Page 83 of All the way home

Now here she is. Alone in the airport terminal. The memory of the fight sends creeping fingers across her vision, so the only thing she sees between blinks is Lucas’s face, eyes rimmed red.

What do you want?

Rena hadn’t known how to answer that. She doesn’t even now. For the last twelve months, she hasn’t been thinking about what she wants at all. Her default settings have been on a rinse cycle, repeating. Relief, terror. Fury.

Betrayal.

Look in the mirror. Maybe if you look long enough you’ll see something other than me.

She squeezes her hands into fists so tight her nails bite into her palms.

Because if you loved me—

Rena sucks in a tiny, choking breath. Ordinarily, if she doesn’t want to think about something, she can just shut it out, but this isn’t an ordinary kind of day.

“Rena?”

The familiar voice jolts her out of her reverie.

Rena whirls.

It’s Sahar.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Zach

“What are you going to get?” Kieran asks from across the booth.

Zach hadn’t thought they’d even get a table, given the rush of crowds, but apparently Kieran’s earned some major brownie points with the Calgary airport Chili’s staff for rescuing Billie from Lorraine. He’d watched the conversation from a distance with muted amusement, disbelieving.

Under normal circumstances, he doubts either of them would pick a Chili’s for a first-date spot—this is a date, right?—but then again, in an airport the weekend before Christmas, there aren’t many available options. If he’s honest, for a chance at a first date with Kieran, he’d sit outside in the subzero temperatures.

Not that he’d say so, but still.

Running his fingers over the warped edge of the laminated drinks menu, Zach lifts a shoulder. “I’m not sure yet.”

And as if summoned by his indecision, Billie approaches their table, smiling brightly, leaning closer to be heard over the chatter. “How are y’all tonight?”

“Wonderful,” Kieran says, and it sounds like he means it.

Zach’s stomach flips.

“Thanks for earlier, by the way,” she says. “This whole storm has been such a nightmare.”

Kieran waves her off. “Anytime.”

Naturally, Billie turns to Zach first to ask, “What can I get for y’all?”

“I—um. Can I get a rum and coke?” Zach asks, because it seems like a safe bet, and he can’t remember any other drinks, and in the presence of her thousand-watt smile, intelligent thought has officially left the station.

“Can I see your ID?”

He blanches. Somehow he’d forgotten about that particular consequence. But she’s watching him expectantly, and so is Kieran. Reluctantly, Zach fishes out his wallet and yanks his driver’s license from the front pocket.

She takes it, squinting down at it, and Zach knows the moment her eyes land on his name, because her eyebrows lift. Tilting her head, she holds it up to the light, watching the reflective surface. Then she frowns. “This is real?”

He sighs. “Yes.”