Page 7 of Unwrapping Love

“Where is your bag located?” he asked. “Let them know.”

The flight attendant was giving him the once over. He got that a lot. The Carlisle genes.

But he was positive that Rob might have told the woman who he was. That carried more weight. Or who his brother was. He didn’t care since he was about to do it himself.

“I need my other carry-on. It’s important. If it wasn’t my extra medical supplies, I wouldn’t care, but that is all that is in it. I promise I’m not lying. I can go back and get it.”

“I’m sorry,” the flight attendant said. The woman told the attendant where it was. “Only airport personnel may re-enter. I’ll try to get it. Wait here.”

The woman next to him sank against the wall. He heard buzzing, but she was ignoring it.

“Is your sugar high or low?” he asked.

“What?” she asked.

“The buzzing. A high or low alert? I’ve heard the sound before.”

“It’s dropping,” she said. She pulled a small bag of fruit snacks out of her shoulder bag. He held back the grin over them being Scooby Doo ones. “I’ll be fine. How did you know that?”

“I had a friend in college who was a diabetic. I learned quite a bit about it. Like he was partial to Swedish fish when he was low.”

“One of my favorites,” she said. “But these are easy to carry.”

She’d dumped the entire bag in her mouth and was talking around a mouthful.

He’d seen his friend do that too. Since there were only around nine small pieces in the bag, he thought little of it.

It wasn’t as if she opened a bag of Oreos and was letting them fall into her mouth one at a time.

“You can sit if you need to. I won’t leave this spot.”

“I’m good,” she said. “It’s just beginning to drop. And I’m sorry. I’m Saylor.”

She put her hand out. Small, soft skin in his, her nails minus any polish, her grip firm.

“Rowan,” he said. No reason to give his last name.

They’d moved to the side away from people, but still in Rob’s sight.

The airport was nuts. He’d gotten here early hoping to hell his flight wasn’t canceled, but it looked like it was going to happen.

His flight was delayed, even though he was supposed to be boarding. Now he wondered if it had to do with this emergency landing at his gate. He’d heard the talk while he’d been looking at his phone.

“How did you get him to go look for my bag?”

“I know Rob,” he said. “Hopefully they’ll find it.”

He could try to throw his weight around more. Or his brother’s, though he carried some. Just not as much here as he did in areas of California.

More like having friends in high places with his business. Only in the surf world though.

“I know you got me further than I could on my own. I’m sorry if I made a scene. I’m normally calm under pressure.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” he said. “It’s understandable.”

“Actually, most don’t understand,” she said. “I think diabetes is more common now than it was years ago, but people still don’t get it. I’m sure I overreacted in his eyes, but who knows how long I’ll be stuck here? It will be worse with the holiday added to the storm.”

“That’s my thought. My flight is delayed. I expect it to be canceled. The ice storm is heading this way and we’d be flying right into it. I’d rather just return to my cabin before it hits here.”