Page 38 of Winner Takes All

“We’ll get that to you,” she assures us. “We’re going to be lifting off again after fueling so we can get you guys home.”

“Sounds good to me,” I tell her.

We don’t take off for another hour, but I have the address in my hand so I can keep my promise to the little girl. I pray all will turn out well. I settle back into my seat, leaning on Victor. TodayI got to see another side of him, another reason to fall more in love. He’s mine, and I intend to keep it this way.

Chapter Nineteen

Nikki

As we cross the city lines into town, I inhale deeply. I’ll forever be grateful for the Bahamas and I definitely want to go back again to see my new friends who became a part of my family after spending two weeks with them, but Seaville is definitely home. It’s the place that always calls me back. I might make a lot of jokes about living in paradise, but I already do. There are many paradises all over the world. I want to visit them all. Then, at the end of my adventures, this is where I’ll come back to.

I’ve never understood the need for people to move away from home. I long to explore... and there should be a period of time we all do this... but why would anyone want to raise their family without their community with them? What’s so great about moving from one home to another? Seriously.

People always make comments that’s it so sad for someone who never leaves home. Why is that a bad thing? What makes one town better than another? What makes one state better than another? Well, okay, some places are better if you look at resources alone. But for those who want to move from one city to the next, I don’t see much difference. I don’t know why my mind goes down these paths. I hope it never stops though. I lovequestioning myself, love making changes in my life. I really love knowing who I am.

The familiar scent of home is a refreshing welcome as we step from our vehicle. It feels like a warm hug wrapping around us. The sunsets might look a little different here, but we’re all looking at the same sky no matter where we are. Tonight I’ll lie beneath the stars and know my friends a long way away are doing the same.

“Are you hungry?” Victor asks. It’s been a very long day and a half of traveling after our emergency stop.

“I’m always hungry. Mermaid Café?”

“Of course,” he says with a chuckle. “I’m sure there will be lots of hugs coming our way. Stepping away from home for two weeks might as well be a lifetime to our neighbors.”

We make our way down the street and soon arrive at our favorite gathering place in town. Even when Victor’s restaurant opens, we’ll still come here. It’s a beacon for this town. There’s plenty of room for both restaurants. As soon as we walk inside, we get a chorus of happy greetings.

“Look who found their way home,” Amelia says from behind the counter. “The island adventurers return.”

Sasha, who’s sitting at a corner table with Sia, jumps up and rushes over. “Yahoo. We’ve missed you!” she says as she rushes forward and hugs us both.

“We weren’t gone that long,” I tell her with a laugh.

“It seemed like forever,” Sia says.

“You travel all of the time now,” I point out at her.

“That’s different. This timeyouleft,” she says with laughter.

“We’ll be doing it again. It was amazing.”

“Maybe we all need to travel together. Then it will be perfect,” Sia says.

“I agree. Let’s make our next trip to Greece. That would be phenomenal.”

“I’m in,” both Sia and Sasha say at the same time. Victor and I sit, more than eager to plan out our next trip.

Robert’s sitting at the counter and turns. “Heard you two made quite the impression up in the skies,” he calls out.

“How in the world did you hear about that?” I ask.

Sia grins, pulling out her phone. “We did more than hear about it. Check this out.” She presses play on a video, and suddenly there we are... on the local news in Texas where we made our emergency landing. I watch in awe as a reporter interviews the passengers from our flight, talking about the entire event. It then cuts to the woman Victor helped, who’s sitting in her hospital bed with a smile on her face.

“He was so calm,” the woman says, her voice filled with gratitude. “He saved my life. He’s a real hero.”

I feel a wave of pride rush through me as the camera cuts to Ethan and Monica. They’re beaming at the camera. “We were really scared,” Ethan says. “But, the real nice lady, Nikki, stayed with us and gave us some chocolate and said she’s sending my sister her super special Wonder Woman doll. She made us feel okay, and reminded us we’re our mom’s superheroes so we were strong.”

Tears spring to my eyes at these words. It’s absolutely beautiful. The camera turns back to the mom. “Thank you to both, Victor and Nikki. I hope you see this, and hope you know how much you mean to me and the kids. Thanks could never be enough, but thank you.”

The reporter finishes up, and the video stops. The café erupts into applause and cheers and I feel my cheeks burning. Victor’s grinning like a fool as he squeezes my hand. “You were the real hero. Those children will never forget you,” he tells me. “I didn’t know about the doll.” His brows rise, and I flush a little more. Now, everyone in town will know about my secret obsession.

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