Chapter Two
Now
Piper despised being late. Thanks to a busted suitcase and her alarm not going off, she’d made it to the Atlanta airport barely
an hour before her flight—two hours behind her carefully curated flight schedule. There’d been no time to shower, so a UNC
ball cap covered her runaway waves, matching the workout sweats she’d fallen asleep in. At least she’d remembered her bridesmaid
dress.
Allie, who’d sent a barbershop quartet to ask Piper to be her maid of honor, had selected a bridesmaid dress with at least
four layers of tulle and a small train, matching her over-the-top personality. Piper’s style was more Audrey Hepburn than
Lady Gaga, but at least it was one less outfit to plan.
Overpacking was her worst travel habit, and cramming the lavender monstrosity along with a week’s worth of clothes for the
long weekend had been more than her ten-year-old suitcase could handle. Fortunately, her next-door neighbor had come to the
rescue, lending her a carry-on to transfer everything into at the last minute.
Rushing through security with the borrowed neon pink suitcase left Piper out of breath and damp with sweat. A Starbucks sign beside her assigned gate glowed as if beamed down straight from heaven. Thank goodness. This was nothing an iced vanilla latte couldn’t fix. As she paid for her coffee, audible groans rose from the waiting passengers. She craned her neck to read the nearby monitors, which flashed bright red notifications.
Flight delayed.
Bonus! Now she could settle into her regular airport routine of browsing bestseller bookshelves and selecting the perfect
combination of travel snacks. She wanted to be in the right headspace when she landed at the all-inclusive resort—sweaty and
stressed out wasn’t the intended vibe.
At first, Piper enjoyed the newfound extra time, picking out peanut butter pretzels, a few granola bars made mostly of chocolate,
and a new steamy beach read—the kind her mother disapproved of. Her initial wave of relief morphed into worry though when
the delay lengthened for a second, then a third time. Passengers paced and muttered. Piper rocked on her heels, gaze glued
to the monitor, as the intercom announced the flight cancellation due to a mechanical issue.
Crap.
Gathering her goodies, Piper hurried into the line of disgruntled passengers in front of the check-in counter to learn her
options for a new flight. Ten minutes of waiting slid into thirty, the line moving as slow as a sloth on Benadryl.
When her phone buzzed, Piper answered the call like it was a lifeline. Few people could make her smile right now, but Ethan
Hartung was the rare exception.
“Hey, Piper-doodle-do,” Ethan chirped. “How are you? No offense, but you look like shit.”
In her small, mirrored image on the phone screen, Piper’s eyes were bloodshot, and her face shone ghostly pale compared to
Ethan’s freshly tanned skin, which he was exposing a lot of right now in his Speedo.
“It’s been a stressful few weeks. How’s the beach?”
Ethan panned his phone around so she could take in the ex panse of ocean and sand behind him. He held up a bright pink drink with an umbrella jauntily placed on top. “It’s perfect!”
Piper squinted into the phone. “What are you drinking? Isn’t it a bit early for a cocktail?”
“It’s a prickly pear margarita. They harvest the fruit and make the syrup locally, which means I’m basically supporting the
culture.” Ethan turned the phone around, showing her a spiky cactus bulging with big red berries a few yards away. “And it’s
never too early, especially not on vacation, which you are hopelessly in need of.” He took a long pull from the frothy drink.
“Is it that bad?” Piper wiped some lingering mascara from under her eyes.
Ethan wrinkled his nose. “I’d say this isn’t your best look, but I’m not just talking about this morning. I’m worried about
you, Piper. You’ve turned down all my recent invitations to be my plus-one to fabulous parties.”
“Last-minute weekend getaways aren’t exactly compatible with med school.”
Ethan settled onto a chaise lounge and pushed his blond hair back with his sunglasses. “You know they wouldn’t be last minute
if you planned a trip to New York to see me instead of waiting for me to score tickets to something and invite you up. It’s
been over a year since I’ve seen your face in person!”
“Well, say a little prayer you’ll see it tonight. My flight got canceled.” She tilted her head to the left, revealing the
line of people behind her. “Don’t tell Allie yet. I’m going to figure it out.”
