Page 30 of That First Flight

“I need to pee,” Mackenzie announces before she races off to the restroom.

Macey laughs. “She had zero caffeine. But she’s very excited about this next adventure.”

I throw my arm around her shoulders, forgetting that whenever I make contact with her, my body lights up. I half regret it and half welcome it the second we make contact. I feel her shoulders tense under me and I wonder if she feels it too.

I lean in, bringing my lips dangerously close to her ear. “So… what’s this I hear about you saying yes?”

“I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. But I made a resolution, a wish, if you will, when the ball dropped. Whatever you want to call it.” She shakes her head, waving off the thoughts. “But I told myself I would be open to more opportunities this year and finally stop sitting idle and chase what IthinkI deserve.”

“Not what you think.” I turn Macey’s body around, tipping her chin the slightest bit. God, what I would give to feel her lips on mine right now. But I won’t cross that road with her. “It’s what youdodeserve, dragonfly.”

Her eyes flutter closed. “Are you absolutely sure this is okay?”

“I wouldn’t have offered it if it wasn’t.”

“I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

I can’t believe I’m doing this either. I can’t believe I’m allowing someone who affects me this much, to enter my space, my home. But there’s something inside me that wants to be the one to give Macey everything she deserves in life.

Our spell is broken when Mackenzie comes barreling out of the restroom with a small backpack on her back, ready to go.

For the next half-hour, we eat lunch, talking about all the things Mackenzie wants to see first in the city. Once we’re all done and the truck is loaded with Mackenzie comfortable in the backseat, I put the truck in drive and hit the main road.

“I have one very important question for the ride,” I ask Mackenzie through the rear view mirror.

“Hit me.”

“What’s the playlist for the drive?”

“Taylor Swift! Duh!” she says at the same time I toss her the auxiliary cord and allow her to plug in her music.

“A girl after my own heart.”

I keep my eyes fixed on the road in front of me, fighting like hell to avoid this dangerous feeling swarming my gut that these two might already have me wrapped around their fingers.

Oliver caught me completely off guard when he started belting more than half of the Taylor Swift songs that Mackenzie played. The last thing I expected was this man to be a total Swiftie, but here we are.

Mackenzie saved the best song on the entire playlist for last, she says, “Welcome to New York.”

The decision to leave Roxbury with Oliver did not come lightly. I barely slept going through the pros and cons of doing this. He’s technically a stranger to us, and I mean, what if he is a serial killer?

I replayed every interaction with him and tried to see if there were any red flags, but I couldn’t find a single one. My stomach didn’t do any weird flips like it normally would when I get a bad energy from someone, and I know that feeling all too well. My body can immediately pick up when someone feels off. Call it mom instinct.

After spending hours upon hours of debating if this was the right decision, it felt like the right thing to do.

I was nervous and a total ball of anxiety when I got in his truck though. All of that changed once we got on the highway. We talked about all the things we can do in the city and a little bit about his brothers and sister, who sound so fun. I kept my past to myself because it’s not something I wanted to scare him with.

Thankfully, Mackenzie didn’t mention grandma and grandpa or our life in Montana. She was more fixated on talking about Flora and Samuel and learning about Oliver's life. I’m thankful for her curious brain, because hearing about him relaxed any fears I have about temporarily moving in with him.

The sound of her belting out the chorus is drowned out by the lights blinding my vision in front of me as we enter the heart of the city. I sit up taller in my seat and lean forward, rolling the window down to look out and scan every direction I can as the lights flash, people walk and cars buzz by.

The cold air hits my face and the city is much louder than I expected. People talking and screaming, horns blaring because someone didn’t go through a yellow light.

I turn around to see if Mackenzie is seeing the same thing I’m seeing, and sure enough, she has the biggest smile plastered on her face as she looks up in wonder.

Such a small girl in the big city.

It’s one thing to see this place online or in photographs, but it’s a whole new thing to see it for yourself. My insides swirl with anticipation and any exhaustion I was feeling is gone, with the wind flying through my hair. My mouth parts and tears sting my eyes that after all these years, after never being able to stop thinking about this.

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