I checked my watch. She’d probably be sound asleep right now. For a moment I let myself think about how it had felt to wake up with her in my arms. I’d never have that again. Not now.
“You grow up in Texas, son?” The guy next to me gestured to my boots. I hadn’t thought to change into my sneakers before taking off for the airport. I’d probably stick out like a sore thumb once I landed in Miami. Maybe I could trade the handcrafted boots for something else. Something that didn’t remind me of my roots or everything I’d left behind in Texas.
“Yes. Though I’ve been away for a long time. I was just home for a quick visit.”
“You ranch?”
“We used to. My grandfather owns a place with some acreage just outside of Ido.” Or at least he would for a little while longer. Hopefully Char would make good on my promise to let Gramps move back out to the ranch. My heart ached as a sliver of regret lodged deep.
The man chuckled. “Ido, huh? I saw a piece in the paper about the wacky wedding stuff they had going on over there this weekend. You see any of that?”
“A little bit.” I didn’t like the turn of conversation. Although, to be fair, I hadn’t liked the conversation from the start.
“Oh, I think it sounded like fun,” the gal on my left piped in. “I mean, penguins at a wedding is kind of a stretch. I hope they’re not mistreating those birds at all.”
“They’re not.” I couldn’t let some rumor get started about how Ido was exploiting penguins for their own profit.
“How do you know that?” she asked.
“I just do.” I glanced ahead. The flight attendant still had a few rows to go before she reached us.
“Were you involved in that at all?” the man asked.
“Here and there. I can tell you the penguins are being cared for by a qualified professional under the supervision of the aquarium in Houston. They’re handling everything on the up-and-up.”
“Good to know.” The woman turned back to her magazine, but I wondered at my own comment.
The penguins were being taken care of by a somewhat qualified professional. But now? Now it was up to Zina and Gramps to see to their every need before they moved back to their habitat. I hadn’t considered that my abrupt departure might put them at risk of criticism. I’d only been thinking about myself. Again.
“You don’t happen to have a copy of that article, do you?” I asked.
“Sure. I’m finished with the paper if you want to hang on to it.” The man reached into the seat pocket in front of him.
“Thanks.” I flipped through it until I came to the article about Ido and the high-profile wedding they were hosting at the Phillips House. The reporter didn’t know what the hell he was talking about. The article mentioned the penguins, then went on to talk about the wedding planner flying all the way in from LA. At the bottom it said something about how the penguins were being housed with dogs from For Pitties’ Sake. That part was true, but not the paragraph that followed. I read the short bit twice. According to the reporter, the original shelter had been condemned and was going to be torn down. It went on to say the director of the rescue was unavailable for comment but that they’d be following up to make sure visitors to the Phillips House weren’t at risk.
At risk of what?
I’d heard Zina talk about how the dogs at the rescue were misunderstood. I’d been around them for weeks and hadn’t seen a single reason to be wary of the breed. What was she going to do without the shelter? She couldn’t keep the rescue dogs at the warehouse forever. With everything else going on, did she even know about not being able to move back to the shelter yet?
My heart thudded, a deep, hollow pounding in my chest. She’d be devastated when she found out. I needed to be there for her. Thoughts of hiding away in the Caymans dissipated. I needed to get back to Ido, and the sooner the better.
“Are you okay?” The older man glanced over, probably wondering what had gotten into me in the past couple of minutes.
“I will be.” I took in a shaky breath. I’d never been so certain of anything. “Once I get back to Ido and prevent myself from making the biggest mistake of my life.”
CHAPTER 34
ALEX
I hadn’t sleptin over thirty hours. As soon as I’d landed in Miami, I tried to get the next flight back to Houston. Everything was full, which meant I had to wait until the next day to try again. Zina must have turned off her phone because every time I called, it went straight to voicemail.
I’d screwed up. Big-time. I’d been so afraid of getting stuck and feeling trapped that I’d let it get in the way of enjoying what we’d been building together. When I heard about the shelter being condemned, all I wanted to do was go to her, offer some comfort, and figure out a way to help.
Spending twenty-four hours bouncing around airports had given me plenty of time to think. I’d never wanted to turn out like my dad. My parents hadn’t been together very long when my mom got pregnant with Char. I’d always figured my dad felt trapped into marriage and given up his dream of traveling the world to get a job and support his unexpected family. Hearing my dad talk about the places he’d always wanted to visit, with that wistful tone in his voice, made me vow that I’d never let my dreams get derailed by a moment of emotion.
But now, I realized what I didn’t know way back then. It didn’t have to be an all-or-nothing choice. I could have both.I realized I didn’t have to push Zina away. She wasn’t the one trying to trap me. I’d done that to myself by being so shortsighted I couldn’t see what a good thing we had going between us. That’s why I had to get back to her. I had to tell her how I felt. Before it was too late.
The truck I’d retrieved at the airport bounced over the dips and divots in the gravel drive leading up to the Phillips House. The garland I’d spray-painted still graced the front fence line. Had that just been a couple of days ago when Zina and I were working together?