“You’d better!” He lowered his voice to a stage whisper. “Allie’s become a Bahamas Bridezilla. And I can’t witness your mom
getting White Russian drunk again without you here.”
Piper winced. “Yeesh, sorry about that.”
“You can make it up to me when you arrive. Ask about flights leaving from Charlotte or Charleston. And try calling the airline directly while you’re waiting in line.” He tipped his drink toward the camera. “Good luck!”
Piper hung up and called the airline as suggested. They placed her fifty-eighth in a virtual queue moving as slowly as the
real-life line she stood in. How had this day gone from escaping to a tropical island to waiting in two lines simultaneously?
By the time Piper got to the front of the physical ticket line, the counter attendant’s mouth was locked in a permanent scowl.
“There are no more flights to the Bahamas leaving from Atlanta today,” she snapped. “I can put you on a four p.m. flight tomorrow or put you on standby for our eight a.m. flight.”
A 4:00 p.m. flight would get her there without a moment to spare before the rehearsal dinner and her maid of honor speech. Plus, she’d
miss a full day on the beach. With standby, she might not make it to the Bahamas at all. Both options had her missing the
bachelorette party tonight.
“Tough crowd, huh?” Piper tried to charm the lady behind the counter, but her commentary elicited only a bored eyebrow raise.
“Listen, Rita,” Piper tried again, reading the name off the badge on the disgruntled woman’s shirt. “My best friend in the
entire world, she’s more like a sister to me, is getting married this weekend, and I’m the maid of honor. It’s really important
I get to the Bahamas.”
Rita stretched her lips into a tight, toothless smile. She typed something on her computer, then frowned and turned back to
Piper with a sigh.
“What? What’s wrong?” Piper asked.
“The four p.m. just booked up. You want me to put you on standby?”
Standby guaranteed nothing. “Please, Rita. I have to be there. Is there anything out of Charlotte? Or Charleston? I’ll drive.”
“Ma’am, do you see that line of people behind you?”
Piper nodded.
“All of them want to get to the same place as you. I’ve already filled the seats on the Charlotte flight leaving this evening. I’d suggest you let me book you on the standby flight I have before those spots fill up too.”
Piper rubbed her forehead. “Couldn’t you guys find a flight that isn’t full and send the plane down to the Bahamas instead?”
Rita raised that eyebrow again. “That’s an excellent idea, ma’am. Why don’t you fill out a comment card and suggest that to
my manager?”
Piper was confident Rotten Rita was being sarcastic, but she made a mental note to find out if the comment cards were real.
“If you want me to book you on this standby flight, I’ll need your passport and boarding pass.”
Behind her, passengers in sundresses and beach hats were on their phones complaining loudly or scrolling on iPads to book
alternate flights. She dug up her credentials and handed them over to Rita, who clicked away on her keyboard.
“There. All set.” Rita handed Piper back her license with a stiff smile. “See you tomorrow.”
As Piper walked away, Rita repeated her opening greeting to the next unlucky customer. Piper pulled a bottle of Advil out
of her tote and popped a few pills to squelch the migraine threatening to take over. What was she going to tell Allie?
“Rita didn’t cut you a break either, huh?” a man asked from behind her.
His deep voice sent shivers down her spine like a rickety roller coaster, catapulting her back to the very best and worst
moments of her life. A voice she hadn’t heard in eight years—since the night Wyatt Brooks broke her heart.
The airport noise faded away like the end of a song as Piper pivoted and faced the man she swore she’d never speak to again.
Sure enough, as if plucked straight from her worst nightmare, Wyatt stood before her.
The years apart had treated Wyatt well. Though age had erased all traces of boyhood from his face, he had the same serious expression she remembered. He’d cut his hair, replacing his unruly curls with sleeker, more polished waves. A dark five o’clock shadow enhanced his square jawline, highlighting his pillowy lips. Lips that never failed to raise goose bumps on her sensitive skin. When she finally dragged her gaze upward, his gray eyes matched the slice of overcast sky visible through the large glass windows beside them.
