The crash of the wheels hitting the pavement makes me jump in my seat. I wasn’t looking out the window and lost track of how close we were to landing. I grab the armrests and white-knuckle my grip as the squealing of the brakes pierces my eardrums.
I hate landing. Why can’t it be as smooth as taking off?
We pull up to the terminal gate, wait the long five minutes without air conditioning or flowing oxygen while they get the cabin doors open, then wait for the rich passengers in first class to deplane as slow as humanly possible. Once the aisle is clear, Brendan grabs our carry-ons and hands mine over to me.
I check my phone and switch it off airplane mode as we’re squeezing down the aisle, feeling my shoulder bag hit each chair on the way out.
Once my phone has a minute to reconnect with the world, I place an order for an Uber driver so we have one after we get our bags.
“Did you get an SUV?” Brendan asks just after I close the app.
“No? Why would I get an SUV? It’s just the two of us.”
“It’s hot as balls in the airport, and I need some man space.”
“You need man space?” I ask. “Is that something new?”
“The fellas are cramped and dewy, okay?”
“So, are the ladies,” I say, placing my hands under my breasts. “But you don’t see me needing lady space, do you?”
Brendan grumbles and says something under his breath, and I now know he has officially been traveling too long today. We left Boston at five this morning and had a three-hour layover in D.C. Including arriving two hours early to the airport in Boston, I think it’s been a total of eight hours for a flight that, in total, lasted maybe two hours, max.
Silently, we make our way down to the baggage claim and lean against opposite sides of a beam while checking our emails and messages. I swear forty minutes go by before the buzzer on our baggage claim conveyor belt rings. “What is taking them so long?” I ask out loud.
Dozens of eyes snidely judge me, and Brendan must notice my mistake as soon as I do since he leans over and whispers in my ear, “If I were you, I’d hush your pretty little mouth before we make enemies.”
I groan quietly. Thankfully, our bags are within the first dozen to pop out of the tiny opening, so we each grab our luggage and roll it out to the curb where I see our fire-engine red Hyundai. Glad, there’s only one of those.
“Right there,” I point.
“Fabulous,” Brendan groans as he makes it over to the car, then knocks on the window. “Hi, yes, we are the Thorpes.” He trudges on ahead of me, ready to toss his bags into the trunk.
“I didn’t think we were married?” I mutter as he takes my bags from my hand and dumps them into the trunk on top of his.
“We’re not, but I like your last name more than mine.”
I shake my head at him, but he ignores me. As if my welcome here doesn’t already feel completely awkward, I hear someone mumbling something that I can’t quite make out, but I clearly catch the “God bless your little hearts,” part at the end. I turn toward the sound and find the old lady we were sitting across from on the plane, eyeballing me as if I were a devil of some sort. She waves with a raised brow as she slips into a cab. I’m surprised she didn’t just flip me off. Geez.
Should I proclaim my love for this place now or give it a bit longer? I slide into the Uber car and close the door as Brendan and the driver settle into their seats. “Y’all heading to Blytheville, am I right?”
“Yes, that’s right,” I tell him.
The driver purses his lips and gives me a quick look in the mirror. “Y’all just visiting?” he asks.
“Nope, relocating for work.”
He clears his throat and refocuses his attention on the road in front of him. “Will you be working at the Bayview Plantation?”
“Yeah?” I ask, questioning his knowledge of me. “How’d you know?”
“Just a guess,” he says.
Brendan and I look at each other with confusion. “It’ll be about a forty-minute ride.”
Since I can’t sleep on planes, I’ll take the opportunity to rest for a bit now. I don’t start work until Wednesday but unpacking and getting settled will be enough to deal with.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you to check out this town before arriving,” Brendan says as I close my eyes.
