Page 85 of Cognac & Cornflowers

“You’re going to ask him that the first time you meet him?”

“You don’t think I should?”

“Far be it from me to tell you what to do, but you might want to give them a chance to get to know you first.”

“I plan to.”

Slade nodded, but he’d made Jacob wonder if perhaps he shouldn’t rush it. It would probably make sense for him to spend more time with her parents – to visit them a few times before he asked, but he didn’t want to.

Slade slapped his shoulder. “Don’t look so sad! I didn’t say that youshouldn’task them yet. Knowing you, you’ll win them over just by being you.”

“Yeah.” Jacob took his phone out and checked it. There was still nothing from Becca. He wanted to talk to her. He could hardly ask her if she thought he should wait before he asked for her parents’ blessing. He didn’t want her to know that he was asking them. But he wanted to hear from her. Wanted to know that she’d landed safely, and that she was okay.

He tapped out a text.

Jacob: Hey! I hope you had a good flight.

Let me know that you arrived safely.

Say hi to your folks from me, and tell them I’m sorry

I can’t be there until Sunday. I miss you.

He stared at the screen, hoping that she might get straight back to him, but the screen went dark while he waited.

Slade pursed his lips as he put his own phone away. “I’ve got nothing either. I would have thought that they’d be there by now.”

“Yeah. Her folks were probably waiting for her and took her straight home. She’ll be in touch when she can.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Becca couldn’t stop shaking for the whole flight. She kept rerunning in her head everything Jamie had said. She had no idea what he meant, but she knew that Jacob wouldn’t ever think that she’d slept with him. He knew her better than that – and he knew Jamie better than that. Even if he tried to make something up and tell him lies, Jacob wouldn’t believe him.

She fastened her coat and unfastened her seat belt as the plane started to descend. Looking out the window, she could see landmarks she recognized. She just hoped that her folks had found the private side of the airport and that they’d be there waiting for her like they usually were whenever she landed. She really needed them this time. She didn’t know what the private airport here in Dodge would be like, but if it was anything like the one in Oakland, there wouldn’t be a crowd of people she could lose herself in.

She kept a wary eye on the cockpit door when the plane touched down and taxied off the runway. She was dreading seeing Jamie come out. She just wanted to get off the plane and get away from him. She longed to tell Jacob about what he’d said, but she’d already made a deal with herself that she’d wait. He had enough on his plate, and she didn’t want him to be worried about her or mad at Jamie while he was at the funeral. That just wouldn’t be fair.

She sat on the edge of the seat as the plane approached the line of jets that stood waiting. It amazed her that she’d never known before today that Dodge even had a private side of the airport – let alone that there could be so many people here with their own planes.

She jumped when the cockpit door opened, but relaxed when she saw that it was Brent who came out.

He smiled at her pleasantly enough. She’d guess that he didn’t even know what Jamie had done when he came out here earlier.

“I hope you had a pleasant flight, Miss Taylor?”

She just stared at him. Did he really not know?

His smile faded. “Was everything okay? The company strives to provide top-notch service to all our customers. If …”

“Everything was fine, thank you. Can you open the door now?”

He gave her a puzzled look but nodded. “Of course.”

She kept watching the cockpit door while he let the steps down, but it didn’t open; Jamie didn’t come out.

As soon as Brent nodded at her, she bolted for the door and down the steps.

“I’ll be right there with your bag,” he called after her.

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