Chapter Three
Now
In a blind panic, Piper made her way to a far corner of the terminal and collapsed into a hard plastic seat. Her heart hammered
like she’d mainlined a Red Bull, every nerve ending on fire. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, planes taxied on the runway—heading
everywhere but where she needed to go.
Piper whipped out her phone to demand answers from Allie. On the first ring, she remembered the bride was probably lying poolside
preparing for her big bachelorette night tonight, and this might not be the best time to go into full meltdown mode. But anger
aside, Allie was the first person she called when stressed out or dealing with a tough decision. This qualified.
Allie picked up on the second ring. “Piper! Please tell me you’re calling from the plane. My future sister-in-law keeps taking
drinks out of my hand so I don’t ‘look puffy’ in pictures. I can’t take much more of this without you here.”
Piper’s jaw clenched. “No such luck. My flight got canceled, but I’m on standby for a flight out tomorrow morning.”
“So, you’ll miss my bachelorette?” Allie’s voice went up an octave. “Why is everything going so wrong? I can’t—”
“Speaking of everything going wrong,” Piper cut in before Allie could get lost in a pity party. “You’ll never guess who I
ran into in front of Auntie Anne’s pretzels at the airport.” Piper breathed through her outrage. “Actually, I bet you could
guess.”
“Uh-oh. You sound mad.”
“See, you’re already making great guesses.”
“You saw Wyatt, huh?” Allie at least sounded guilty. “I can explain.”
“I’m not sure you can!” The hot stab of tears clawed at Piper’s throat. “Allie, this is the man who ripped my heart out of
my chest and tore it in two, Hulk-style. Besides blowing up our romance, he blew up our friendship. He abandoned the Lonely
Onlys. He dropped your family, too. How is it possible that he’s coming to your wedding? And how could you not warn me?”
Allie sighed. “I wanted to. But you were freaking out about midterms and had already canceled your trip home for my bridal
shower. I worried you’d bail on my wedding if you found out, and I didn’t want to stress you out even more.”
“Well, I’m beyond stressed now! How did this even happen? I thought Wyatt wasn’t talking to any of us.” It was hard to decide
which was the bigger blow—running into Wyatt unexpectedly or learning he’d slipped back into Allie’s life without Piper’s
knowledge.
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to keep this from you. He reached out to me around Christmas last year, apologizing for everything.
We’ve been catching up here and there. I invited him to the wedding because he’s the closest thing I have to a brother, but
it surprised me as much as you when he RSVP’d yes.” Allie coughed over a catch in her voice. “I wanted to tell you, but I
didn’t know how.”
Some of the tension in Piper’s clenched jaw slackened. “You know, you can tell me anything. Especially something like this.”
“I know. I’m so sorry. Forgive me?” Allie pleaded. “You can’t stay mad at the bride. That’s the rule.”
Piper let Allie squirm for a long pause before giving in. “You know I can never stay mad at you for long.”
It was true. One reason their friendship had stood the test of time was Piper’s ability to forgive every impulsive action of Allie’s that had landed them in trouble over the years.
“Thank God, because I need you by my side on my wedding day.” Allie let out a sigh of relief. “But I’m bummed you won’t be
here in time for my bachelorette party. We’ve talked about being together for moments like this since we were little.”
Despite her lingering annoyance toward her best friend, Piper’s stomach churned with guilt.
“I... might... have a way of getting down there in time.” She bit her lip, already regretting the words about to come
out of her mouth. “When I ran into Wyatt, he offered me a ride. He thinks he can fly us there tonight on a plane he’s borrowing
or something.”
Allie gasped. “Are you serious? Piper, that would be amazing!”
“In theory, maybe. But I don’t love the idea of being in the same airport as Wyatt, let alone trapped in a metal tube hurtling
through space with him. I don’t know if I can stomach it.” In her mind, she was already back in her Wyatt-free apartment,
scrolling for flights and coming up with a new plan to get to the Bahamas.
“I shouldn’t have brought it up,” Piper said, backtracking. “It’s crazy to even think about.”
“Look, I know Wyatt’s not your favorite person—”
Piper barked out a laugh.
“—but he owes you one, right?” Allie continued. “And you don’t even have to talk to him. You guys can stay out of each other’s
way when you get here. I’ll make sure you won’t have to deal with him.”
