Sparks - Wendy Higgins Page 0,74

and someone to gossip about later.

“My mom has it,” I whispered back, and she nodded. I straightened and gave them all my best flight attendant smile. “Good bye girls. So great to see you again!” And I waved, turning and sashaying up the aisle to where my parents waited. As we walked out together into the cool sunshine, I thought about my friends back in Jersey and my heart began to shrug its way out from under the blanket of ice those three had just thrown on it.

“Will you get watermelon, strawberry, or orange?” Mom asked me about mimosas as Dad opened her car door for her, then mine.

“None of those,” I said. “I think I’m going to splurge and get the one with coconut rum, pineapple juice, champagne, and a frozen scoop of mango sorbet.”

“Ooh,” Mom said as we slid into the car and buckled. “The Bay Mosa. Good choice.”

“Chicken and waffles for me!” Dad said, slapping his little belly pooch. “Is it just me,” Dad said, “or do those gals you went to school with get hoity-toitier every time I see them?”

Mom gave his arm a gentle slug and I burst into laughter. “Did you see them air-kissing me? I was like what is happening right now?”

We laughed the whole way to Bay Local.

The day with my parents was exactly what I needed. Although I checked my phone approximately sixty times an hour for messages, and my heart felt like it’d been smashed with a mallet, my parents and the ocean had a way of resetting me. Balancing me. Come to think of it, my parents had always taken me sea glass hunting when things were rough. When I was recovering from the flu while my friends were in Paris. When I didn’t make the softball team. When each one of my girlfriends got engaged and I felt unexplainably sad. And then when I’d broken up with Don.

“Thank you,” I said softly.

“Of course, honey,” Mom said.

“We’re glad you could come,” Dad told me. “Don’t be a stranger, Low.”

For the past seven months I’d felt like my running away from here and becoming a flight attendant had been a cowardly move—a sign of weakness. But when I thought of the true friends I’d made and the adventure it’d been so far, I realized it had been a brave and bold move. I’d distanced myself from some relationships that were holding me back and making me feel awful about myself. I stared from the window on Shore Drive and silently thanked the beach for helping to clear my mind. The Virginia Beach oceanfront, like my parents, were constant and calming.

Maybe I’d be back someday. Who knows? The world was my oyster, and damn it, I would find my pearl someday.

I wish I could say that the calming effect remained with me, but it only took the edge off temporarily. I got back to the apartment in Jersey City after midnight and already had an assignment for early the next morning. My mood was not great when I realized all of the roommates were still home and there were no beds available. Even the passion pit light was on.

Wait…was my pillow still in there? Ugh! Gross!

I roughly took the throw blanket and too-hard throw pillow and curled up on the old couch. I wiggled until the spring didn’t dig into my side anymore. I tried to think of my parents and remember the sounds and smell of the ocean. I was just starting to calm when I heard voices in the passion pit and I let out an annoyed sigh. At least in my room there was a fan and white noise. It was too quiet in here. Their little back and forth murmurings made me want to scream.

And then I heard shuffling around like they were getting up. A hand on the doorknob. I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep as the door opened.

“Bye,” I heard Beth whisper.

Curiosity got the best of me and I cracked an eye to get a look at the guy. From my low vantage point I first saw the legs, more specifically, the navy slacks with the yellow stripe down the side. Holy fucking shit. She brought an Omega pilot home! I ever so slightly moved my head until I could see his white shirt, sexy build, and perfectly styled dark hair.

I held my breath as a tremor tore through me.

No.

He opened the door and I caught his handsome, yet frowning profile in the