clothes. And most important of all, you need a flight.
I race around organizing them all with Mom’s help. She finds me the next available flight to London and books me a ticket. It costs me a small fortune, but I figured it was for a worthy cause—to go get my man.
Once I’ve got everything, she sees me to the door and pulls me in for a hug. “Never give up, honey. You got this.”
“Oh, I so do.” I give her a kiss on her cheek and race out the door and into the waiting Uber, which gets me to George Bush Intercontinental in record time.
Once inside the terminal, I gaze up at the departures screen. In all my excitement to get to the airport, I’d not considered the fact that the flight doesn’t actually leave for hours and hours. With check-in not even open, I find a place to sit, and plunk myself down. I pull out my phone and begin to scroll through social media, liking friend’s posts and commenting on a few baby pictures and selfies.
My phone rings, the name Kennedy Bennet flashing up on my screen.
I make my tone upbeat when I answer with, “Kennedy Bennet, intrepid traveler. Where are you, and how are you?”
“I’m back in England after my trip to Florence. It’s a-mazing. You have got to go, girl. The buildings, the food, the gelato. And the men. Oh my, the men.”
I giggle. “I’m happy for you.”
“Hey, Em, I wanted to call to let you know something, and I’m a not a hundred percent sure how you’re gonna feel about it.”
The tone of her voice has changed, and immediately my hackles are up.
I brace myself and ask, “What is it?”
“Phoebe called just now to tell me that Sebastian is coming to Houston.”
“He’s what?”
“He asked Phoebe and Johnathan to look after the place because he didn’t know how long he’d be gone. Apparently, he told them he wasn’t ready to let you go.”
Love swells in my heart. “Did he?” I ask, suddenly breathless.
“I know you ended things with him, so I thought I’d better call and let you know so you can be ready.”
“But…but I’m already at the airport. I was going to come find him.”
“You were? Oh, how romantic. You’re both totally in sync with one another.”
“We are. Do you know when he left? What time his flight was? Anything?”
“Call Phoebe, babe. She’ll know.”
“Okay. Gotta go.” With shaking fingers, I hang up from Kennedy and immediately find Phoebe’s details.
She answers on the third ring. “Emma. How wonderful to hear from you. How’s your mom?”
“She’s good. Kennedy said Seb is on his way here to Houston. Do you know his flight details because I’m at the airport myself, waiting to check in to a flight to come to England, can you believe, and so I need to know where he is, like, now,” I blurt out.
“You’re at the airport?”
“Yes!”
“Is that to come back to Sebastian?”
“It is, but now he’s on his way here, and I need to find him. Can you help me?”
“Oh, Emma. I love this for you two. Let me find out what I can, and I’ll get right back to you, okay?”
“Thank you, Phoebe. Thank you so much,” I gush.
“Emma? I’m so happy for you. Sebastian has been lost without you.”
Guilt twists inside. “Has he?”
“He knows it’s been hard for you, but he loves you. It’s as simple as that.”
“And love is enough,” I say, repeating Mom’s words.
“Love is enough. It’s more than enough.”
I smile to myself. “I know that now.”
“Oh, I am so excited for you! I’ll get back to you ASAP.”
I spend an anxious ten minutes pacing up and down inside the terminal, willing Phoebe to send me Sebastian’s flight info. I’ve been staring at my phone so long that when she texts me with his flight number, I can barely believe it. I read the screen. The ETA is at six twenty-five. I glance at the time on my phone. That was thirty-seven minutes ago!
I need to get to Arrivals, and I need to get there now.
I grab my bag by its handle, and I run. I dash around people, excusing myself as I go, my bag spinning off its wheels more than once. As I run, I calculate how long it would take for him to collect his luggage and to clear customs and immigration, all the while hoping against all things holy I haven’t missed him.
I reach Arrivals and search the screen, panting from my exertion. I find