Page 89 of Kaine

“Whoa, whoa! Careful or else you’ll push me down the stairs!” He laughs and presses his hands against my back, pushing us both into the middle of the plane. “So, is this okay?”

“Okay? This is... this is... like no private plane I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“Oh, been on a lot of private planes, have you?” he winks.

I throw him a look, “You know I’m a peasant, don’t tease.”

“No, you’re a queen. Mine,” he says, and presses a kiss onto my palm.

There’s a mechanical whirring and the plane grows a little darker, as the stairs pull up and lock into place.

Kaine pushes me towards the middle rows of chairs and into a seat. I’m so excited I can barely sit still and he admonishes me as he tries to do up my seatbelt.

“Stop squirming!” he scolds, not sounding mad at all.

I hold still as long as I can before twisting to peer out the window again.

“Where are we going?”

“Well, where do you want to go?”

I think about it for a moment, my mind fogging up with city names and towns I’ve never thought I could visit.

“I know,” I finally say.

“Where?”

“I want to go somewhere, you’ve never been before. I want to see you experience a new place for the very first time.”

“I’d hoped you’d say that,” he says, which makes no sense. He presses a button on the remote in his seat and there’s a buzzing of the intercom.

“Yes, Mr. Ashley, this is the captain speaking.”

“Captain, we’re ready. Location... where we discussed.”

“Yes, sir. We’re next in line to take off, but we should be in the air soon. It’s a bit windy out, but we should make good time.”

Kaine presses the button on the remote and the buzzing stops.

“You ready?” he asks, looking almost excited as I feel.

“Yes! Except I don’t even know where we’re going.”

“Well, you picked a place I’ve never been. So, I did.”

“But... you already discussed it with the pilot. How did you know I wasn’t going to say something else?”

“Luck?”

“So where are we going?”

He reaches over and takes my hands in his.

“Harrisonburg, Virginia.”

I can’t believe what he’s said. I turn and stare at him, the hoodie is pulled back and he’s smiling. I shake my head, unbelieving. He nods and runs his thumb along my cheek.

“No...”

“Yes, we’re going to go celebrate your birthday. With family.”