Page 142 of Foreplay on Words

My phone only had one bar, something interfering with the reception, but I tried to call Evan’s number back anyway. I knew I needed to hurry. They were already closing the boarding door and getting ready for takeoff.

“Come on.” It rang once, then let out several beeps and showed the call was dropped. I tried again, and it started ringing this time. It rang through, and then his voicemail picked up. “Oh, come on. Answer your phone!”

“Ma’am,” the female flight attendant stood beside the empty aisle seat, giving me an impatient look. “I’m going to have to ask you to hang up the phone. You must put your digital device in airplane mode as the cabin door has been closed for departure.”

“Just give me a second,” I begged, hating myself for being that person who didn’t obey the rules.

“I’m sorry. You’ll need to make your call after we land.” Her defensive posture as I looked down at my phone was a little intimidating, but this was time sensitive.

I pressed the call icon again, and it rang through to voicemail...again.

“Please hang up and put it in airplane mode.” Her voice took on a no-nonsense quality, and I knew I’d pushed my luck far enough.

“Okay, okay.” Swiping down, I pressed the little airplane icon and locked my phone screen.

“Thank you,” she replied, nodding before she resumed her path down the aisle.

Unlocking the screen as soon as she was out of sight, I pressed the little airplane again and scrolled through the text messages. There were several from Isobel. A few from Talia, checking in. Some from my brothers. My sister-in-law, Elle. But the one that stood out was from Nathan.

“You’re such a rule breaker,” Kristine teased as she stuck her face to the space between the seats.

“Nathan texted six hours ago and then again twenty minutes ago.”

“What do they say?” she asked eagerly in a quiet voice, trying not to attract the flight attendant’s attention again.

“I haven’t opened them.” My heart would be crushed if there still wasn’t any news.

“Better hurry before the phone police comes back,” she urged as she glanced over her shoulder.

I opened the menu, and the first made me sigh in relief.

Nathan: Found him.

But the second one made me worry.

Nathan: He finally stopped puking around 4 am. I’ll get him headed in your direction after he wakes up.

Shit. What the hell happened to him?

“Is that in airplane mode, ma’am?” She was back.

Turning my phone screen away from her, I swiped to pull down the control panel and selected the plane icon.

“It is now.” She gave me a curt nod as I flashed the screen at her with a guilty smile.

I hoped Evan would be awake by the time I got to Chicago. I fully planned on calling Nathan for some answers.

I reached for my phone when we arrived at O’Hare International Airport.

“Come on.” Groaning as I took my phone out of airplane mode, I saw I only had 3G coverage.

I pulled up Nathan’s number and hit the call button. It rang twice and then the call failed. Evan’s number now went straight to voicemail.

“No luck?” Kristine asked as she peeked over the top of the seat.

“Maybe you’ll have better reception once we get into the airport,” Sam suggested apologetically.

We waited for the plane to arrive at the gate and the attendants to announce that we could deplane. I was exhausted, still had a headache, and my phone was being difficult. Diana was waiting for us in the gate area and waved us over as we came out the door.

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