“Yeah, unfortunately, Jason doesn’t have anything open right now. He’s down one helicopter for maintenance. He apologized.”
I ground my teeth. “When will one be available?”
“Not until after noon.”
It was nine. Fuck. If Gwen’s departure was midday, that would be cutting it extremely tight, even with the short flight time.
“Tell him thanks, but it’s not going to work. Appreciate the effort, though.”
That left me no choice. I was going to have to drive to the airport, traffic and speed cameras be damned. I wasn’t about to miss the chance to tell Gwen in person that I was owning the mistakes I’d made and that I was committed to changing if it meant we could be together again.
Yeah, it wasn’t perfect, but it was a start.
I jumped out of my chair, grabbed my blazer, and speed walked to the door.
“I’m heading out,” I said over my shoulder to Susan. “Not sure when I’ll be back.”
“I’m really happy to hear that,” she sang after me.
I could hear the smile in her voice.
She was the reason the whole plan was in motion. Without Susan’s heads-up, I never would’ve known Gwen was leaving. I owed her a big, fat bonus, no matter how everything turned out.
Of course, the only acceptable outcome was Gwen back in my arms. I wouldn’t even consider the alternative.
I’d opted to drive the Aston Martin to the office again, which was a blessing and a curse because I needed the speed, but I dreaded what might happen to the precious car during my reckless drive to the airport. But then again, I’d buy a fleet of them to replace it if it managed to get me to Gwen in time.
My phone rang, and I considered ignoring it until I saw who it was.
“Hey, Drew, everything okay?”
“Yeah, why do you always assume I only call when it’s an emergency?”
He sounded defensive and a little sad at the same time.
I downshifted as brake lights lit up in front of me. “Shit.”
“Huh?”
“Nothing, I’m driving to the airport and there’s traffic,” I grumbled. “So what’s up?”
“Dad told me you stopped by the house and you had a talk about Mom and the greenhouse.”
It was so much more than just about the greenhouse, and we both knew it.
“Yeah, it was good seeing him. And being home,” I admitted. “Been too long. I miss how things used to be.”
“Exactly, which made me think that maybe we could get together for a drink soon. I barely got to see you at the party. Nothing major, I just thought it would be good to catch up, you know?”
It was an unexpected gesture, and I wasn’t sure why he was making it. Despite living in the same city, we usually only saw each other a handful of times a year. But for a change, I didn’t press to find out his ulterior motive, if there even was one. Getting together would probably be a little tense at first, but he was trying, and that mattered to me.
Maybe my new willingness to be more open with my feelings for Gwen was somehow spilling out into the cosmos, and other people were picking up on it.
“Yeah, I’d really like that. Thanks.”
“And I want to get to know Gwen better. I like her.”
I was tempted to open up about what had happened between us, but hopefully it wouldn’t matter in a bit.
