Page 85 of Substitute for Love

“And?” Doreen held out the word.

“Uh, my flight got canceled. Bad storm in D.C. I’m guessing I’ll need to reschedule.”

“Gabe, no. I meant when Avery dropped you off, how was your goodbye?”

He navigated the chaos of people going every direction, turning from the terminal towards the exit that would take him downstairs and outside. “Our goodbye? Terrible.”

“So I hand her to you on a silver platter, and you don’t take the opportunity? Gabe!”

His mouth opened wide. “Wait, how long have you been planning out my relationship with Avery, Doreen?”

She laughed. “Wouldn’t you like to know? By the way, if you were wondering, yes, Miss Williams is subbing today. In art class.”

Immediately, he imagined her picking up a sub binder and welcoming students into class. If he had stayed, he might be subbing next door, figuring out ways to pop in and talk to her all day.

“Gabe? You there?”

He shook his head. “Yeah, here.” Gabe rounded the corner and exited past security, realizing he’d have to figure out his luggage, but if he got a flight later today or even one tomorrow, he figured it would be fine to come early and grab the luggage then.

What mattered now was what he was going to do next.

“I need your help, Doreen. I’ll call you when I pull up to the school. Say 30 minutes?”

His heart pumped as he raced, partially from moving quickly but mostly from what he was about to do. Was it crazy? Yeah, it was.

Was Avery worth it? Definitely.

Quickly he tapped through his phone, pulling up a ride share app and setting his destination for the school, then headed outside.

His phone pinged again. Another text from Avery. Oh! He practically floated over the crosswalk towards the ride share waiting area. She had texted earlier when he was at the gate, but he was too consumed with his cancelled flights to take a look.

A third text from Avery. What was going on? Was she okay? His heart pounded is his chest. The ride share app pinged, and Gabe glanced up to find the car approaching. He threw his carry-on in the trunk and got in the backseat.

“Just getting into Phoenix?” the driver asked as he pulled away from the curb.

Gabe put his seatbelt on, a smile spreading across his face as he remembered the time Avery had taken off his seatbelt outside the medical clinic. Their cheeks had been touching, and it hadtaken every ounce of his self-control not to kiss her right then. Maybe he should have. So many missed opportunities since he met her. But no more. Whether Avery loved him back, he was going to take a risk and tell her.

“No, my flight was canceled,” Gabe said, giddy.

The driver peered at him from the rearview. “And you’re…excited?”

Gabe nodded. “Uh huh. You see, I didn’t take the chance to tell Avery I love her when she dropped me off. So now I’m going straight to her and tell her now.”

Navigating from the onramp to the freeway heading west, the driver nodded. “Wow. That’s great.”

Gabe looked down at his phone. Okay. Now he had two seconds to open the texts from Avery and read them. He scanned the first one… the second one… then the third one. His heart melted into a puddle onto the floor, and he sniffed back tears.

“You doing okay back there?” the driver asked.

Gabe let out the kind of laugh that results from a joy so full that it causes tears. “Yeah. More than okay. Can I read you the texts she just sent?”

Chapter 28: Avery

Friday September 11, 7:30 AM

Pulling into Desert Scorpion High School, Avery instinctively searched for Gabe’s truck, thought she knew it wouldn’t be there. Her heart broke again. As she pulled into a parking spot, she thought that even if he were coming in, Gabe wouldn’t arrive before her, anyway. Avery laughed. She missed him already. A hole was forming in her heart.

Pulling down the visor, Avery glanced at her eyes. Still red from crying. She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes, then put on her sunglasses.

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