Banana nestled safe in her lap, her fingers curled protectively around one floppy ear, Sydney took a deep, steadying breath.
She could do this.
Shewasdoing this.
Chapter Two
Sydney
The long flight had done nothing to steady Sydney’s nerves.
Yellowstone International Airport was smaller than OR Tambo, but somehow louder. Busier. Too many voices talking over each other. Too many signs pointing in directions she didn’t understand. Everything smelled like too-sweet perfume, floor polish, and grease.
She clutched Banana in one hand, her passport and travel folder in the other, as she followed the slow shuffle of passengers through customs. She tried to copy the people around her—smile, nod, keep moving—but her mouth felt stiff and her legs wobbly.
The customs officer barely looked at her before stamping her passport and waving her through. She thanked him automatically, her voice tight.
Her eyes stung and she had a huge lump in her throat with the emotion threatening to spill out.
I should have told him.
The thought clanged around her head over and over again like a broken record.
The carousel spat out her suitcase with a dull thud. She dragged it off with one hand and tried not to think about the thousand things that could go wrong now. She didn’t have data on her phone here. No working SIM. No way to message Daddy Greg unless she found WiFi, which she couldn’t seem to do because her phone refused to cooperate.
“Come on,” she whispered to it. “Just work. Please.”
Banana dangled from her fingers, her ears flopping pitifully. Sydney hadn’t even tucked the old bunny back into her bag before getting off the plane, too overcome with nerves to be able to let go of her most prized possession.
She reached a set of glass doors that slid open automatically, and was immediately hit by a wave of cold and noise. Car engines, honking, shouting. People everywhere. Some reunited in dramatic hugs, some pushing past each other like it was all just another day.
And to cap it all off... she was freezing because she’d forgotten to take out one of the bigger jackets Daddy Greg had warned her she needed to bring with her for winter in Montana.
Dammit.
She stepped to the side, out of the foot traffic, her backpack slipping from her shoulder. The lump sticking in her throat finally gave way.
Wrapping her arms around Banana and staring at the ground, Sydney blinked fast trying to get rid of the tears rapidly filling her eyes.
“I... I... can’t,” she whispered.
A tear slipped free, rolling down her cheek before she could stop it.
And then...
A voice. Warm. Deep. Kind.
“Little miss? You alright?”
She flinched and looked up. A man crouched a few feet away from her, big hands spread open in front of him like he was approaching a spooked colt. He wasn’t airport staff or security. He wore jeans, a soft-looking gray T-shirt under a thick red and blue flannel shirt, covered by a heavy coat that looked so warm Sydney wanted to crawl into it. All this was finished off with the required cowboy attire of scuffed brown boots.
A deep olive-green ball cap shadowed his face, but she could see a square jaw, a bit of stubble, and a gentle smile.
“Didn’t mean to startle you and your bunny there,” he said softly. His accent curled around the words like warm honey and Southern nights. “You looked a smidge... well, overwhelmed.”
Sydney swallowed hard. Her throat felt thick. Nodding mutely, she found she was unable to respond.
He glanced down at Banana, still cradled in her arms. If he thought anything of it, he didn’t say a word about it. Just stayed crouched there with a patience she hadn’t expected from a random stranger.
