*          *          *

I tapped my Driver’s License impatiently against the rope keeping us travelers in line.  I looked down at my watch as the line inched forward again.  Twenty minutes until take off.  Great.  Please, don’t let them leave me.  I cannot miss this flight.  Lydia will kill me if I don’t make it home tonight.

“Thank you,” I said as I took back my license and hurried up the stairs looking for my terminal.  I hurried down the long hallway looking for terminal C and nearly slumped in gratitude when I was that passengers were still being let onto the plane.  I ran forward and handed over my boarding pass to the attendant.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Carlin.  Your seat was given to a standby passenger.”

“What?  Why?  I’m here.”  It was all I could do not to stomp me foot in frustration but the little voice of reason in my head that sounded suspiciously like Lydia admonished me that 29 year-old women don’t do that.  It’s funny that Lydia was just the reason I could NOT let that plane take off without me.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but we began boarding almost thirty minutes ago.  Our policy dictates that-”

Not wanting to listen to him babble on about airline policy, I cut him off.  “Are there no more seats?  I’ll sit on the floor if I have to.”

“I don’t believe so but I’ll check.”

I followed him to the console, praying that he would have good news for me.  Someone up there must really like me or maybe they just felt the pain I would go through if I had to slit my wrists to escape Lydia’s ranting.

“We do have one seat available in first class but I have to warn you.  You’ll be sitting next to a woman with kids.”

“I’ll take it.  Do I have to pay for the upgrade?”  I mentally did a little dance as he shook his head and began walking me back to the door.

“No, ma’am.  This one will be on us because the way that kid was bawling, you’ll be asking for a discount long before you leave New York.”

I nearly laughed before I noticed that he was frightfully serious.  I began to reconsider the idea that avoiding a shouting match with my girlfriend was worth being trapped next to a crying baby for hours. 

I walked with dread toward the plane and more than ten feet from the door, I began to hear the crying.  I handed over my carry-on to the stewardess who took my ticket and pointed me to a seat in the middle aisle where I could see a little girl, thump in her mouth, jumping up and down.  Heaving a sigh, I walked forward and to my right I saw a dark-haired woman trying to rock a very loud baby to sleep.  I looked to the little girl and smiled.

“May I get past you to sit down?”

She nodded, smiling shyly, as she moved to lean against the back of the chair.  I scooted past her and sat down.

“Hi, my name is Danielle.”  She held out the hand that she had just pulled out of her mouth as she greeted me.

She was just so cute, I barely winced as I shook the hand that glistened with her saliva.  “Hi, I’m Spencer.  Nice to meet you.”

“Spencer?”

A shock went through my body when I heard raspy and very shocked voice whisper my name.  I looked past Danielle to the woman still unsuccessfully trying to calm the baby.  I hadn’t seen her in years but Ashley still had the ability to take my breath away.  She was clearly haggard and she looked as if she hadn’t slept in weeks, but she was gorgeous.  We stared at each without speaking for a few seconds that felt like hours, our eyes roaming each hungrily, before Danielle tapped me on the shoulder.

I blinked twice before breaking my eyes away from Ashley and I looked at Danielle who was still standing on her seat.

“Do you have some Bourbon?  My Auntie Ashley needs it to put the baby to sleep.”

Shocked, I whipped my head back to Ashley who gasped audibly, her eyes widen nearly to the size of saucers.