Piper drew a deep breath as another plane took off into the sky, leaving a jet of white marshmallow trails in its wake.
“I know this isn’t ideal, but Piper, I need you here. Please get on the plane. Please, please, please.”
Allie possessed a magical ability to talk Piper into absolutely anything. In the twenty years of their friendship, that had included skinny-dipping in the neighborhood pool, prank-calling their crushes, and TPing houses on Halloween. Boarding a flight with her heart-crushing ex was no exception. And Piper wanted to be there for Allie, no matter what awful challenges she had to face to make it on time.
“Ugh, okay!” Piper blew out a resigned breath. “I’ll get on the plane. I don’t want to miss another minute of your wedding
fun either. But you’d better have a glass of champagne waiting for me!”
“I’ll have a full bottle,” Allie promised. “Hey, maybe this is a good thing. You guys used to be so close. This could be the
start of us all being friends again. Or on speaking terms, at least. And who knows, maybe you’ll be thanking me for this later.”
“Full. Bottle,” Piper emphasized through gritted teeth before hanging up.
A waiter dropped a tray of glasses at the bar behind her, startling Piper and evoking a round of applause from travelers nearby.
She checked her watch. Yup, she’d procrastinated long enough. Despite her very valid reservations, there was no backing out
now. Besides, Allie was right. She could simply accept a ride, be cordial, then be on her merry way and put this all behind
her. Maybe if she believed that hard enough, everything really would be okay.
By the time Piper reached the private plane terminal, she was late.
Again.
If she hadn’t already looked like a hot mess, she certainly did now as she raced into the bright modern lobby panting from the exertion. Besides a smartly dressed flight attendant talking on the phone in a corner, the room was mostly empty, with no sign of Wyatt. The nervous energy coursing through her veins made her jumpy—a mouse caught in a snake’s den.
Before panic could set in, she spotted Wyatt’s tall frame coming out of the nearby restroom. His eyes widened when he saw
her, his mouth opening in surprise before breaking into a tilted grin.
“You came!” he said. “Are you ready to go?”
Piper nodded without a smile, begging her body to stop the wave of electricity it produced every time she saw Wyatt’s face.
Everything about this moment was surreal, but even in her worst nightmares she wouldn’t have dreamed up this scenario.
She followed him outside to an aircraft on the far side of the tarmac. Tiny and painted bright white with red stripes, the
plane looked like it belonged more on a child’s mobile than in the sky. It wasn’t close to the luxury private jets she’d seen
influencers flying in on Instagram, but it was going to the Bahamas, which was far better than anything Rita could offer her.
Wyatt offered to help with her luggage, but she refused, opting to heave her overstuffed borrowed pink suitcase up the steps
after him. After putting their bags in a tiny storage closet at the back of the plane and securing the plane door, Wyatt settled
himself in the pilot’s seat.
He adjusted the instruments on the dashboard in front of him. “Sit anywhere you’d like. It’s just us today.”
Piper responded by hefting her tote bag higher on her shoulder and choosing a seat as far away from him as possible. With
only four rows, the last would have to do. At least she had a lot of legroom. As a kid, she’d been deeply insecure about being
taller than the other girls in her class, but she’d appreciated her height more once her limbs morphed from gangly to graceful.
After speaking into his headset to someone on the other end, Wyatt turned around in his seat. “They’ve cleared us for takeoff. You may feel a bit more turbulence than you’re used to during takeoff and landing in this smaller aircraft, but don’t worry. That’s normal. There obviously isn’t a flight attendant on board, but once we get moving, there’s a Yeti cooler under the seats of your row that’s loaded with snacks. There’s probably a wine cooler in there, too.”
Piper peered beneath her seat at the cooler plastered in U.S. Army and Captain America stickers before snapping her seat belt
into place. She granted Wyatt a stingy smile. He would not win her over with a wine cooler, but it was kind of hot how confident
Wyatt looked in the cockpit. Annoyingly hot. She shuddered, shaking the thought loose. She couldn’t believe she was doing
this—willingly trapping herself in a tiny space with this man. She could still back out, but the thought of explaining to
Allie why she’d missed her bachelorette party stopped her.
“How long until we’re in the Bahamas?” And how long until I’m not stuck with you?
“A little over two hours.”
