Flying Home Read Free

serious. A glitch. You know how it goes.” He checked the watch on his wrist. “Soon. They said it was almost done. Should be up in half an hour at the most.”
    While he was speaking, Merry saw a security guard approach the man, then hesitate before he reached out to tap the stranger on the shoulder. At first the man kept talking. “You, too. I’ll call when I get a chance.” The guard tapped his shoulder again, and the man turned to him, but still spoke into the phone as he held up a forefinger to acknowledge the guard. “Let me know if I can help. I have to go,” he said, finishing the call. “What is it?” he asked. The guard straightened a bit before speaking.
    “Are you Mr. Gage Carson?” He nodded and the guard looked relieved. “They sent me to let you know the work’s done on your ride, and you’ve been cleared to take off in the next half hour.”
    Merry didn’t hear the rest of the conversation between the two men as she stared at Gage Carson. A miracle? She couldn’t believe the luck or Fate or serendipity or whatever was at work here.
    Gage Carson. The man, dressed like a roughhewn working cowboy, was the adult version of a young teenager she’d known over twenty years ago in Wolf Lake. Well, she hadn’t actually known him, but she’d seen him enough around town with his two brothers, and she knew of him. Everyone knew the Carsons, and she remembered him all too well.
    Now he was within ten feet of her, talking to the guard about his “ride” and “taking off soon.” To make this a true miracle, he had to be going to Wolf Lake. She knew there was an airstrip on the Carson ranch.
    The guard nodded at something Gage had said before striding off into the growing crowd from a flight disembarking farther down the concourse. But her full attention was on the man who could just be her own personal savior. All she had to do was figure out the best way to talk him into helping her get back to Wolf Lake.
    Suddenly, Gage Carson turned, startling her as he seemed to look right at her. But before she could raise a hand and introduce herself, his gaze skimmed right past her as if she didn’t exist. Abruptly, he made for the nearest desk for the charter businesses near the windows.
    It wouldn’t be farfetched, if the man, who led one of the largest construction and architectural corporations in the country, owned one of those sleek corporate jets. Or at least, chartered one of them. Chartering made things a bit more complicated, but it was still doable. She could play on the old hometown connection and snag a ride if the plane was his, and offer to make payments to share the cost of the charter once they got back. One way or another, if he was going to Wolf Lake, she was going too.
    She watched him speaking to a woman agent, so attractive that Merry wondered if beautiful women were the only type that the airport employed. The two talked, leaning toward each other across the desk, and although she could only see Gage’s back, she didn’t miss the dazzling smile on the woman’s face as he spoke to her. She was nodding, touching his arm to make a point, and then lifted her hand to break the connection and motion to the row of specialty shops on the far side of the walkway.
    Merry’s stomach was in a knot as Gage retraced his steps, coming toward her, then going right past her without looking up. She had to make this happen. She’d do her best to reason with him, and even beg if she had to. She glanced back to the counter, saw the attendant was alone at the desk and boldly crossed to her. Merry made herself smile, knowing it was a mere shadow of the version the woman had offered Gage moments ago. “Can I ask you something?”
    The woman looked up and nodded. “Why, of course, that’s why I’m here.”
    Merry motioned behind her. “Was that Gage Carson?”
    Obviously the wrong way to start the conversation. Privacy had to be one thing a moneyed business, like a luxury jet charter, offered its