Page 5 of My Christmas Biker
“We can head to the airport now. I ain’t got shit holding me in Denver until I pick Chris up next week.”
Audrey never let him spend Christmas with his kid. It sucked.
Part of me was happy I didn’t have that heartache. But in the back of my mind was the thought that even with all the pain and struggle, he still had something I couldn’t help but envy.
Chapter 2 Gingersnap
Christmas Eve—
“They canceled our flight,” the woman sitting in the row of plastic chairs to my right complained to her companion, glaring at the monitor anchored above our heads, ticking through every airline with the same announcement. Her voice grew shrill, and I wondered if she thought that would get her any sympathy from the airline. I doubted it.
Not a soul in this airport would be leaving via the sky. Mother nature decided that for us. This was officially the vacation from hell. I should have flown out of Aspen instead of Denver International. Not that I had a choice.
My nose nearly pressed to the glass as I turned back to the long, rectangular pane, staring at the runway as thick flurries of snow fell heavily upon the ground. In less than twenty minutes, the snow began to pile and coated everything in a blanket of white. The sleek, silver planes no longer glistened in the sunlight, resembling bulky, lumpy masses that crouched in silent slumber.
Over the loudspeaker, a flight attendant from the airline began speaking, announcing what every passenger in attendance already knew. She stated inclement weather as the reason for the cancellation, adding that refunds would be issued within five to seven business days. That wouldn’t help us any today.
Inclement weather could indicate anything from fog to sleet to heavy snow. In this case, it meant the snowstorm brewing outdoors with wild gusts of wind. I watched as snowflakes swirled in a circular motion before slamming against the glass. The chilled pane made me shiver as I pulled my fingers from thesurface. No amount of staring and hoping the storm would pass over us would change the outcome.
I was stuck. In an airport. On Christmas Eve.
Shit.I’m never going to make it home in time.
With a sigh, I lifted the handle on my carry-on luggage and rolled toward the line that formed from the rest of the passengers, waiting to retrieve the rest of our belongings and secure other transportation.
This trip was a nightmare from start to finish. I just wanted to get home to Las Vegas and see my mother and cousin before he shipped out, and we didn’t see him again for ten months.
Nathan couldn’t say where he’d be going or what the Marine Corps would ask of him while he was deployed. His orders came in right before the holidays. Nathan had to catch his flight on January 5th. I would barely have time to spend with him.
My cousin and I were close, more like siblings, since we were both the only children in our families in a single-parent household. His mom split when he was six. I lost my father at thirteen. Tragedy and necessity bound us together. My Uncle Trig and my mother moved in together to raise us.
Unconventional? Maybe. But for the four of us, it was all the family we needed.
My Uncle Trig was my father’s brother, and he promised to take of me and my mother when my father died. There wasn’t a discussion. Uncle Trig and Nathan moved in the same day we buried my dad. Those three people were my entire world.
And now, because of my stupid ex-boyfriend, I sat in an increasingly ghost-like airport, staring at barren terminals and missing Christmas with my family.
I never should have gone on that impromptu ski trip. It was a mistake I wouldn’t stop paying for as I stood in line, knowing there would be no available car rentals left when I reached the customer service personnel.
“Hi,” the young woman with a name tag that read Meredith greeted. “I’m so sorry. There aren’t any vehicles left.”
The person in front of me received the last one.Great.
“It’s okay.” It wasn’t. “I’ll be fine.” I wouldn’t be.
How could I be fine when I was ten hours from home?
“What about a cab? Do you know if anyone has had any luck with Lyft or Uber?”
“No. Sorry.”
Lifting my chin, I dragged my suitcases towards the women’s restroom. I could feel the emotion building inside me. A tidal wave of tears that threatened to fall at any second. The faster I walked, the stronger the urge to sob grew in my chest. I was about to fall apart in an airport and cry in the bathroom.
When a kid darted in front of me, I almost tripped. Tears flooded my eyes, and I rushed toward the entrance to the bathroom. My shoulder collided with an older woman, and I almost sent her sprawling to the ground.
Fuck!
“I’m so sorry.” Worried I hurt her, I dropped the handles to my bags and reached out, preventing her fall, only to watch in horror as a man wearing a dark coat grabbed the handle of my larger suitcase and started power walking away with it.