So howdidhe find her?
“Jake,” he greeted, extending a hand. “Nice to meet you - again.”
“I can’t … believe it was you all along.” For some reason she felt completely tongue-tied.
“I’m so sorry I picked up your stuff by mistake. I’m sure you’ve missed this.” He gestured towards her bag.
“I have. And same with you.” She went to hand the other case to him then, then hesitated. “Actually I’m not a hundred percent sure this is yours, though. I think it belongs to a writer named J.T.”
He laughed, and she wondered what he could possibly find funny about all this.
“J.T. is my author name. I take it you found my books … and my notebook? At least I hope that’s still there.” He grimaced.
OK, maybe that made sense.
“It is. And don’t worry; all your stuff is still inside. Although I should admit I did read a book. Sorry about that.”
“Don’t be. In fact, if you want to keep it, I have plenty.”
Jake took his suitcase and lightly patted the outer pocket while Ally did her best to not feel a little offended.
Or deflated.
“Don’t worry, the ring is still there, too.”
He exhaled. “Man, you have no idea what a relief that is! My brother would’ve killed me.”
Brother … Her mind froze as she stopped to think what this meant. The ring belonged to his brother?
“He’s planning on proposing to his girlfriend, Heidi tomorrow morning. I offered to pick up the ring at the family jeweler in Boston on the way here. To be honest, I didn’t even tell him my bag was missing, but I was beginning to really worry I wouldn’t find you in time.”
“How did you find me?” she asked, genuinely curious.
“Well, my sister found your social media profile and we went to seek you out with your friend at the ice maze yesterday. And believe it or not, I even saw you standing in line - with a little kid.”
“You saw me with Riley? But why didn’t you come up and talk to us? He’s Lara’s son.” She couldn’t believe it. “Especially when I was looking for you there too. The guy at the store said…”
“Exactly. I couldn’t believe it when he told me that a woman had been in looking for a charger and asking if anyone had bought a notebook. I knew it had to be you. Well, not that I knew that it was actuallyyou, in that you are Ally. But I’m so glad it is.”
Her eyes flickered upward, and her heart began to speed up. “You are?”
He smiled, eyes twinkling. “Yes. And I’m not sure if you’ve realised this yet, but this is pretty much a tech-free town. Cash only. So if you need someone to buy you a drink …”
Ally winced a little.
“Aw I’m sorry, I guess I shouldn’t have assumed,” Jake said quickly, colouring.
“No, I just need to change my shoes,” she admitted, reddening too. “My feet arekillingme. I had to borrow these from my friend and they’re way too small.”
She shifted from one foot to the other, trying to minimize her discomfort, while also trying to process what exactly was going on here.
The guy from the plane was J.T.
Jake.
“I’m sorry it took me so long to find you,” he was saying, while Ally did her best to squat down low enough in her dress to unzip her suitcase.
She tottered a little and almost fell backwards toward the stairs, but Jake put a hand out to steady her.
