Page 82 of Sassy Love
“N—no, she goes to her sister’s place. It would just be us.”
“Sure. We all good, then?”
“I don’t know, I can’t think straight... Why didn’t you tell me about Ruby?”
“I didn’t know you were a fan.” He shrugs. “Come on, Princess, let me ride off with you into the sunset. Just this once. It’s for a good cause.”
Now I find my composure and roll my eyes at him. “Does that line really work, Lawson?”
He chuckles, and the biggest smile stretches his face. “I wouldn’t know, never used it before.”
“Mills, make sure to pack your extra charger for your phone. And your medication bag,” I call out from my bedroom, busily throwing anything I could need for a Thanksgiving dinner and ranch life into my luggage.
God, never thought that sentence would run through this head. Ever.
“Got them, Mom.”
I smile at her comeback. Cheeky little lady.
When we’re both ready for the airport, I order an Uber. We stand in the foyer of our building as we wait.
“You won’t do anything I wouldn’t do, will you, sweetheart?” Mills looks up at me, patting my cheek.
“Absolutely not. Besides, is there anything you wouldn’t do?”
“Touché.” Her eyebrows lift. “I mean it. You look after yourself, and if his family is no good, you come home, okay?”
“It’s only a couple of nights, Mills. Not a month. Besides, I doubt they’ll be around much. We have a ton of work to get done. It’s a work weekend.”
“Sure, honey. Sure.”
The smile on her face doesn’t slip. Not for the whole Uber ride to the airport nor when we check in and drop our luggage off. I’m about to text Lawson when he appears by my side. “Ready to get lost in the middle of nowhere?” he whispers into my ear.
Millie’s eyes light up, and I give her a harrowing glare before the smile I’m tamping back slips.
The PA calls for the Florida flight passengers, gold class, and I walk Mills to her gate. “I’ll pick you up in a week, okay?”
“I’ll be here, sweetheart.”
I fold her into a hug. I always hate our one week a year apart. I know it’s silly, but it feels like I met this wonderful woman too late. And the time we have left is finite. So much so that any time apart makes me nervous.
“You better be, Mills.”
She pats my cheek again and pulls the handle up on her small carry-on. With a wave to us both, she makes her way to the small line at Gate 5.
“Bye,” I whisper.
The gate agent takes her ticket, and she passes the roped off area. Before disappearing, Mills turns back, and her cheeky smile is back on her face as she lifts a hand to her forehead. Is she tipping a nonexistent hat?
Good lord, she’s so corny. But a chuckle leaves my lips, and her eyes light up as she looks to my left and smiles.
Right at Lawson.
I stare at the dwindling line of strangers at Gate 5, and jerk with a start when the PA announces our flight.
Great Falls, Montana, here we come.
“Ready for this, Princess?”
