Page 219 of Love Unwritten
My chest aches, and I rub at the spot as I think about the way he looked when we said our goodbyes back at Rafael’s house earlier. If it weren’t for his father encouraging me to leave, I doubt I would have found the courage to get in the truck and leave Nico behind, especially after I saw the way his bottom lip quivered as he held back his tears.
It’s just five weeks, Ellie. They’ll be here when you get back.
I head to my gate, only to find out my group was called twenty minutes ago.
“Shit.” I hand the employee my phone with the boarding pass before heading down the bridge.
My legs are trembling as I consider my new reality for the next nine hours, but I do my best to focus on the exercises Rafael taught me.
When deep breathing doesn’t work, I envision the video he showed me about airplanes and Jell-O, and that seems to temporarily do the trick until I get on the plane and am told by the person in my seat that I got the wrong one.
“No. I’m 17E.”
He checks his phone and shows me his boarding pass, confirming that he is in the right seat. With a frown, I tug my phone from the front pocket of my backpack and check my boarding pass again.
6G?
I walk in the direction of the first-class cabin. I’m confused, wondering if Cole upgraded me from business to first-class within the last hour while the polite flight attendant leads me to my seat.
“Thanks.” My heart is racing in my chest as I struggle to lift my bulging carry-on in the bin. With one last hard shove, it slides into place, and I shut it before a flight attendant tells me I need to check it instead.
No way am I parting with my prized possessions like that.
I’m jittery by the time I take a seat. The temptation to rush out the door is riding me hard. If I wanted, I could leave and try this all again tomorrow. I doubt Rafael would mind turning around to come pick me up—
“Hey.”
My head whips to the side, and my mouth falls open at the sight of my first-class seatmate.
Rafael sits down next to me, and I stare at him for a few seconds before finally recovering.
“What are you doing here?”
“I was in the mood for a trip to London.”
“You what?”
He shrugs as if he didn’t just blow my mind. “I wasn’t sure if you needed me to come, so I packed a carry-on just in case and asked my family to watch Nico.”
“Oh my God.”
“Is it too much?”
It’s…
Everything. I reach over the middle compartment dividing our seats and rope my arms around him. “Thank you.”
“While I can’t follow you around Europe…” He sighs longingly. “I thought I could at least help you through the hardest part.”
My eyes mist over. “This may be one of the nicest things someone has done for me.”
“We’ve got to work on setting your bar a little higher.”
“Are you kidding? If you keep this up, no one will ever compare.”
“Just how I like it.”
I laugh, and he kisses the crown of my head.