Chapter Thirty-Seven
Kenzi’s flight options were limited on such short notice. In the end, she paid a fortune for a trip that included an interminable layover in Vegas.
She paced the terminal, reciting a hundred different hellos she could say to Nash. None of them seemed right. She’d run away to shore up her heart, and instead she was going to lay it before him—because when she truly thought about what had happened, and was honest with herself inside and out, Nash was the better choice for CEO.
Oh, how it tore her up inside to admit that—even if it was just to herself.
Her flight was announced and she was finally let on the plane.
A woman carrying a fabric purse took the empty seat beside her. “Hello.”
“Hi.” Kenzi turned back to the window after the greeting, still smarting from facing her faults and knowing others had seen them clearer than her. They taxied onto the runway and she flattened her hand against her stomach to quiet the butterflies. She’d be home in less than two hours.
“Are you sick?” asked the woman.
“No, nervous.”
“Me too.”
“Yeah?” Kenzi crossed her legs and mumbled, “I’m sorry to hear that.” She twisted her ring around her finger and kept her gaze on the clouds floating below them. Her seatmate shifted, and knitted, and stewed.
The flight passed quickly and took too long. Soon, she was charging out of the airport behind the same woman who had sat next to her. They both lifted their hands to hail a cab at the same moment. They exchanged smiles. “I’ve only been in a cab a few times,” said the woman.
“Where are you going?”
She named the area where the Red Barn was.
Kenzi felt bad about freezing her out on the plane. Helping her through this small part of her trip was an easy act of kindness. “I’m going to the same area. We can share a cab.”
“That would be lovely. I’m Samantha, by the way.”
“Kensington.”
A cab pulled to the curb in front of them, and Kenzi took charge of getting the driver to load their luggage and giving him directions.
“You’re a godsend. I’m reuniting with my son, and I’m afraid I’m having a hard time feeling brave.”
“Why is that?”
“I was unkind to him—cruel, really. To my own son. Can you believe that? I was so caught up in what his actions had done to me that I couldn’t see what they were doing to him.”
“I think that’s natural.” Kenzi ran her hand back and forth along the leather strap on her purse.
“Perhaps, but that doesn’t mean it’s right.” They pulled up to Hazel’s headquarters. “Well, this is the place. Thanks again for getting me here. I hope things go well for you—I’m sorry, what did you say you were nervous about?”
Kensi stared at her, her mouth hanging open. “But this is my stop.”
Samantha’s eyebrows knitted together. “What? No, this is my son’s place of business.”
Kenzi stared at the woman with a sharp jawline and blue-gray eyes. Eyes that swirled with colors. “You’re Nash’s mother.” Her words rasped out, as her mouth had gone dry. “He misses you.”
“Nash Westport, yes.” She nodded slowly. “How did you know?”
“You have his stunning eyes.”
She blushed prettily. “Thank you. I—do you know him?”
“I married him,” Kenzi blurted before she could think.
