Page 46 of All the way home

“Kelowna,” she says stoutly, though the intended effect is clouded by all the slurring. “If w’ever get the damn plane off the ground. I’ve been here five hours, you know.”

“I know.” Kieran squeezes her shoulder, conciliatory.

It’s like nothing to him, Zach realizes with a start. Marching up to a stranger—one like this, no less, who seems about as safe as the spindle of an old spinning wheel—and making conversation is like nothing.

“Are you traveling alone?”

“No.” Her expression twists, going sour. “My son’s around here somewhere.”

“Oh, you have a son? That’s lovely.”

“Three.” Going by the tone of her voice, Lorraine does not seem to think it lovely at all.

Regardless, Kieran presses on. “And grandchildren?”

At that, she brightens. “Oh, yes. Four, and another on the way.”

Zach trails behind them, utterly at a loss.

“That’s wonderful.” Kieran scans the terminal. “What does your son look like?”

“You’re a charming young man.” She ignores his question and pats his arm. “That disrespectful little waiter should take notes from you. But your hair really is atrociously long, you know.”

Kieran catches Zach’s eye, and for a moment, Zach thinks he might laugh out loud. But he schools his features at the last second, touching his fingertips to the hair at his shoulder as though he’s only just noticed it. “Do you think so?”

“It makes you look like a girl.” Sounding disgruntled, she pats his arm again. “It’s a shame, because otherwise you’d be very handsome.”

This time, Kieran does laugh, and it’s providence that a man’s shout obscures the sound from down the terminal.

“Mom!” A heavyset man flags them down, running up to where they stand. He runs a hand through his thinning hair, equal parts relief and frustration chasing themselves across his face. “Where have you been?”

“David, I was just getting a drink,” she tells him, all innocence. “You worry too much.”

With a truly resigned sigh, he rubs at his forehead. “Let’s get back to the gate.”

“What’s the point?” she squawks as he puts a hand to her upper back and Kieran disentangles his arm from her grip.

“Thank you.” David gives Kieran a twisting grimace of a smile.

“Anytime.”

David puts an arm around Lorraine and ushers her away.

Zach blinks. “Well.”

“She was lovely,” Kieran remarks as they keep walking, a dry edge to his tone.

Laughing softly, Zach nods. “I had no idea you were such a . . .”

“Such a what?” His grin brightens, turning mischievous. “Such a what, Zach?”

“Such a nothing.” Doing his best to ignore the flip in his stomach at the way Kieran says his name—richer from him than from others, with deeper pigment—Zach shakes his head.

“Oh, I see how it is.” Waggling his eyebrows, Kieran adds, “Keep your secrets.”

The seemingly ever-present flush in his cheeks spreads to the back of his neck. Zach wonders if being around Kieran is ever going to feel less like walking a tightrope.

They’re approaching Concourse D now. To their right, a tiny wing has been cordoned off with yellow caution tape, obscured by a sheet of translucent plastic.