“It’s black and about this high.” At the look on her face, he nodded. “I know, just like every other suitcase. I should’ve put some kind of tag on it, but I bought it at the airport when my duffel broke. It was the best I could do last minute.”
The woman rolled her large brown eyes as she spun to waddle through a back doorway, most likely in search of his lost bag, but there was no way of knowing. She hadn’t said a word.
“Well, that was rude,” Tyler whispered under his breath.
Jessica stifled a giggle. She had a habit of giggling at inappropriate times. She pressed a hand to her mouth and did her best to look as though she hadn’t been eavesdropping.
When the woman returned, she was toting Jessica’s suitcase behind her. The man shook his head with a laugh. “No, that’s the one I returned.”
So he had taken her bag. He was the reason she’d had to go home without her luggage and had to deal with no clean underwear for two days.
The woman was about to head back through the doorway, but before Jessica could stop herself, she cried out, “Don’t!”
Both Tyler and the woman behind the counter looked at her with a surprised expression.
Jessica stepped forward, her cheeks hot with a rush of embarrassment. “Sorry. I just meant, please don’t take the suitcase back there again. I’ve been waiting what feels like forever, and that’s my bag. I’m in desperate need of new underwear but I don’t know my way around, there’s a million things to do, and I have to start teaching school tomorrow in a brand-new state, at a strange school, and I can’t do that in the same pair of underwear. Besides which, my lucky blouse and skirt are in there, and I really wanted to wear them tomorrow. If you close for the night before I get that bag, I’m going to cry.”
The woman’s brow furrowed. Tyler smiled, his gaze meeting hers with a playful sparkle in his blue eyes.
“I can’t just give this to you. Do you have some proof?” the woman asked.
“I’ve got the key right here,” Jessica replied as she fumbled in her purse. She pulled it out and brandished it triumphantly. The woman waddled over to a small gate in the counter, pushed it up, and walked through. She moved at a snail’s pace, but Jessica didn’t care. She was just so grateful to see her suitcase in perfect condition with the jaunty pink ribbon fixed to the handle.
“Hold on a moment,” Tyler said. “My bag looks just like hers. Did you see it back there?”
The woman held up a palm in his direction. “Just a minute, sir. I’m in the middle of something.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Sure, no problem.”
Jessica tried not to laugh, but she failed. She pushed her lips together to hide it when the woman glared at her. “Try unlocking it. And I’m gonna need to see some ID.”
“No problem. I have my license.”
It took a few attempts, but finally the lock clicked open. Jessica showed her ID to the lady, who made her sign for the bag. Finally, as Jessica was putting her ID away, the woman turned to face Tyler again.
“Can I help you, sir?”
His lips twitched. “Uh, yes, please. I have a bag, just like that one, back there. I took that one home by mistake. Sorry about that.” He directed the last comment to Jessica.
“It’s fine. An honest mistake.” She shot him a smile as she zipped up her purse.
When she stepped outside, she heard him start over to explain the situation with exasperation in his voice. Jessica laughed out loud now that she was out of earshot. Poor man. How long would he be standing there before he finally got his suitcase back? That is, unless they closed the door and made him come back tomorrow. There was no way of knowing. She was grateful she’d managed to get hers without too much difficulty. Finally, she could have clean underwear and get her clothes out to iron for the next day.
Butterflies flitted around her stomach at the thought — her first day of school as a teacher. Was she ready? She didn’t feel ready.
Chapter Five
When Tyler pulled his truck into Rita’s driveway that evening, she was overwhelmed for a few moments. She swallowed around a lump in her throat and blinked back tears as she saw him climb out of the cab, his boots crunching on the gravel. She flung the front door open and grinned at him, eyes blurred, as he tramped toward her, his black suitcase bumping along behind him. She’d never seen that suitcase before, but apparently he’d bought it when his duffel broke, and it’d been lost by the airline. He’d stayed at a friend’s the previous night, much to her dismay. She wanted to see him the moment he stepped off the plane, but he was adamant.
“You’ll see more than enough of me, Momma. Let me catch my breath,” was all he’d said, and she hadn’t wanted to argue. He’d been an adult for a decade and she’d grown accustomed to it, finally. It’d taken her a few years to get the hang of having adult children.
He’d be living with her for the first time since he was twenty years old, and she was delighted, if a little nervous. Since he’d last slept under her roof, he’d spent two tours serving as a Marine. He’d been deployed to Germany for the past four years and Japan before that. He was a twenty-eight-year-old man now, not the same as the one she’d kissed goodbye.
His blond hair was close cropped, and his skin was tanned. He dropped the handle of his suitcase to envelope her in a giant bear hug.
“Come on in, sugar. It’s good to see ya.”
When they were settled around the kitchen table with mugs of coffee and a plate of chocolate chip cookies between them, Rita leaned forward to cup her son’s cheek with one hand, then patted it gently. “You look thin.”
