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His body tightened dramatically as he shot a look over at his father.

He hadn’t told his father about his brain tumor. His dad had no idea he had only a few months left to live.

Of course he was planning to tell him eventually, but he wasn’t ready yet. And if Eve started to baby him on this flight, questions would be asked.

Eve followed his gaze and cut off whatever it was she was going to say. Then she got up and walked toward the back of the plane where the attendant had gone for his coffee.

Jude didn’t know what she was doing, but at least she hadn’t made a big deal about his physical condition.

She came back at the same time as the attendant. Instead of coffee, he was offered a tall glass of ginger ale, fizzing festively over ice.

He narrowed his eyes at Eve, who met his gaze with a challenge in her expression.

He could argue. He could insist he get his way and demand the coffee he’d requested. But they’d be having the confrontation in front of his father.

Besides, the ginger ale actually looked good.

So he sipped it. Stared out the window and breathed deeply. Tried to will his headache away.

After a minute, Eve nudged his arm, so he turned back toward her. She was silently offering him a pill in her small hand.

He stared down at it.

When he lifted his gaze to her face, she gave him a glare that was almost fierce. She mouthed silently, “Take it.”

His dad had set up his laptop and was completely absorbed in his work.

With a sigh, Jude took the pill and popped it into his mouth, swallowing it down with a large sip of ginger ale.

Eve relaxed and pulled out a book.

Finally left alone, Jude stared out the window. There was nothing to see since they hadn’t yet started to move, but he looked anyway as he slowly drank his soda.

After a few minutes, he was aware of Eve shifting position beside him. She was leaning forward, trying to see out the window past him.

Without speaking, he unbuckled, stood up, and gestured her into the window seat. She smiled in surprise and moved over, and then he took the seat she’d vacated.

The pill would take effect pretty soon anyway. Since he would be sleeping, she might as well get the better view.

Jude slept through the entire flight over the Atlantic. He only woke up from the turbulence as they were landing. As always, he was confused and groggy after the medication, but his headache had mostly faded.

It felt like he’d missed everything—like he’d been out of commission for days. But Eve was still beside him, sitting up straighter and sliding her book into her bag. And his father was still working on his laptop despite the bumpy ride.

She peered at him closely as he blinked and rubbed his face.

“I’m better,” he murmured in response to her unspoken question.

She smiled, clearly relieved.

After they landed, they said goodbye to his father, who was heading toward the exit to be picked up by the hired car he’d called for.

Eve and Jude needed to go down to the train station on a lower level. They could get the train here that would take them through the channel tunnel and into France without any changes.

They each wheeled their own luggage. She had a medium-sized blue-gray suitcase with a smaller matching bag hooked to the top. Jude had a black case and his computer bag. As they walked into the more crowded areas of the airport, Eve switched the handle of her case to her other hand and moved closer to Jude.

After a few minutes, she reached over to hold on to his arm as they walked.

He glanced down at her, surprised because she wasn’t a touchy person and she’d been annoyed with him earlier.

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