Two hours until a reunion with Allie and her parents. Two hours until she could pop a bottle of bubbles and celebrate on a
sandy white beach. Piper could handle that.
Her parents, who considered Allie part of the family, had turned an invitation to the nuptials into a vacation for themselves,
and they’d arrived at the Bahamas resort a week ago. She fired off a quick text letting them know about her change of travel
plans minus a mention of Wyatt. They returned her message with a selfie of the two of them giving a thumbs-up sign at a cabana
overlooking sparkling blue water. Her mom’s oversize Tom Ford sunglasses perched on the bridge of her nose, and her dad was
already sunburned even though he was wearing an Emory School of Medicine ball cap. It was so dorky it made her chuckle.
Piper Liked the photo and popped her earbuds in, letting Joni Mitchell’s husky voice transport her anywhere but here. Before they’d taxied down the runway, she’d swallowed a Xanax and sunk into the fuzzy sensation of her anxiety melting away. Once they lifted into the air, the drone of the engines cut off any chance of small talk, and she relaxed for the first time all day. She’d navigated the hardest part of dealing with Wyatt and hadn’t combusted. Yet.
Piper was still shrouded in her Xanax cocoon when everything changed.
The first patch of turbulence was gentle enough to rock a baby to sleep. A few bigger bumps followed, as if the plane were
a smooth stone skipping across a shallow pond. When they hit an air pocket that caused the plane to drop dramatically, Piper
shot upright, her stomach jumping to her throat. She dug her fingernails into the leather armrests, leaving half-moon imprints
of her rising terror. Had they flown into a storm?
Outside her window, the air swirled, thick and swampy, the clouds a green-gray color that belonged in a witch’s brew, not
the sky. Raindrops streaked across the glass. She strained for a glimpse of the ocean below, but the thick curtain of clouds
obstructed her view.
At the front of the plane, Wyatt spoke into his headset, his attention focused on the dials in front of him.
Piper looped her tote back over her shoulder, unbuckled her seat belt, and walked toward him. Before she could take two steps,
the plane dropped, then tipped to the right, knocking her to the floor. Her knees throbbed at the sudden impact, screaming
in unison with her heart.
Alarm sirens rang from the cockpit, a cacophony of panic.
Wyatt whipped around, his eyes wide. He shouted over the engine, “Why aren’t you buckled up?”
“I wanted to see what was happening up there,” Piper yelled back, grabbing at an armrest and pulling herself upright.
“Jesus, Piper! Get back in your seat!”
“Stop yelling at me. I’m trying to!” The force of the plane jerking up and down pinned her to the floor. Tears swam in her eyes. Her heart raced. Was this how she would die? On the floor of a plane with Wyatt Brooks?
The plane dropped like an elevator whose cable had snapped.
“Piper, get back in your seat. Now!”
She could only choke out a sob in response, frozen in place by terror and confusion. Then a pair of muscular arms yanked her
up and into the copilot’s seat. Wyatt buckled her in securely before fastening himself in next to her, moving so quickly Piper
barely registered what was happening.
“What’s going on?” Her heart hammered so loud in her ears it nearly drowned out the roar of the plane.
Wyatt didn’t respond as he pulled his headset back on and repeated foreign phrases in a low, terse voice. Tension zipped his
face up as tight as his death grip on the flight controls.
Piper’s knuckles whitened on the tote bag in her lap. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
Clouds whirred by, the tips of whitecaps now visible out the window.
They were flying far too low.
“Hold on,” Wyatt said through pinched lips, his hands trembling on the controls. “We’re almost out of this wind pattern. Once
we get over these islands, we should be—”
A loud crack cut him off.
The belly of the plane slammed into something unforgiving and hard, jolting them so forcefully Piper bit her tongue, her mouth
filling with metallic blood.
The sound of a metal lid snapping off a tin can filled the air. A vacuum of wind hit her from behind as the back half of the
plane fell away. The seat she’d been curled up in moments ago—gone.
She wasn’t ready to die yet.
This couldn’t be the end.
Leaves rushed up, meeting what remained of the plane. Her nostrils burned with the acrid odor of fuel. Heat blasted past her, flames licking her face.
Wyatt screamed something, but a horrible noise filled her ears.
Then, with a flash of searing heat, everything went black.