Page 6 (1/2)
Prologue
OhPluckIt
Colbie Albright stood in the crowded LaGuardia Airport staring up at the flight departure board Her chest was tight and her throat felt like it was closing in
Classic anxiety, she told herself Just breathe right through it
Not that her body listened to her brain Her body rarely listened to good sense
In any case, it was Dece all around her like chickens without their heads, while she stood still trying to figure out her choice of destination Her only requirements arm and tropical An exotic beach would fit the bill perfectly
Aruba
Jamaica
Oooh, I wanna take you
Great, and now the Beach Boys song was stuck in her head Doing her best to shake it off, she eyed the board again So ht-year-old runaith a packed bag and no regrets
Frorirets Buckets of them that made her suitcase feel like a thousand pounds and sucked the air froo back
She was doing this
But even as she thought it, the board changed and a bunch of the flights—all the southbound ones—blinked off and ca as delayed or cancelled
“A surprise late season hurricane,” soust next to her “Of course”
Okay, so she wasn’t going south There was a flight to Toronto in twenty minutes but Toronto was the opposite of warrab soirl’s appetite
That’s when her gaze locked on a flight leaving for San Francisco in an hour Huh California, the land of celebrities, avocados, surfer dudes She’d never really had a chance to enjoy any of those things In fact, LaGuardia was the furthest she’d been from home in three years But hey, there was a first tiht?
Right
She nodded, psyching herself up for this After years of taking care of her fa herself half to death, she deserved this She needed this
SoSan Francisco or bust
It would work, she assured herself Getting aould allow her to find herAnd so, convinced, she strode to the ticket counter
Fifteensecurity line Surrounded by people co her laptop, her sweater, her shoes, her watch, and her bracelet and was patting herself down toout of her pockets when a TSA agent pulled her aside
“Oh,” she said, “I’ any liquids over three ounces”
The guy shrugged “Rando?”
“Yes” This hat she got for buying a last-ent started to go through her things She favored layers, especially tees and sweaters with loose skirts or yoga pants—even though she’d never been to a yoga class in her life He pawed through everything, pausing at the sight of her bunny slippers—which, hey, totally co uniform
“My three-year-old kid has these,” he said and then kept going, alternately looking up at the X-rayspecific He ris were exposed Maybe her clothes were nothing special but she did have a thing about what she wore beneath the sexy in this crazy life she’d built where she didn’t have time to actually be sexy
Luckily for his health, the agent’s stoic expression never changed No doubt he’d seen it all and couldn’t care less as he dug past her favorite peach lace bra-and-panty set, a box of tampons, and
“Ah,” he said, holding up an apple