me better. “There’s always room for magic. Even in the world of science. The birth of a baby elephant—have you witnessed it firsthand?”

“I have not.”

“Well, it’s nothing short of magical.”

“Uh, I beg to differ, or should I give you a short lesson on the birds and bees?”

“Don’t need any lessons from you. The northern lights—yes, I know about the interaction between the sun’s particles and Earth’s electric fields, yada yada yada, but you must admit, they are nothing short of magical.” She waited for my response. I had none.

Her chin dropped. “Do you mean to tell me you’ve never seen the northern lights? What the heck have you been doing all your life?”

“Some of us had more important things to do—like raise a family. Excuse me if I couldn’t take time away from my responsibilities to gallivant around the world in my hiking sandals, sprinkling magic over everything with my lucky medallion.”

She sat back. “And there he is—ole Ebenezer himself. Now I kind of miss the other guy, even if he did set my teeth on edge. Have you been to Costa Rica?”

“Now you’re just being condescending. Of course, I’ve been there.” The seatbelt sign went off.

“Uh, Professor Lovely,” a voice said from behind. Ava’s quiet and more tolerable student leaned down to talk across me to Ava. “Norman just ran to the bathroom. The turbulence made him nauseous. He told me he has extreme motion sickness, and this was only his second plane ride. The first one was just an hour long.”

Ava blew out an exasperated sigh. “So many things he should have told me before we set out on this trip. Thanks for letting me know, Evan, and thanks for, you know, putting up with him. How is the smell?”

I looked over at Ava. “The smell?”

Evan knew what she meant. “It dissipated after a few hours, but I couldn’t eat the meal because I kept tasting it. Any chance we’ll stop to eat after we land?”

“Oh, that’s right. There was a change of plans,” Ava said. “I was so busy this morning I forgot to send out the email. The river raft service we’re taking to the campsite won’t be running by the time we arrive. We’ll stay overnight in the hotel by the airport and then set out in the morning. You’ll have time to eat, shower, shop for anything you might still need.”

“That sounds good. Thanks.” He glanced back. “Looks like he’s out of the restroom. I’ll go ask the flight attendant for a sparkling water. That should help.”

“Thanks, Evan. You’re the best.”

Evan walked away. “The only good member on your team,” I said. Ava was right. I was back to my old snarling self. The talk about my lack of adventure had set my mood back.

“I’ve got a great team,” she countered. “Granted, Norman is a complainer, but he’s very smart. By the way, one of your team members—you’ll know who I’m talking about when I finish this sentence—was telling a friend that she hoped there were at least decent accommodations on this forced trip.”

I couldn’t hold back a smile.

“You didn’t tell her all the details, did you?”

“Details like the crude shelters and cooking cans of beans over a firepit and waking to the possibility that bullet ants have moved into her hiking boots? I might have left out a few key points. At least she’ll have a hotel room on the first night.”

“Yes, but I’m fairly certain it won’t live up to her standards, and she’ll be sharing the room with Robyn and me.”

“Oh wow, girls’ night. Have fun.”

“Did you think you’d have your own posh suite with a whirlpool and ocean view?”

“Well, I know the airport we’re landing at is not near the ocean, so I wasn’t considering a view. A whirlpool would be nice.”

“You’ll be bunking with Milo and Ian. Or I can do a little switcheroo and put you in with Evan and Norman.”

I looked at her. “You wouldn’t.”

She smiled and shrugged. “Seems you’ve already forgotten the pastry event.”

“No, I have not, and trust me—I don’t know when or how but one day I will get you back for that.” I sat back and closed my eyes. “Now that the snoring has stopped maybe I can catch a few winks before the nightmare begins.”