Easy This Time - JH Croix Page 0,9

originally scheduled flight.” I was kind of amazed I managed to speak, but I pulled it off without screaming.

“Let me see what I can do.” The woman swiped my card through and handed it back across the counter as she kept her eyes on her computer screen. When she looked back up, I knew the news wasn’t good.

“The credit card was denied,” she said carefully, keeping her tone low enough that the people around us couldn’t hear. Her chocolate brown eyes met mine, and her smile was warm as she looked across the desk at me. “Go right ahead and swear, darling. You look like you’ve had a rough day.”

Tears stung hot at the backs of my eyes. I didn’t realize one had escaped until she handed me a tissue, passing it across the counter without a word. I dabbed at my eyes, focusing on her name tag. “Thank you, Caroline.”

“You’re most welcome. I’m guessing you didn’t know your credit card was maxed out.”

I straightened my shoulders and shook my head with the ghost of a bitter smile twisting my lips. “Most definitely not. It was my fucking asshole of an ex-boyfriend.”

“Well, I suppose the upside is he’s your past, not your future,” Caroline said.

“Oh, he’s the past, all right. I guess I should get out of the line. I’m sorry for taking extra time,” I muttered, managing a shaky breath.

“You’re just fine. We can stand here and talk until you calm down. The world is not going to end if people need to wait a few minutes. There are two other lines,” Caroline said matter-of-factly.

“Thank you,” I whispered, sniffling after I took a deeper breath. This time I got enough air into my lungs to soothe my jangled nerves.

I carefully blew my nose. Without me asking, Caroline passed over another tissue and lifted a small wastebasket from under the counter. I tossed in the used tissue and straightened my shoulders in between several slow breaths. She tucked the wastebasket back under the counter and tapped her keyboard as if she was doing something. I knew she was simply giving me a few minutes to pull it together. I resisted the urge to apologize again. Her small kindness was a balm to my rattled state.

“New Orleans is a nice place,” Caroline said softly. “There could be worse places to be stuck. Get your bearings and figure out what you need to do. I don’t know you well, but you seem like a nice woman. Any man that would do this to you is an idiot.”

“Most definitely,” I replied.

Caroline tapped a few keys on her keyboard, giving me another moment. This brief interaction helped me brace myself.

“Thank you. I needed this,” I finally said.

“Just make sure to take care of yourself,” she said as I turned away.

I balled the soft tissue in one hand as I wheeled my broken suitcase behind me. It occurred to me that Caroline, a complete stranger, was the second person in the last few days to refer to Brett as an idiot. He sure as hell was. I supposed the only upside to this fiasco was at least now I knew he wasn’t worth my time.

I wished I’d had a clear picture of who he was before I hopped on a plane to New Orleans. It had been three months since we’d even been intimate, and we’d managed only a few dates in that time. I was confused as to why he even wanted me to come on this trip. I wondered if he thought somehow my connection to Max would’ve perhaps smoothed some introductions for him.

Whatever. The second my thoughts turned to my brother, I realized he was probably my only parachute out of this situation—unless I intended to stay in New Orleans.

The only other alternative I could consider was applying for yet another credit card online and running up a bill to find somewhere to stay. Between blowing up all of my credit cards, Brett had also screwed me over on my lease in San Francisco. He’d known I was moving in two weeks and had contacted the landlord to tell her I’d changed my mind because we were moving in together. He’d finagled to get the deposit refunded to him.

The only reason he’d pulled that off was because months ago, he’d given me the name of his contact at the building, so he knew precisely who to call and bullshit. In the last few days of frantic phone calls since Brett had disappeared,