“And now you have to leave him for two and a half days.”
“We’ll live.” I look at my watch. “Speaking of Randall, he’ll be here in a few minutes, and our taxi will arrive in ten. You ready?”
“Just need to spray my hair, but I’m waiting for you to leave so I don’t make you choke.”
“I appreciate that.”
I pack my toiletry bag into my suitcase and then carry it into the living room as Randall enters the apartment. Our eyes lock, and I drop the bag at my feet as he quickly strides across the room to me. He lifts me up, and I wrap my legs around his middle as our mouths crash together. The kiss doesn’t last nearly as long as I’d like, but when Leslie enters the room and clears her throat, Randall reluctantly releases my mouth and slides me back down to the floor.
“I’ll be in the kitchen for a minute,” Leslie says, giving us a smile as she disappears into the small galley kitchen, leaving us to say our goodbyes.
Randall cups my face in his hands. “I love you so much. Don’t you ever forget it.”
“I never will.” I rest my hands on his chest. “And don’t you forget I love you so much more. I wish I could be here with you, but if you need me, I’ll be a phone call away. Leslie left Shannon’s number for you.”
“Call me tonight after you get back from dinner with Andrea. I want to know how it goes, okay?”
I nod. “I’ll tell you every detail. And I’ll want to know how everything goes here today. I’m glad your mom is doing all right and nothing crazy happened overnight. I feel better about leaving you, knowing everything seems to be okay.” Ash called earlier to give us an update and let us know Randall would be back by the time we needed to leave.
“Me, too. Now, kiss me one more time before Leslie comes back to ruin our fun once again.”
* * *
“Leslie, we have to go home,” I say. “You can’t get on a plane like this.”
“I’ll be fine. We have to go.” Her voice is so weak, I can barely hear her.
I stand from my seat in the boarding area for our flight. “You’re not fine, and we’re not going. Nobody wants to see, hear, or smell you using a barf bag on the plane.”
She tugs me back down. “There’s nothing left inside me, so I’ll be fine.”
“You won’t be, and we don’t know if this is something contagious.” My eyes widen and I grab her hand. “Wait. You’re not pregnant, are you?”
She stares at me with wide eyes before shaking her head. “No.”
“You’re sure?”
Leslie nods. “Positive.”
“Okay,” I say. “I’m calling Randall to tell him to come pick us up.”
“No,” she says in a stronger voice. “Well, he can come get me,” she concedes, “but not you. You have to go meet Andrea and Emily. I can’t be the person responsible for that not happening.”
“I can’t go without you,” I say. “I need to stay here and make sure you’re okay since Ash can’t. And Randall won’t be happy if I go and stay with Shannon by myself.”
Leslie shakes her head vehemently. “You’re not staying here to be my nurse. And you could get a hotel room in Little Rock, but I hope you won’t. My brother isn’t going to do anything to you except be kind and drive you wherever you need to go. Randall needs to be able to deal with that and trust you.”
She’s right. “Okay. I’ll go and stay with Shannon, and you’ll go home.”
I head to the nearest pay phone to make the call. Unsurprisingly, Randall is shocked to hear my voice.
“What’s wrong?” he demands.
“Leslie’s sick. You need to come to the airport and pick her up.”
“Okay, but what—”
“Bring your sisters with you if you don’t want to leave them alone. In fact, it might work out best to bring them, because they can stay with the car while you come to the gate to get Leslie. There’s no way she’ll be able to walk out of here on her own, and I can’t help her or I’ll miss the flight. We start boarding any minute.”