Chapter 37
SHELBY
Lila pulled up to the curb at the airport terminal and she looked over at me anxiously. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
I nodded. “I have to do this.”
“Aren’t you scared?” she asked.
“I’m terrified,” I said. “But I tried letting him go and it’s not working. All it did was make me feel worse and worse. The moment I decided to go see him, all the terrible feelings went away. It was how I knew I was doing the right thing.”
“Okay,” Lila said, clearly not sure about this. “But you better text me every step of the way. When you get on the plane, when you land, when you finally see your man again.”
“I promise I will keep you posted.”
“You shouldn’t be going to LA alone,” she said. “I wish I could come with you.”
“Thank you, Lila, but if everything goes according to plan, I won’t be alone in LA for very long.”
“I know but still,” she said. “And this flight is so late at night.”
“Which means I can sleep through it and be fresh when I arrive in California tomorrow morning.” I patted her hand. “It’s going to be great. Please don’t worry about me.”
“Oh, I’m going to worry the entire time you’re gone,” she said with a laugh.
“I know and I love you for it,” I told her.
She sighed and shook her head. “Well, all right. I suppose if you’re sure about this, you better get moving. If you miss your flight, it’s going to be a long night at the airport.”
I gave her a hug, grabbed my bag from the backseat, and waved at her as she pulled away.
Then I headed inside to check in. One of the benefits of such a late flight was that the airport was pretty dead.
I walked right up to the kiosk to get my boarding pass and then dropped my bag off at the counter.
Security was also smooth sailing, which had never happened to me before.
I didn’t fly a lot, but the times I had, I felt like the security lines were the worst part of the whole process.
When they finally called my flight to board, I got on, and it turned out I had the whole row to myself. Talk about luxury. Once the flight was in the air, I lifted all the armrests and lay down for a good night’s sleep. Things felt like they were lining up for me.
Before I knew it, the fasten seatbelt sign was back on and it was time for the plane to start its final descent into LAX. Excitement bubbled up inside me. I was almost there. Carter was going to lose his mind when he saw me.
I didn’t know where he lived, but during our many conversations, Carter had told me he basically lived at the office. I knew the address for his building, so that was where I was going to surprise him.
I wondered if he had a big office. He must, since he was the big boss. More importantly, I wondered how private his office was. Could we lock the door and give each other a proper greeting?
Hell, he could send everyone home for the day and we could have the whole place to ourselves.
After we landed, I got my bag from the carousel and went outside to get an Uber. The sun was shining brightly already. It was a little disconcerting to fall asleep in Kentucky and wake up in California, but this was where Carter was, so it wasn’t like I had much of a choice.
The Uber picked me up and we immediately got stuck in LA traffic.
It was annoying, but the thought of seeing Cater again kept my spirits up.
And it gave me a chance to rehearse all the things I wanted to say to him.
I was going to spill my heart out to him, finally tell him I loved him too, which I should have told him when he said it to me.
I couldn’t go back in time to fix that mistake but I could try fixing it now.
I was also going to tell him I was sorry for not asking him to stay. I should have fought harder. The end had just felt inevitable, so I had accepted our fate. But not anymore.
The car dropped me outside of an enormous building, towering over me like a castle in the sky. The whole building wasn’t Allory’s. The address said they were up near the top floor.
Inside the lobby, I asked one of the receptionists where Allory was, and she told me where the elevators were and how to get up there. The elevator ride took a long time, stopping at various floors to drop off other people. I was all alone by the time it dropped me off on Allory’s floor.
A well put together woman with a bright professional smile greeted me behind a huge desk sitting under a sign that read Allory Enterprises.
I felt like a slob in my jeans and blouse, but I knew Carter didn’t care.
He had seen me at my worst, and if anything, it seemed to turn him on more than when I tried dressing up.
“Welcome to Allory Enterprises,” the woman said. “How can I help you today?”
I tried to smile at her like I belonged there, but it was difficult to contain my excitement. “Hi, I’m here to see Carter Allory please.”
She looked at me like she could feel the weird energy coming off me, like I might be some kind of crazy stalker.
And sure, I had just flown across the country without asking Carter or even giving him a heads-up.
And sure, I was going to jump his bones the moment I saw him. But it was romantic, not crazy.
I just hoped Carter saw it that way too.
“Did you have an appointment?” she asked politely.
I smiled and shrugged. “I don’t but if you just tell him it’s Shelby, he’ll know.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but Mr. Allory isn’t here,” the woman told me, but there was a tightness around her eyes that suggested she wasn’t telling me the truth.
I figured it was standard operating procedure to tell people he was busy if they didn’t have an appointment. “I know I don’t have a meeting scheduled but we’re friends. If you could just send him a quick message—”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but he’s really not here.” She glanced around like she was making sure there was no one else around to hear her. “I’m not supposed to say anything but I don’t know when he’ll be back in the office. I wish I had more for you than that, but I’ve already said too much.”
I wanted to argue with her and try to convince her I wasn’t just some random person off the street. Carter would want to see me, or so I assumed. A sudden thought chilled me to the bone.
What if he didn’t want to see me? What if he had given his staff specific instructions to not let me in if I ever showed up here? Maybe that was why the woman was being weird with me.
If that was the case, no amount of arguing or convincing would get her to let me through. And it was clear she wasn’t even going to try getting a hold of Carter or anyone who might answer my questions. I couldn’t see any other option than to leave.
As I turned to walk away, the woman stopped me. “Hey, listen, if you’re really his friend, you should call him. He’s really not here. I’m just not allowed to say why.”
I nodded and thanked her, believing her that he wasn’t in the office.
I felt like an idiot riding the elevator back down to street level. Surprising Carter had been the plan, but it probably would have been a good idea to call him first. It would have ruined the surprise, but I wouldn’t be fleeing his building with my face red and my tail between my legs.
We hadn’t talked since he left Kentucky, though. I thought showing up and talking through things face to face would be better than texting or a phone call. It would have been way more romantic—if it had actually worked.
I tried calling him while I stood in the lobby.
With any luck, he would answer and tell me where he was.
I was thinking he might have been sent out into the field again, trying to remedy another PR disaster in some other place.
And that was why the receptionist couldn’t tell me when Carter would be back.
If he was in town, then I was hoping he could just come get me. It would be way less of a fun surprise, but it would mean I hadn’t made this trip for nothing.
Carter didn’t answer. The call went to voicemail but I didn’t want to leave him a message. What would I even say? I flew to LA but you’re not here and now I feel like a fool?
No thanks.
I would see if he called me back. If he didn’t, I would be changing my ticket to a flight leaving today. Then I could go back to my farm and pretend this had never happened.
I waited in the lobby for an hour with no response. With a sigh, I ordered another Uber ride to the airport.
Once I was back at the terminal, I waited to hear back from him, but no calls came in. Giving fate one more chance to shine on me, I called him again. But he still didn’t answer. Wherever he was and whatever he was doing, he seemed to be unavailable.
It didn’t leave me with much choice.
I went up to the ticket counter and talked to the lady there about changing my ticket.
I wasn’t sure if she was just really nice or if I was just looking super pathetic, but she didn’t charge me for changing my flight and she upgraded me to first class, saying it was a pretty empty flight.
Almost speechless, I thanked her for being kind, checked my bag with her, and headed to my gate.
This wild, impulsive trip hadn’t worked out the way I hoped it would, but at least I had tried. In the coming years, when it was late at night and I was lying in bed thinking about Carter, at least I would know I gave love a shot.