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CHAPTER 1
The large roaring engines of the surrounding planes vibrated the Jetway beneathanyway, and the airlines didn’t make it any easier They funnel you down a narrow tunnel, through a narrow opening, down a narrow aisle, and then make you sit in a narrow seat where you have an elbow face-off with a stranger for a narrow armrest I’htly wrapped sushi roll My rolling suitcase that was stuffed with everything I would need for teeks in Woodfalls bounced off the heels of my feet every ti toddler Yet another part of flying that hadI didn’t have a stiff drink at the airport Chili’s before boarding Don’t get , I liked kids Heck, I plan to have ht I say "one day" because so far, I haven’t had the best luck in the dating arena, and noas returning to Woodfalls for the holidays where the pickings were pretty slim How I had allowedhouilt-fest that ensued last year that I would take a year off from holidays in Woodfalls Of course, hit nearly iuns Yeah, I’m as sure of that as I am that I’ll win the lottery It’s not like I didn’t love Woodfalls, or evenas a single gal every year Since I was a little girl, I’ve picturedour three kids--one girl and two boys--in Woodfalls Growing up,stick for me, and I knew that was the kind of relationship I wanted I always assue it would be to settle down and start a fa to Woodfalls as a wrinkly old cat lady
As I continued to inchpassengers to stuff their oversized bags into the overhead coned acceptance that eventually I would reach ot for waiting until the last ht I could have driven, but that would only givein Woodfalls longer That was one of the downfalls of being a food blogger My job could be done froot
I finally spotted ure The harriedin the row directly in front of mine That seemed to be my relationship with karuess I could survive for that long
Lifting ht Why couldn’t I learn to pack lighter? I silently chastised myself
"Here, let me," a warm masculine voice said as he reached up over me to stow my suitcase effortlessly into the overhead coht, taking in the exposed forear home wasn’t the worse idea after all Noould he be as cute as he sounded?
"Why, thank you," I drawled, twisting around so I could introduce myself to my rescuer My throat closed in onthe end of asp Cute wasn’t the issue In fact, he was downright handso back at me Of all the craptastic luck
"Hello, Ja my dismay with an amused expression
"It’s Jaabovemy head
"Whoa, careful there," he chuckled loudly "Rehed as I let out a string of sords that had theat me between the seats
Dahow things could get any more aard This is why I left Woodfalls in the first place Finding aabout me was a must The small population of Woodfalls offered limited choices for a future husband, and because everyone in town knew each other, it didn’t leavenext to me He’d seen ht years old when an unfortunate upside-down hanging atte my day-of-the-week panties For months after that Grant would ask ure that would happen around hi he was my very first crush Not that I would have ever admitted that to hih he eventually forgot about the panties, he found otten a little overzealous while plucking my eyebrohen I elve To say they were sparse would have been a pretty generous description Only a couple of hairs were left over each of my eyes That provided Grant with ammunition for weeks I went hoain I even crossed out his na with all the little hearts I had drawn in er existed At leastand Grantwith Amanda Halt For years after that, I pretty ht I was okay with until Grant and A freshut Sure, it was years later, but technically, I was the reason he noticed her in the first place I felt like I should have had dibs or so, I turned uys in town, but none of the senior year, after the typical round robin uys in Woodfalls just didn’t have what I was looking for I knew all of the So, I left Woodfalls the first opportunity I got and vowed not to return until I had found the perfect guy for me
"How’s the head, Ja into the seat next to me
"It’s fine," I lied My head was throbbing like a tequila hangover "What are you doing on this plane?" I asked ungraciously as he stretched out his long legs in the craroo amused
"Ha-ha, smart-ass I meant, why aren’t you in Woodfalls?"
"Wait, this isn’t Woodfalls?" he teased
"Hilarious Are you ever serious?"
"Not if I can help it I was out of town for business Man, how crazy is it that we end up on the saht?" he threw back at me
"Yeah, crazy Of all the planes in all the world," I said, tapping an to roar louder The plane slowly backed away fro fordown the runway followed by the instant acceleration and the ascent into the air always makes my stomach drop to my ankles I wanted to run down the aisle and flail at the door until they let hs Once we reached our cruising altitude, I would be fine Continuing the death grip onin my head It was a ritual that helped me cope with my nerves Usually, by the time I hit the last line ell into the sky
"You okay, Ja inmy eyes and continued with h revving engines The worst part was upon us We were putting our fate in the hands of so me back into my seat and I felt the tires lift off the tarmac
Grant reached for my hand, but I didn’t have the willpower at the et in the air The song inits last chorus, and at any ain Thenon top of hbump made our plane lurch forward The seatbelt bit intodoll Sos shooting out A poor old man in the aisle seat ts up held his nose with blood dripping fro suitcase dropped fro into ripped the arh the plane as we took a sudden nosedive toward the rune had just left The toddler in front of me shrieked I wanted to join his The nose of the plane sla sound of ers Allto die It was my worst fear I was stuck in this le The plane continued to race down the runway as e fell from the overhead compart debris Eventually, the plane’s momentum stalled and we finally shuttered to a stop Gasps of pain by those who had been hit by flying luggage could be heard throughout the aircraft, but the sighs of relief that ere not going to die was much louder