Page 80 of Make Your Save

“Thanks,” I mumble, barely paying attention to him as I sling the bag over my shoulder and quickly rush over to one of the benches. I drop down onto it, checking the time. I need to move quickly and now I don’t have a water bottle.

Goddammit.

I dump the formula into the bottle, shoving everything back into the bag before rising to my feet again. The diaper bag hangs on my shoulder and I hold Lucy against my chest as I stride over to the closest convenience store. I luck out and find a bottle of room temperature water and promptly buy it. I pour the amount needed into the baby bottle and shake it vigorously.

Shoving the bottle of water into the bag, I take Lucy from the carrier, cradling her in one arm as I take the bottle in my other hand and slide it into her mouth. She looks up at me, her gaze soft as she begins to suckle on it. “I know, Luce. We have to hurry or we’re not going to get to her in time.”

I don’t even know where to find her.

Moving over to one of the boards, it takes me a few seconds to find her flight and which gate she’s at. Looking at my watch again, my stomach sinks. There’stwo minutes left and the gate is down a separate corridor.

“I don’t know if we’re going to make it, Luce.”

She stares at me, blinking as she continues to drink her bottle. Holding her close against me, my footsteps are rushed, my strides long, as I try to get to the gate as quickly as I can without jostling Lucy around too much. It’s such a precarious balance because the last thing I want to do is upset her or make her sick from moving her around like this while she’s trying to eat.

There’s a part of me that feels like a terrible father right now, but then there’s my heart...and I know deep down I have to find Hadley.

As I round the corner and step into the corridor where her gate is, I see the sign for the one she’s at and it’s three gates away. Just as I start to move down the hall, I hear the sound of a voice coming across the speaker from her gate.

“We’re now going to begin boarding for zone 2. Please line up by the desk and have your boarding pass ready to go.”

My stomach falls onto the floor.

Fuck.

I’m so goddamn close. I don’t know which group she’s boarding with but I can only hope she didn’t board with the first zone. My footsteps are even more rushed and I hold Lucy closer, her little hands lifting to hold on to the bottle. The movement from her isn’t intentional but my heart still constricts because it feels like she’s doing it to try and help me.

We make our way to the gate and I stop short, myeyes surveying the entire area, looking for any sight of her. My heart pounds erratically against my rib cage, threatening to break free as I try to find her. My eyes slide along the people in line, dread washing over me when I don’t see her.

I don’t see her anywhere, which means she’s already on the plane.

If I call her and she gets off the plane, she won’t be able to get back on. I’m going to completely derail her plans and I just hope she feels the same way about me, or else I’m about to fuck everything up for her.

“Rowan?”

My heart immediately stops in my chest, my breath catching in my throat. I spin around on my heel, my head whipping around as I find her standing right there. My eyes widen as shock and relief flood me. “Hadley.”

She tilts her head to the side, her eyebrows pulling together as she assesses me and Lucy with a perplexed look on her face. “What...what are you doing here?”

My nostrils expand, my heart skipping a beat in my chest. “I can’t let you get on that plane, outlaw.”

She swallows roughly, her lips parting as she lets out a soft breath. “Why?”

“Because I can’t let you go.” I pause, rolling my lips between my teeth, my tongue darting out to wet them. “I’m in love with you, Hadley, and if I let you get on that plane without telling you the truth, I don’t know that I’d ever be able to live with myself.”

Her eyes widen and she stares back at me with an unreadable expression. “You’re in love with me?”

“Yes.” I pull the bottle from Lucy’s mouth as she finishes and I notice she’s in a milk coma in my arms. I tuck the bottle in my back pocket. “I don’t know when it started, but I only realized when it was far too late. When I had already begun to fall, and now I just can’t get you out of my fucking head. You’re everywhere I turn, everywhere I look.” I pause, letting out a ragged breath. “I love you, Hadley Reed. And I don’t want you to go.”

“But you don’t need me anymore...” she says softly, her voice trailing off as tears fill her eyes.

Closing the distance between us, I reach for the side of her face with my free hand, sliding my palm against her cheek as I push my fingers through her auburn hair. “But we do,” I admit, my voice soft as my eyes probe hers. “Just not in the way we once did. We don’t need your help, but we needyou.”

Tears fall down her cheeks and I catch some with the pad of my thumb. “Please don’t get on that plane, baby. Come home with us, where you belong.” I let out a breath, emotion welling in my throat. “I want to wake up every morning with you in my bed. I want to find you curled up on the couch with Lucy tucked in your arms. I want to find you creeping in my pottery shed late at night.”

“I do not creep,” she says, laughter falling from her lips as her eyes shimmer.

“You totally do.” I chuckle, shaking my head as a smirk lifts the corner of my lips. “But I want it to be you. You’re the one who is supposed to be with me.”

---