Page 21 of Something Blue

Henry nodded at her in the rearview mirror. “Nice to meet you. I’m Henry.”

“You’re a chauffeur, aren’t you?”

“I’m Henry,” he said stiffly.

“And how do you two know each other?”

“Friend of the family,” he said, catching Andy’s eyes.

Was he trying to give away everything?

Andy sighed and motioned for Henry to drive. Despite being found out, he grinned. She was too sharp to miss Henry’s stiff demeanor. He pointed as they passed the hospital. “Nice and convenient.”

She nodded and bit her lip. “That was an important factor.” It seemed like there was more to it, but he didn’t ask.

The ride was painfully silent, and though he tried to carry on small chit-chat, it wasn’t in the cards. They checked into their flight without any issue, and by the time they passed security and found their gate, the attendant was already pre-boarding priority members.

Sadie looked down at her ticket. “First class? I’ve never sat in the front of the plane, much less a priority seat.”

He smiled as she looked toward the gate with excitement. “Oh boy, you’re easy to please.” She slapped his arm playfully then stalked down the ramp.

Instead of settling into his seat and conking out, or pretending to, he watched her every move as she admired the plush seats and extra foot room.

“Would you like to order a meal?” an attendant asked, stopping next to them. He passed her a menu.

“Is it free?” she whispered loud enough for him to hear. After the attendant gave a polite nod, she pointed to a choice on the menu and handed it back.

He stifled a laugh. A stray hair starting to curl bounced across her cheek, and a strong urge to move it rose inside of him. He reached out a hand, but she turned suddenly and his finger jabbed into her nose instead.

“Hey,” she said, pushing his hand away.

“You had some breakfast on your nose,” he lied.

“I didn’t eat this morning. Flying makes me nervous.”

Instead of giving her a reassuring hug like he wanted to, he reached for his complimentary throw-up bag and gave it to her. “You can have mine too.” He added a smirk to let her know he was joking.

She snorted and batted it away. “No thanks. I refuse to throw up on a plane. A few minutes of shut eye will help.” She pushed back against the seat and closed her eyes.

After they were in the air, he pulled out his laptop to do some work, when suddenly a hand came down, closing the screen. “Your mom made me promise not to let you work.” After saying her piece, she closed her eyes again.

He tapped her shoulder until she glared at him. “When did you and Mom talk about me?” he asked, batting his eyelashes. “I didn’t know I was such a hot topic.”

“It was around the time you and your dad were talking about me.”

His jaw dropped. “What exactly did you hear?”

“Pretty much what you laid out in the contract. No commitment. This is a business transaction and nothing else.”

Well, that wasn’t so bad. He waited for her to say more, but she excused herself to the bathroom. As his work glared back at him, he pictured his mother chatting with Sadie. The thought made him smile. He sighed and put away his laptop. He wasn’t sure what a full vacation would be like. No work and no responsibilities. Just be a good boyfriend. If it was that easy, why was he still nervous?

A few minutes later, Sadie came back. She took a pill with some water and leaned back. “Wake me up if I snore.”

“Okay,” he said, chuckling.

The pill did its job in minutes, and soon she was out. The flight was a little disappointing after that. He tried watching a movie, eating a snack, and even pulling out his laptop, hoping it would wake her, but she never stirred. His eyes grew heavy, and when he opened them a little later, the plane was dim and noises sounded all around him.

His chair shook and the plane lurched to the left before righting itself again. He looked over to see if it’d woken up Sadie, but she was already leaning forward, breathing into a throw-up bag.

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