Page 26 of Forever Flirting

“No, thank you,” Everly said politely, nodding at the woman. “I appreciate it, but the only person I’ll ever fly with will be my brother.”

“Your brother is a pilot?” Mr. Petersen asked quickly with razor sharp accuracy, recovering immediately from his sudden bout of wooziness.

“Yes,” Everly said smiling. “He’s stationed overseas in the Air Force, and Killian has been doing this for a while. Why do you ask?”

“Ghazni?”

Everly hesitated and looked at the two of them nervously.

“Why?” she drawled, feeling a tremor run down her spine in understanding.

“What’s your brother’s call sign? I know a lot of guys stationed over there, and several have transitioned to work at our company, Flyboys… you are welcome to come hang out anytime.”

“Killian’s call sign is Ricochet,” she said quietly, staring at, and saw the awareness in both of their faces. “Do you know him?”

“Our friend does, and he’s in town visiting here. We were literally just talking about Ricochet last night, getting caught up with Maestro.”

“Really?” she asked in stunned disbelief. “I need to email the big goober and check on him, but I’ve been so busy that time has gotten away from me…”

“You should definitely come fly one afternoon and see what your brother does…”

“Or come over and just hang out,” Glory interjected. “We can fire up the grill and…”

“This is a little much,” Everly hesitated, smiling nervously. “I appreciate the offer, but there is such a thing as physician/patient protocols, and I’m pretty sure it’s written down somewhere in black and white that we shouldn’t be ‘hanging out’ after hours, or…”

“Just think about it,” Mr. Petersen said easily, digging out a business card from his pocket and handing it to her. “Seriously, a flight, a lesson, come hang out, whatever… and reach out to Ricochet if you need to know more about us. That’s my call sign – Alpo,” he said, pointing at the business card. “You are always welcome as Ricochet’s sister.”

“Thank you,” she said easily, realizing that they were not going to let this go until she agreed. “I appreciate that. Maybe next week… or the following?”

Be evasive, Everly…she mentally chided– and email your brother tonight.

“Now, I do have other patients that I need to get to, and I am sorry to cut this…reunion… short.”

Nodding politely, she informed them of the exit and disappeared into another examination room, quickly going through the motions, before heading back up front towards the reception desk… and freezing.

It was like watching a ghost walk past…

“Alex?” she whispered, reeling, and shook her head to clear it, realizing that maybe she had crossed a line or had a mental break, because fantasizing about the guy of your dreams casually walking past your office couldn’t be real – could it?

“Dr. Briscoe?”

“I’ll be right back, Megan…” Everly said, distractedly walking towards the front door, drawn like a magnet towards where the mirage had been. That couldn’t have been Alex! That man was carrying a child, and maybe her eyes were deceiving her.

Shoving open the door to her office, she looked down the sidewalk to see him walking – and couldn’t help it as his name exploded from her mouth without a second thought…

“Alex?”

He froze.

His whole being seemed to hesitate as he looked over his shoulder, stunned, and she felt tears sting her eyes as she realized that the guy she’d dreamed of, regretted leaving behind, or not sharing her information…

That man that had kissed her, leaving a mark on her soul, was suddenly there before her…and holding a child, Everly remembered, feeling the slap across her face almost physically, as she realized her Alex was probably married.

“Everly?” he questioned hoarsely, looking almost as shocked as she felt… and then her eyes dropped to the child.

“CALEB?” she questioned, starting forward in alarm, wondering if he had kidnapped him or…

“EBBERLLEEEE!” Caleb crowed happily, clapping his hands in excitement, blabbering on as she made out a few words that destroyed her heart, ripping it from her chest and shredding it into a million pieces. “Dadddeee taking me da’puppiessss…”

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