2. Jack
CHAPTER TWO
jack
We’ve been at our gate for almost five minutes, and the people on the plane in front of me are moving at a snail’s pace. If they’re even moving at all. They’re just sitting around like they don’t mind being in this cramped, small space with a hundred other people. I force my legs to stop bouncing. Let’s get a move on, people. Once I get off this plane, maybe my heart rate will go down and I’ll be able to relax.
Finally, it’s my turn to get off. I grab my backpacking backpack—the one that is still covered in dust from lack of use—and head off the plane. My philosophy when traveling is the same as that of living my life: be as quick and efficient as possible so you don’t disrupt anyone else. It’s easy, honestly, to just be courteous. It’s considerate. Anything else makes me cranky, which I’m feeling now. I was already feeling crabby about having to come on this stupid hike anyway, but flying made that much worse.
I take a deep, steadying breath as I look at all the people in the terminal. Where the heck am I supposed to go now? My cousin Graham was running this whole hiking thing and said he’d be waiting after I come up from the escalator. But I don’t see an escalator. Finally, I see a sign that says “Baggage Claim” with an arrow and head in that direction.
A flash of movement catches my eye as a small woman rushes past me, her head down. There’s nothing abnormally special about her. She’s wearing gray sweatpants and carrying a pack nearly as big as her, but she’s moving fast.
That’s my kind of woman.
Not that I want a woman or even have time for a dating life right now. If I want to earn the promotion of running my office, I must make sacrifices. And much to my mom’s dismay, that means no dating.
I stop walking again because I don’t know where I’m going. I pull out my phone and call Graham.
He answers on the second ring. “You made it.” He sounds cheerful. He and I aren’t exactly close since we’re over ten years apart, but when my dad heard he was running this hiking thing, he pushed me to go. It’s been too long since I’ve taken a break, and even longer since I’ve been in nature. While I don’t want to take a break, when my dad decides something, that’s it. I didn’t really have much choice in the matter.
“I did. Where are you?” I ask.
“Have you taken the train?” he asks. I spin on the spot, looking for a train. What’s he talking about?
“No, I’m by the McDonald’s. There’s a big airplane hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the space before it leads to the other side of the terminal.” How big does this airport have to be that they have a huge model plane hanging in the middle of the terminal?
“You need to go down some escalators and ride a train. I’ll be at the end of it.”
I sigh. I want to get this trip over with. “Thanks, see you soon.” I find the escalator and then the very crowded train.
“Sorry,” an older man murmurs as he steps onto my foot and then doesn’t move away because there isn’t any room. I need to get out of this airport as soon as possible. At least in the mountains there won’t be as many people.
After too many minutes on the train, we all make a mass exodus toward the escalators. Once I’m up, I scan the crowd for Graham. I find him in the middle of the crowd and start to approach him but stop short. The woman who rushed past me earlier is talking to him. Now that she’s not moving, I get a better look at her, and shock washes over me like a tidal wave.
My heart thunders traitorously in my chest. There’s no way Maggie Williams is talking to my cousin, right? I glance over again to confirm. Her hair is in a bun on the top of her head. Graham says something that makes her laugh, and as she tilts her head back, I see her face, her smile. I take a step back in shock.
Why is Maggie Williams talking to Graham? I haven’t seen my high school crush in the six years since high school ended, and now she’s talking to my cousin. I don’t know what to think about it. I’m frozen in place for a second before I start to move, then I make a sharp left turn and head to the bathroom before I make a fool of myself. I need to figure out what I’m going to say to her.
The water from the bathroom sink is cold and feels good when I splash it on my face. “You’ve got to get a grip, man,” I tell my reflection. It’s just Maggie. She was once my best friend, and I can talk to her without freaking out.
I grab my pack and head back out to the waiting area. I scan the crowd and find Maggie sitting on a bench, her face in her phone. But I head to Graham first.
“Hey, man,” I say.
“Hey! You made it through this giant airport.” Graham teases as he gives me a big smile. It’s been a while since I’ve seen him, but the mountain air is doing him some good.
“I did.”
“Glad you’re here.”
“Thanks,” I say, because I’m unsure what else to say. I’m still not exactly happy about this trip. Even if flying today meant getting a glimpse of Maggie.
“It’ll be good for you,” he tells me as if reading my mind. Then he points to the bench I’ve been trying not to look at, the one with her on it. “That’s Maggie. She’s the only other person who was flying in. Shall we?”
I nod and follow him to the bench. “Maggie, this is my cousin Jack. Our other hiker is driving.”
Maggie is frozen, still staring at her phone, until she slowly raises her eyes to us. She gives Graham a smile and then her gaze swings to me. Her dark-blue eyes still look like the ocean during a sunset. She’s grown up a lot in the past six years and her hair is darker than I remembered, but she’s as stunning as ever.
I lick my lips nervously. “Hi, Mags.”
She narrows her eyes at me and I feel Graham’s gaze swivel between the two of us.
“You don’t get to call me that.” Her voice is like a bucket of ice water. She’s throwing daggers straight to my heart. I don’t get to call her that? We used to be best friends, or at least something close to that.
I recover quickly.
“It’s me, Jack,” I say stupidly. Maybe she just doesn’t remember me.
She nearly rolls her eyes at me. “I know, and you don’t get to call me Mags. Not after everything.”
My mind spins. After everything? What is she talking about? “Like…our pranks?” I always thought that she’d had just as much fun as I had with those.
This time, she does roll her eyes and lets out a laugh. A sharp, frosty sound. One I wish wasn’t directed at me. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”
“Maggie?” I take a step closer to her. I know it’s been years since I last saw her, but she’s acting like I’m a stranger.
“Yes?” She stands, drawing her chin up. A power move, but for what, I’m still not sure.
“What happened?” I’m so focused on figuring out why she’s treating me like a stranger that I forget Graham is standing there until he clears his throat. But I don’t look at him.
Maggie’s eyes flare as she stares me down. “Don’t play dumb, Jack-Jack.”
I raise an eyebrow, because my childhood nickname slipping out seems like a mistake, not something this new ice-queen version of Maggie would do.
“I mean…” she stammers, a faint pink appearing on her cheeks. Good. She’s still affected by me as much as I am by her.
“You were saying?” I cross my arms over my chest.
“You’re not going on this hike,” she says, surprising me.
“I take it the two of you know each other?” Graham asks, but neither of us acknowledges him.
“I’m so going on this hike.” I grin. Because if she’s going on this hike, things just got a whole lot more interesting. Maybe this mandatory hike won’t suck so much after all. Not if Maggie’s here with me.
“No.”
“Not up to you, love.” The old nickname slips out. I picked it up when we were teenagers from a show I’d watched, and she was always calling me the biggest flirt, never actually believing that I liked her. But as her eyes narrow, I wish I hadn’t said it. I just want her to smile at me, which that nickname usually resulted in, but the look she’s giving me is worse than a frown. It’s like she’s cutting right into my soul, and not in a good way.
“Do not call me love,” she hisses, then turns to Graham. “Can we go?”
He looks at me with wide eyes, and I shrug because I’m just as confused as he is. This isn’t at all how I imagined our reunion.
“Let’s go,” he says. Without another glance in my direction, Maggie follows Graham out of the airport and to his Subaru.