Page 83 of Come Fly with Me

“How?” she says. “I mean, you either are or you aren’t. It’s actually pretty simple.”

I take a deep breath as I shove a hand through my hair, knowing it’s not as simple as Carrie thinks, but not wanting to explain it to her in detail when I haven’t even had a chance to tell Taylor yet.

“Look, it’s a long story and one I’m happy to explain to you, but I’d really like to explain it to Taylor first, if that’s okay with you.”

Charlie stands now and mirrors his wife’s pose. “You still married?”

I exhale. “The divorce papers have been filed,” I tell him. “They should’ve been signed and filed a year ago, but she,” I pause before adding, “my ex was being a pain in the arse about it all.” I scrub a hand across my jaw, knowing this is far more than I expected to tell them. “It should be finalized by the end of the month.”

Charlie stares at me for a second or two longer before finally nodding as he uncrosses his arms and sits back down. “She’s in Alaska,” he says.

“Charlie!” Carrie yells. “Why did you tell him that?”

Charlie rolls his eyes as he looks up at his wife. “She needs to give him a chance to explain, Care, even you said that. He seems remorseful and technically he’s not going to be married soon, so…”

“So, you’re okay with him lying to her about it all this time?” she chimes in.

“Ah, guys,” I say, not really wanting to witness an argument about why I’m such a dickhead.

Charlie and Carrie both stop and look at me, Charlie seemingly relaxed, while Carrie is still giving off an “I hate Jake Campbell” vibe. I actually don’t blame her. On face value, it does look like I’m a total arsehole and she’d be right to protect Taylor from me. But it truly is far more complicated than what either of them think and I really just need them to give me a chance to explain it to Taylor so she can hopefully understand.

Scrubbing my hand across my jaw again, I say, “Look, I know this looks bad, seriously, I do know that.” I pause, shoving my hands in my pockets as I look from Charlie to Carrie. “But you need to know that it’s complicated, it’s not a simple explanation and also, that I haven’t been with my wife for over a year.”

“So you’re separated?” Carrie asks.

I nod. “Yeah, we are We have been for a year,” I tell her. “But it’s also more than that,” I add. “And like I said, I’m happy to explain it to you both once I’ve told Taylor.”

“Sounds reasonable to me,” Charlie says, placing a hand on Carrie’s arm.

She glances down at him before looking back at me, her face softening a little as she uncrosses her arms and loses a little of the hostility. “Are you really serious about Taylor?” she eventually asks, a look of worry on her face now.

I take another deep breath, letting it out in a long slow exhale. “I love her, Carrie,” I admit. “It terrifies me that I might lose her because of this.”

Carrie nods, offering me the tiniest of smiles as though she approves of my answer. “Okay, she’s away for another week,” she says. “She’s flying to New York and Boston, I think, after Alaska. I don’t remember all the details, but I know she’s back in a week. She’s staying at our place because she knows you’ll come looking for her.”

I nod, still trying to work out how I can get her to listen to me.

“When she comes back,” Carrie continues, her words a little cautious now as she looks at Charlie, who only nods. “We can set something up so you can speak to her.”

I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. “Thank you,” I say. “Thank you for helping me, for believing in me.”

Carrie cocks an eyebrow at me. “It better be a damn good explanation, Jake,” she says, once again crossing her arms. “And I hope you realize you’ll be making this up to her for the rest of your life!”

I chuckle, grateful Taylor has these two people in her life. “Don’t you worry, I intend to.”

Two days later, I’m heading into the airport feeling better than I did when I was last here. While my problems have in no way been solved, at least I have a plan for talking to Taylor.

I know Carrie and Charlie are only looking out for her, and honestly, I’m glad they are. But I’m also really fucking glad they are willing to take a chance on me and help when it comes to talking to Taylor. We haven’t worked out all the details for how that will happen just yet, but I know it’s going to, and for now that is enough.

I grab the paperwork for my flight to Miami before heading into the lounge to sort through it. I’m flying with a Captain Reece Cook today, which is good. We haven’t flown together before, but I’ve heard he’s one of the good guys.

I settle down with a coffee as I wait for him to arrive. Behind me are a group of pilots, laughing and chatting about their upcoming flights and which flight attendants they have on board.

It’s gross listening to them, but I don’t move, just try to block them out. However, my ears prick up when I hear one of them say, “Oh, did you hear about Taylor?”

I feel my body stiffen, but force myself not to turn around, not wanting to give away the fact that I’m listening to their conversation. I have no idea what they’re about to say, no idea if it’s going to be about me and her or something else.

“No, what?” one of them says.

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