Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
He missed her so much.
It was Monday morning in Bayberry. Brad had gotten his mother off to the airport the evening before. She was on her way to Florida, where she was to meet up with her friends from Barch. It was time for their semi-annual cruise. This year they were taking a voyage through the Panama Canal.
It was their first time for that sort of cruise.
He couldn’t tell if his mother was more excited about going through the canal itself or her first visit to California.
She wasn’t the only one in the group who was excited about the possibility of spotting some of the rich and famous.
In fact, they were planning to spend a week out there before flying home.
He was happy for his mother. She’d worked so hard to support and raise him. She absolutely deserved all of the happiness now.
She wasn’t very happy with him at the moment.
When he’d told her lunch was off with Abby, his mother insisted on a reason.
And when he’d told her they were no longer seeing each other, his mother sent him a look of disappointment.
In that moment, he’d shrunk in his mother’s vision, and it killed him.
His mother pointed out his pattern of avoiding serious relationships. He couldn’t argue with her. She was right. Since when had his mother become such an expert on his dating life?
This morning, he’d gone to the Steaming Brew, as well as Abby’s apartment. They weren’t done talking. He had more he had to say.
But she hadn’t been at either place. And her car was missing. When he called her, it went to voicemail.
When he’d sought out Sadie, she’d given him the death stare. She wouldn’t tell him anything about Abby. And he was out of ideas of where to look for her.
And since he’d made such an utter and complete mess of things, he decided to leave early for the airport in Burlington.
“Are you sure you have to go now?” Reed asked.
Brad nodded. “I don’t think I’m welcome in this town now that things ended with Abby.”
“Dude, you messed up royally with her.”
Brad raked his fingers through his hair. “I know. I want to fix things, but she won’t talk to me. I’ve called and left messages. And nothing. I went to her place, and she isn’t there.” He let out a resigned sigh. “The truth is that I can’t give her what she wants—what she deserves.”
Reed arched a brow. “Are you sure about that?”
“Yes.” The answer was quick, but the question lingered in Brad’s thoughts as he made his way to the airport.
He chewed on the question as he returned his rental car. It continued to plague him as he waited for his flight. Why was he so hesitant to make a commitment?
He realized it went back to his childhood. He blamed his father dying for his mother’s troubles. Hey, he was a kid at the time. All he knew was if his father hadn’t died, his mother wouldn’t have had to work herself so hard to keep a roof over their heads.
As he grew older, he noticed his mother didn’t bother dating. She’d kept his father’s picture in the living room. Sometimes, he would notice her staring at his father’s picture, and the pain was evident in her eyes. He didn’t want to give anyone the power to hurt him that deeply.
It wasn’t until now that he put together all of the pieces to figure out why he was the way he was. But what was he supposed to do with this information?
His wait to board the plane was brief. The flight was completely booked. And to make matters worse, he was given a window seat. He didn’t like those seats, because there wasn’t room to stretch his legs.
Even worse was that they’d been held at the gate for forty-five minutes. The pilot apologized not once but twice. Each time the pilot assured them they would soon be on their way.
The longer they sat at the gate, the more Brad wondered if it was some sort of sign that leaving was the biggest mistake of his life. The thought of how he left things with Abby weighed heavy on him.
He knew what she wanted him to tell her. Three little words. But those three words came with commitments and expectations. Was he up to keeping them?
The plane jerked, and they were at last in motion. It meant he didn’t have to contemplate what he did or didn’t do concerning Abby. It was too late.
As the plane rolled out onto the runway, he leaned back in his seat and stared out the window. If he was going to be crammed into a window seat, he might as well take in the view.
The next thing he knew, he was thrust back in his seat as the plane rushed down the tarmac and then the wheels lifted from the ground. He stared out the window as sunny Vermont slowly faded. Instead of feeling better, he felt like he’d lost something very special.
Thud!
The plane shuddered.
His fingers held the armrests in a death grip as his body tensed. When he looked out the window, he was horrified to find fire coming out of the engine. Fire!
“We’re on fire,” the woman behind him shrieked. “We’re gonna die.”
It was followed by a lot of people with fear in their voices as the flight attendants attempted to calm everyone down. His stomach knotted up.
Brad’s gaze was glued to the bright orange flames shooting out of the engine. His breathing came in rapid gasps as his heart raced. This was not how he imagined dying. His palms were damp as he clutched the armrests.
And what did he have to show for his life? He had a successful business, but in that moment, he realized he didn’t have anything that was really important: a wife and kids. The things that he’d spent most of his life running from.
And he’d met the perfect woman. Not only had he met her, but he’d fallen head over heels in love with her. Why hadn’t he told her that he loved her?
But with the way the plane was vibrating, he wasn’t convinced they were going to stay in the air much longer. Just then the plane dipped hard to the right. Brad’s fingernails bit into the plastic of the armrests.
In what he imagined were his last moments alive, he was filled with regrets. He should have never left things the way they were with Abby. He should have put down his shield and laid his raw feelings out there for her to see.
The plane shuddered. Screams echoed through the cabin. Fear sliced through him in a way he’d never felt before. If this were his last moment, he had to make it count.
He reached for his phone. He pulled up Abby’s name. He quickly wrote out: I love you.
“Ladies and gentlemen, prepare for an emergency landing,” the flight attendant shouted to be heard over the panicked voices.
He shoved his phone back into his pocket as he listened to the attendant’s commands.
The plane suddenly lost altitude. A new wave of bloodcurdling screams roared through the cabin. He gritted his back teeth, holding in his own horror.
He bent over as instructed. The breath caught in his lungs as time stood still.
If he lived through this—if he got a second chance, he promised himself he wouldn’t play it safe. He would take a leap into the unknown. He would throw himself on Abby’s mercy and tell her that he loved her.