CHAPTER 6
Ethan stood at the luggage carousel waiting for his grandma’s bright yellow and pink polka dot suitcases to roll by. They wouldn’t be hard to spot. Nana loved bold, vibrant prints. Her last set of luggage had been zebra striped. When he didn’t see it, he checked his phone. Again.
He’d run into Jess’s dad at the Gas ’N Go this morning and John told him that she had a doctor’s appointment today. She hadn’t mentioned anything about it the night before. Not that she would. She never talked about her health and always seemed irritated when he asked about it.
It was her two-year checkup, and her dad said that everything should be fine, but he’d seen in his eyes that he was worried. And Ethan was right there with him.
As sure as he was that everything was okay, he’d still feel better once he had confirmation. So he’d texted Jess before he’d left for the airport to check in. That was over four hours ago. He’d still had no response.
“What’s the score?” his grandma asked.
“Huh?”
“I figured the Sox must be playin’ since you’ve checked that thing about a dozen times in the last ten minutes.”
“Oh, no… it’s just….”
He wasn’t a great liar, and he especially hated lying to his nana, but he didn’t want to tell her he was worried about Jess. That would lead to a conversation he didn’t feel like having. Thankfully, her attention was elsewhere.
Using his arm for support, she lifted up on her tiptoes, making her a whopping five feet tall and craned her neck as she searched the crowd. “Do you see her?”
There had been a medical emergency on the flight and Dr. Susie, as his grandma was now referring to her, had stayed on the plane to deal with it while everyone else disembarked.
“I don’t know what she looks like,” Ethan pointed out.
“I told you, a young Patty Duke.”
“That doesn’t help.”
He didn’t see a young Patty Duke, whatever that even looked like, but he did see Nana’s luggage. The bright yellow and pink suitcase rolled by and he started to reach for it.
“That’s not mine.” She swatted his hand away.
He glanced at her, and she gave him “the look.” The one that still made him feel about two feet tall and kept him from arguing with her.
“Yes, ma’am.” He stepped back, knowing full well that that was her luggage and she was stalling.
He picked up his phone again, still no response from Jess. He checked her Instagram and saw that she’d posted a picture of one of her cats sunbathing with the caption Elvis Pawsley living his purrfect life.
The woman loved puns.
It was posted an hour ago, which meant she was home and that she’d been on her phone.
“Oh, there she is!” Nana started waving her hands up in the air. “Dr. Susie!”
He put his phone away and watched a woman with light brown hair, and a wide, pretty smile make her way through the crowded terminal toward them. “Hi, Daisy! I thought I might’ve missed you.”
“Nope, still here. We’ve just been waiting for our luggage. Dr. Susie, this is my grandson, Ethan. Ethan, this is Dr. Susie.”
The woman held out her hand, “Susie is fine.”
“Hi, Susie, it’s nice to meet you.” Ethan shook the woman’s hand and felt nothing in the contact. Not like the explosive fireworks that had gone off last night between him and Jess when she’d touched his arm.
“You too.”
After a few awkward moments, Susie’s smile lifted higher. “Well, it was nice meeting you.”
“You, too.”