The gate erupted in applause. Jane squeezed Miguel’s hand.
A tall guy in skinny jeans and a knit beanie belted out above the crowd the opening line of “Take a Chance on Me” by ABBA.
Two other guys joined in with the backup parts, and then another two. Man, they were good. Perfect harmony and perfectly in sync without a single instrument to back them up. The singers moved around, engaging the crowd. In no time, the waiting passengers were clapping along. After a moment, many started singing, something the performers encouraged.
Jane leaned across the table toward Miguel. “This is the best flight delay ever!”
He was grinning in a way that immediately made her wonder what was going on in his head.
“What?” she asked.
“I met those guys earlier, but I had no idea they were Broadway performers.”
One of the performers reached their booth. He held out a hand of invitation to her as he kept singing.
“Go for it,” Miguel encouraged, loudly.
She didn’t need any more of a push. She took the guy’s hand and let him pull her to her feet, where she joined many other passengers dancing and singing along. An instant later, Miguel was up as well, and all five of the performers gathered around him.
Above the ongoing sing-along, the lead called out, “Take it, Miguel.”
Jane started to laugh, trying to imagine him belting out ABBA. For one thing, he likely didn’t know the words. For another, he was not a singer. But her chuckle died in the instant Miguel jumped in as impromptu lead singer.
Though he didn’t get every word right and he got every note at least a little bit wrong, his version of the chorus was contagiously enthusiastic. He took her hands in his and danced with her. As much as he wasn’t a singer, he was even less a dancer. He threw himself into the moment with a grin.
It was ravioli all over again.
She’d always loved that about him. He could take an embarrassing moment and turn it into a barrel of laughs.
The actual singers took over again. Miguel wrapped his arms around her and spun her about, still dancing in his ridiculously ungraceful way. His laughter was contagious; Jane couldn’t keep singing because she was laughing so hard.
Jane leaned into his embrace, still laughing at his antics as the song ended.
The lead singer stepped up close to the two of them and whispered, “Take a chance on the guy.”
Quick as that, he rejoined the other performers and they launched into “Dancing Queen.” Someone in the group must have been in the cast ofMamma Mia!at some point. Passengers began arriving from nearby gates for the concert. Jane, however, settled her attention on Miguel.
“Did you put them up to this?” She hadn’t decided what she hoped his answer would be.
He held her tighter. “I didn’t, but I’m not complaining.”
Jane set her arms around his middle. “This doesn’t fix things, you know.”
“I know. But we’re here, together, and you’re smiling at me again. This is the best day I’ve had in three months.”
Me, too.
Chapter Six
First chance he got, Miguel would thank Tim and Darren and crew. Serenading Jane with a Broadway musical number had been genius. And, if her willingness to walk the concourse hand-in-hand with him were any indication, it had worked at least a little.
“If Mamá were here, she’d swear this was fate. You and me, at the same airport, on the same flight, with Broadway actors, and a nationwide thunderstorm trapping us here.”
She smiled up at him. “And your mom would bite our heads off if we didn’t take advantage of it.”
He rallied his courage. “Then I’m just going to jump right in and ask my question. What happened between us? How did we fall apart?”
She swung their arms between them. “We didn’t want the same things.”