Seeing the casual perfection of his familiar face was like pressing on a bruise. Her mind swirled. What was he doing here?
She shivered, rubbing her arms. How could she be both hot and cold at the same time?
He bit his lip, staring at her with those heavy-lidded eyes, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. For far too long, they
didn’t move. Didn’t speak. Then Wyatt stepped forward, one arm outstretched as if to embrace her.
Backing up so fast she almost tripped over her suitcase, Piper folded her arms tight over her chest. He couldn’t erase years
of damage with small talk and a hug. Snapshots of memories flashed before her eyes: summers catching fireflies, riding bikes,
fishing in the creek... falling in love. One minute they’d been planning a future. The next, he’d discarded her as easily
as a used textbook and moved on to someone new even faster.
She cleared her throat, finding her voice. “What are you doing here, Wyatt?”
Adjusting her baseball cap, Piper combed a hand through her thick golden hair, shaking a few tangles loose. She’d pictured
this moment a hundred times, but in all her imaginings, she looked fabulous, not wearing wrinkled day-old clothes and sporting
a ballcap over dirty hair. Not that it mattered.
Wyatt dragged a shaky hand over his jaw. “Same as you, I’m assuming. Trying to get to Allie’s wedding.”
Piper absorbed the information as if it were an earthquake, the vibrations resounding through her body. How had Allie left out this critical detail? Warmth crawled up her neck. Of course he was going to the wedding. It was stupid to think otherwise. He was Allie’s cousin, after all. Her hatred of him didn’t make him any less a part of Allie’s family. Still, she made a mental note to absolutely strangle her best friend for not giving her a fair warning.
“Okay, so you’re going to the wedding, too.” She blinked, still processing that Wyatt was standing in front of her. “But what
are you doing here, in Atlanta? I thought you lived in Wyoming or something.”
“Colorado,” he corrected with a frown. “I had a layover here. I’m guessing we were both on the flight to the Bahamas that
got canceled. From the looks of it, it’s going to be hard getting another flight out of here in the next few days.” He smoothed
an invisible wrinkle on his shirt. His fitted white tee showed off his ropy arms and broad shoulders, making it clear he’d
trained for combat at one point. “Speaking of that, I have an old army buddy in the area. I called him up to see if he wanted
to grab coffee when it looked like I’d be stuck here for a bit, and one thing led to another, and he offered me the use of
his plane.” He shifted his weight, looking as jittery as she felt. “No pressure, but there’s plenty of room if you want to
ride down to the Bahamas with me.” His voice cracked slightly on the last words.
“What do you mean ‘offered you his plane’? Who’s flying it?” Piper narrowed her eyes.
Wyatt squared his shoulders and, if possible, grew an extra inch. “I’ve been flying planes for over five years and in much
more dangerous situations than a short trip to the Bahamas.”
“Wait. You’re flying?” Piper opened her mouth and snapped it shut, speechless. It was one thing to exchange a few awkward words with Wyatt in a crowded airport; it was quite another to be alone on a plane with him for hours. A plane he supposedly knew how to fly. At the gate, the monitors still read canceled , and the line of angry passengers remained. Missing her best friend’s wedding simply wasn’t an option, but being trapped
in a small aircraft with Wyatt felt intolerable.
He took her silence in stride, scribbling something on a piece of paper and pressing it into her palm. “I have to submit my
flight plan, fuel the plane, and complete the preflight check, so I’ll be at that private terminal for at least an hour before
leaving. Come find me if you want a ride.”
He hoisted his backpack higher, and the edge of a black tattoo peeked from under the sleeve of his shirt. Piper tried not
to stare. What else were his clothes hiding?
Tilting his suitcase onto two wheels, he hesitated a moment before turning to leave. “Piper, I know—” he started, then blew
out a breath, worrying the edge of his bottom lip with his teeth. “It’s really good to see you,” he finished, not quite meeting
her gaze. His jaw twitched like he might say something more, but he flashed her a dangerously dimpled smile. The one that
had always turned her legs to jelly.
Still did.
Piper could manage only a slight nod as Wyatt disappeared into the crowd, like a fractured figment of her imagination.