“Don’t you see how fucked up that is?” I frowned at his profile, unable to believe all these months of misery had been nothing but a spoilt man-child trying to get his own way with no regards for my feelings whatsoever.
“You know me. I’m fucked up with no reason to be. Doesn’t stop me from being fucked up though.” He glanced my way one more time, and our eyes locked, no one saying a word.
Sometimes there wasn’t anythingtosay.
We were lost in translation, two grown men struggling to navigate this unknown territory.
The rest happened too quickly.
Andy had taken his eyes off the road for too long.
“Andy, look out!” was the last thing I heard Jace shout from the backseat.
I barely had time to look at the road one final time before the brakes were slammed on sharply, making my body bounce forward until the seatbelt locked into place, holding me back, and the road disappeared in front of us with only the banking up ahead growing closer and closer.
The wheels skidded on the water, making the car swerve this way and that.
The banking’s edge came into view until it disappeared behind us, leaving a steep edge for the car to hurtle down.
“Shit, shit, shit!” filled the car.
I braced my hands and arms for impact, not knowing when it would come or what laid ahead, only two thoughts racing through my mind:
Was I about to go out of this world the same way my parents had?
And would I never again get to stare into the ocean-blue eyes of the woman I’d somehow fallen in love with?
No answers came, because moments later…
Everything turned black.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Phoebe
“This is an announcement for all passengers for Flight BA421 to East Midlands airport. Unfortunately, following our last announcement, this flight has been further delayed. Please see the departures board for more details,” came a voice over the tannoy that sounded as stressed as we all felt.
“You have got to be shitting me. Another delay? How long for now?” asked Bailey, whose head rested on my lap while I remained propped up against a hard wall in the middle of the airport, my bum now so numb I wasn’t sure I’d be able to stand once we were told to board.
“Let me go see,” Rhea groaned, and we watched her push herself up before she walked over to the departure board where our flight had readDELAYEDfor the last four hours.
“We’re never going to get home at this rate,” Bailey grumbled in my lap, adjusting herself to get comfortable.
Part of me wondered if I’d been to blame for the never-ending delays in getting home, because the moment I’d known Henry had been about to say his final goodbye, I’d prayed toany god that existed to let this holiday carry on just a few hours more. For me to be able to hold him just that little bit longer. For us to be able to sneak away and devour each other just one more time.
Rhea walked back over to us, shaking her head before she slumped down next to me and rested her head on my shoulder again. “Do you want the bad news or the even worse news?”
“There aren’t any good options?” Bailey asked.
“Nope.”
“Hit me,” she groaned.
“The bad news is we’re probably going to be another four hours at best.”
Bailey sat upright and spun to face Rhea and me. “Another four hours? No. No, no. I won’t make it. What’s the even worse news?”
“I was speaking to the guy over there on the same flight. He thinks the issue isn’t the plane, it’s East Midlands airport because of some summer storm that’s hit the UK. Seems to think we might get diverted to Heathrow at this point and then asked to make our own way back to Matlock from there.”
