Page 108 of Romance and Peppermint Lattes
“I’ll be back in less than two weeks,” she reminded him, trying to keep her tone light and casual.
“You’ll phone once you arrive?”
She nodded. For all her earlier panic, Cait now felt oddly unwilling to leave Joe. She should be rushing through the airport to her airline’s check-in counter to get her boarding pass, but she lingered, her heart overflowing with emotions she couldn’t identify.
“Have a safe trip,” he said quietly.
“I will. Thanks so much... for everything.”
“You’re welcome.” His expression sobered and the ever-ready mirth fled from his eyes. Cait wasn’t sure who moved first. All she knew was that she was in Joe’s arms, his thumb caressing the softness of her cheek as they gazed hungrily into each other’s eyes.
He leaned forward to kiss her. Cait’s eyes drifted shut as his mouth met hers.
At first Joe’s kiss was tender but it quickly grew in fervor. The noise and activity around them seemed to fade into the distance. Cait could feel herself dissolving. She moaned andarched closer, not wanting to leave the protective haven of his arms. Joe shuddered and hugged her tight, as if he, too, found it difficult to part.
“Merry Christmas, love,” he whispered, releasing her with a reluctance that made her feel... giddy. Confused.Happy.
“Merry Christmas,” she echoed, but she didn’t move.
Joe gave her the gentlest of nudges. “You’d better hurry, Cait.”
“Oh, right,” she said, momentarily forgetting why she was at the airport. Reaching for the bags filled with gaily wrapped Christmas packages, she took two steps backward. “I’ll phone when I get there.”
“Do. I’ll be waiting to hear from you.” He thrust his hands into his pockets and Cait had the distinct impression he did it to stop himself from reaching for her again. The thought was a romantic one, a certainty straight from her heart.
Her heart... Her heart was full of feeling for Joe. More than she’d ever realized. He’d dominated her life these past few weeks—taking her to dinner, bribing his way back into her good graces with pizza, taking her on a Christmas shopping expedition, escorting her to Paul’s party. Joe had become her whole world. Joe, not Paul. Joe.
Given no other choice, Cait abruptly turned and hurried into the airport, where she checked in, then went through security and down the concourse to the proper gate.
The flight had already been called and only a handful of passengers had yet to board.
Cait dashed to the counter with her boarding pass. A young soldier stood just ahead of her. “But you don’t understand,” the tall marine was saying to the airline employee. “I booked this flight over a month ago. I’ve got to be on that plane!”
“I’m so sorry,” the woman apologized, her dark eyes regretful. “This sort of thing happens, especially during holidays, butyour ticket’s for standby. I wish I could do something for you, but there isn’t a single seat available.”
“But I haven’t seen my family in over a year. My uncle Harvey’s driving from Duluth to visit. He was in the marines, too. My mom’s been baking for three weeks. Don’t you see? I can’t disappoint them now!”
Cait watched as the agent rechecked her computer. “If I could magically create a seat for you, I would,” she said sympathetically. “But there just isn’t one.”
“But when I bought the ticket, the woman told me I wouldn’t have a problem getting on the flight. She said there’re always no-shows.”
“I’m so sorry,” the agent repeated, looking past the young marine to Cait.
“All right,” he said, forcefully expelling his breath. “When’s the next flight with available space? Any flight within a hundred miles of Minneapolis. I’ll walk the rest of the way if I have to.”
Once again, the woman consulted her computer. “We have space available the evening of the twenty-sixth.”
“The twenty-sixth!” the young man shouted. “But that’s after Christmas and eats up nearly all my leave. I’d be home for less than a week.”
“May I help you?” the airline employee said to Cait. She looked almost as unhappy as the marine, but apparently there wasn’t anything she could do to help him.
Cait stepped forward and handed the woman her boarding pass. The soldier gazed at it longingly, then moved dejectedly from the counter and lowered himself into one of the molded plastic chairs.
Cait hesitated, remembering how she’d stuck her head out the window of Joe’s truck on their drive to the airport and shouted impatiently at the truck driver who was holding up traffic. A conversation she’d had with Joe earlier returned tohaunt her. She’d argued that Christmas was a time filled with love and good cheer, the one holiday that brought out the very best in everyone. And sometimes, Joe had insisted, the very worst.
“Since you already have your seat assignment, you may board the flight now.”
The urge to hurry nearly overwhelmed Cait, yet she hesitated once again.
