Page 61 of Forever Player

As the plane takes off, Maylee begins to cry.

“Here, I got her,” I offer Willow because she is holding Maylee, and I can see how nervous she is. She passes her to me and Maylee settles for a bit, but as we takeoff my baby isn’t happy. As the plane makes its ascent, she is in full-blown crying mode and Willow is sweating it.

A flight attendant comes up to us. “Her ears may be bothering her. Does she have a soother or maybe a bottle she can suck on? It would help with the pressure she is probably feeling in her ears.”

“Thanks, yes,” Willow replies.

Willow gives her the soother but she is so worked up she spits it out.

Truth is, both Willow and I are sweating over our baby girl being so unhappy. Willow warms a bottle for her and passes it to me, just as the seat belt sign is turned off.

“Thanks, I’ll walk with her.” I stand and begin to walk up the aisle, rocking her gently in my arms. When her cries subside, I slip the bottle in her mouth and start to sing the sunshine song to her. She settles in my arms as I walk up and down the aisle singing, “You Are My Sunshine” to my baby girl. Almost every woman on the plane smiles at me as I pass them. The elderly ones smile too. All I care is that Maylee is settled and happy. As she sucks her bottle I sing. It’s a tactic I used back on the farm when there were nights she was overtired and hungry and couldn’t settle herself.

When I return to sit down, Willow is a lot more relaxed. “Thanks, Brett.”

“Please don’t thank me. She’s my kid, it’s obvious I’ll be there to soothe her and take care of her.”

“It still feels good to have the help. It was stressful knowing I had to soothe her all on my own. I kept questioning if I was doing things right. I mostly referred to books to get information and it felt very alienating. It’s a relief to have your help,” she shares. I realize how hard that confession must have been for her because what I have learned of Willow these last couple weeks is that she is fiercely independent, and she doesn’t know how to ask for help, maybe because help was never really available to her.

“I’m here for you and Maylee. I meant what I said. I have to go back to work, but I am a phone call or a plane ride away. You need me. I’ll be there,” I assure her.

She sighs. “This friendship is going to work for us.”

I don’t want to rain on her parade, but I see her as more than a friend.

“I’m aiming for more than friendship here, Honey, unless I have things wrong because I don’t want to take any of my friends’ clothes off, yet I keep thinking of you in compromising positions and. . .”

She holds up her hand and squirms in her seat.

I lean into her ear. “By the way you’re squirming right now, I hope you brought that little toy I gave you with you to New York.”

She swallows hard and takes a breath. Her eyes turn from heated to focused. “Brett, we can’t go there anymore. We have to stay platonic. We are getting along and that needs to continue for Maylee’s sake.”

Damn, she is stubborn.

I don’t reply to that statement because I simply don’t agree with her. I also don’t want to overwhelm her with thoughts of a relationship with me.

Willow leans her head back and takes a little nap. I take the time to relax, watching my daughter sleep. Her little inhales and exhales have me fixated on her. She is my little miracle. She’s perfect and I feel so much love I didn’t know I was capable of feeling. It makes me think back to all those months in New York when I was thinking of Willow and wondering where she disappeared. Her not showing up to Connor and Ellie’s wedding makes a whole lot of sense. Reality was, I was pining for this woman. I stopped sleeping around because of her. Hell, I even tried to hook up, but I had no interest because all I could do was think about how good we were together and no one else could ever match up.

The pilot announces our descent. Maddie said she would be waiting for us in the airport, even though I told her we would take an Uber. We are landing in the evening so she is done with school for the day and so is Asher. I just hope Willow won’t feel overwhelmed because Maddie’s excitement about meeting Willow was palpable through the phone. My sister is curious about the woman I became preoccupied with, even when she wasn’t around. It’s not something I’ve done before.

I place my hand on Willow’s thigh and give it a squeeze. She stirs, opening her eyes. “We’re landing soon, beautiful.”

“Okay.” She blows out a breath and grips the armrests.

“This is a new chapter for us. I’m going to do my best to make you happy,” I say to her.

She watches me warily. When you’ve never had someone to rely on it’s hard to trust, and I can understand that.

The plane lands. I’m grateful Maylee stayed sleeping peacefully in my arms. When the plane stops and everyone scrambles to disembark, I pass Maylee to Willow and she wakes up. I retrieve our carry-on baggage from the overhead bin and we head to the front of the plane to wait off to the side so we can get Maylee’s stroller.

“My sister, Maddie, and my nephew, Asher, are waiting for us,” I say in a by-the-way tone. “I told her we would rather take an Uber but she wasn’t having it.”

“Will all our stuff fit in her car?” Willow asks.

“Definitely, she’s driving an Escalade,” I say since Kaleb insisted she stop driving her mom mobile, which was falling apart.

“Okay cool.” Willow seems calm.

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