“Thank you,” I said. “And don’t tell her I’m coming. I want it to be a surprise.”
I passed Jake’s phone back to him, waved goodbye, and hit the road. If I was lucky, I could make it there in time to meet her when her flight landed. It was a long drive, at just around two hours, and I was bouncing with excitement the whole time.
I had assumed Shelby missed me the way I had been missing her, of course, but I hadn’t expected her to fly to California to see me again. It seemed neither one of us could stand to be apart from one another any longer. Also, we both sucked at communicating because one text message could have saved us both a lot of time. I didn’t care, as long as I got to her.
No matter how winding the road, if it led to Shelby, it was worth traveling.
I pulled up her flight info on my phone, and it showed me in real time where her flight was in the sky. She was close. I would never make it there before she landed.
In record time, I pulled up to the curb at the arrivals area. According to my phone, Shelby’s flight had landed a half hour ago, but I was hoping she would still be around. Taking an Uberall the way to Ferris would cost a small fortune, so I figured she would wait for Lila.
Parking at the curb for too long would get me a ticket, so I slipped the attendant a hundred bucks to ignore the infraction. Then I rushed inside. All the baggage carousels were empty, with no one standing around to wait for their bags.
Shelby was nowhere in sight. I had wanted to surprise her, but now, I decided to just text her. I didn’t want to miss her again. Then I saw a little blonde head bobbing angrily over by the help desk.
I approached and heard her having a heated conversation about her missing bag. The guy she was talking to was a head and half taller than she was but he looked scared. “You’re not listening to me, Lucas. There was no layover in Denver. It was a direct flight. My bag should never have been in Colorado.”
I walked up right behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. “Ma’am, you’re causing a disturbance.”
Shelby spun around, eyes ablaze, tongue ready to lash out with venom, but she froze when she saw me. “Carter?”
“Surprise.”
She launched herself at me to kiss me, and I wrapped my arms around her. With her lips on mine, my world seemed to come back into focus, and it was centered squarely on her.
Her little fists gripped my shirt fiercely, like she would never let me go, and I was in heaven.
CHAPTER 39
SHELBY
My sanity might have snapped after two flights in a day, topped off with losing my luggage, because there was no way Carter was standing here in the Louisville airport baggage claim. There was no way he was kissing me, holding me, making little groaning sounds that sent heat through me.
But if this was a hallucination, I didn’t want it to stop.
I heard someone clearing their throat behind me. With a growl, I broke the kiss with Carter and turned around. “What is it, Lucas? Can’t you see I’m in the middle of something?”
The airline employee flinched back like I might hit him. “Sorry, it’s just that they’ve located your bag.” He rolled it out from behind his counter and then quickly retreated back, like I might take his hand with me when I grabbed it.
The remaining anger I felt drained out of me. “Sorry, Lucas,” I said. “Thank you.”
He nodded and disappeared into a back room, waiting for me to leave, I assumed. Fair enough. I got grouchy when I traveled, and I might have taken out some of that frustration on poor Lucas.
Bag secure, I kissed Carter again and then pulled back. He leaned down so his forehead pressed to mine, and we looked into each other’s eyes. The joy that filled my heart was like a drug.
“How are you here right now?” I asked.
“It’s a long story,” Carter said with a smile. “For now, just know Lila told me and I’ll explain the rest of my very long trip to you on the drive back to the farm.”
“She kept telling me she was running late. I kept sending her pictures of sad cats.” I grinned and shook my head. “Well played, you two. Very sneaky.”
Carter took my bag and my hand and led me outside. His car was parked at the curb, with an attendant looking after it. I didn’t fully understand what was happening there, but I couldn’t think about anything but Carter. My eyes stayed glued to him as he got us on the highway to head back to Ferris.
“I meant to surprise you at the farm,” he said, eyes on the road.
“I wanted to surprise you at work,” I said, smiling. “Great minds think alike, I guess.”
“I missed you,” he said simply, and the words pierced my heart.
