Evie tried to sleep during the six-hour flight to Southern California, but she was wide-awake. Her private nurse, Tilde, sat beside her, working on her second novel of the flight. An older White woman with an interesting accent, Tilde wasn’t as warm as Sophia and Nurse Lyle, but Evie chalked that up to the early hour. After a very formal introduction, she offered Evie her e-reader and one of three paperbacks she had in her carry-on, but Evie settled on looking through Instagram. Raquelle had given her a quick tutorial of all there was to discover, and while slime and soap-carving videos had worked for the first two hours, Evie was starting to get antsy. She knew why, but she refused to admit it to herself.
She wished she were sitting next to Zach. He and Jesse were right across the aisle in their own comfortable first-class seats. Jesse took the aisle seat, giving him enough space to stretch out his long legs. It made sense, but now there was an aisle and almost seven feet of California rancher between her and Zach. She hadn’t fully wrapped her mind around what it would mean to sleep with a man, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the kiss they’d almost shared Christmas morning. Every moment she had to herself had been spent thinking about Zach and a whole realm of what-ifs. Nicole was right, her health and her future came first, but couldn’t her future involve a relationship with a man? Not that that man had to be Zach Pleasant, but of course Nicole didn’t expect Evie to stay single for the rest of her life, did she?
Blaire had done her best to catalogue Evie’s past relationships and lovers. The list was pretty short, since Evie had spent a large part of her twenties traveling for work. The most recent suitor had been Armand Waller, the man who had sent the red roses. Blaire realized she knew him as Banker Boy, but before the accident, Evie had mentioned that she was convinced that Armand was hiding a wife—or worse, a wifeandkids—in Connecticut. Blaire wasn’t sure if Evie had officially kicked him to the curb, but they both agreed ghosting him was the right call. And then Blaire explained what ghosting meant.
Evie was glad to hear that a few years ago she had at least enjoyed sex with another chef named Lincoln Carter, but that just left her wondering what sex felt like. The downsides to memory loss where complex and frustrating to say the least.
In any event, Evie was currently single. Sure, she had just reached the point where she could recite her own date of birth from memory without having to pause, but one day, dating would be back on the table. Would Zach wait around that long? Did she want him to wait around? What about the awful fight they’d clearly had? It had to be pretty terrible for Evie to have avoided him for so long. Could she hold a grudge she didn’t even remember? All of these questions bounced around in her head just before Jesse suddenly sat up. Evie thought he was asleep, but he must have been resting his eyes. He undid his seat belt, then eased out of his seat. He crossed the aisle and leaned in close.
“How are you doing?” he asked quietly.
“I’m okay.”
“Good,” was all he said. Then he turned and headed in the direction of the restroom. Evie could not figure him out. Clearly they’d been friends, but he barely said anything that didn’t have to do with the logistics of running the ranch or her general well-being. As soon as the bathroom door closed, Evie saw Zach undo his seat belt and ease across the aisle. He knelt beside her and lightly took her hand.
“How ya holding up?” he asked.
“I’m fine. I’m not sure I enjoy flying though. The engines are so loud. Is Jesse okay?”
“Honestly?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s just worried about you, but he’s not big on displays of emotion. I think he’ll relax when we get back to Charming.”
“How are you doing?” she asked.
“Me? I’m fine. How you doing, Tilde?” he said, peering around Evie to her seat mate.
“I’m well, Mr. Pleasant. You really shouldn’t be out of your seat. I have everything under control here.”
Evie felt herself smile at the small laugh that escaped Zach. “She’s right. We’ll talk when we land.”
“Okay.”
Zach winked at her, then went back to his seat. He buckled his seat belt just as Jesse came out of the bathroom. Evie didn’t hate the idea of being with Zach, but maybe she needed to slow that train of thought down. Maybe first, she should spend some time with him outside of a hospital.
Chapter 7
It was early afternoon when they landed at the Ontario airport. Zach explained that flying into LAX would have added a solid two-hour drive back to the ranch. Evie was grateful for the direct flight to a closer airport. The flight wasn’t exactly unbearable, but somewhere around the five-hour mark, Tilde could tell how squirrely Evie was getting. She couldn’t imagine sitting another two hours in a car.
The flight crew allowed Evie and her small entourage to exit first. Once they were outside, Evie was shocked by the change of scenery—and the heat. Without asking, Tilde took her coat as they made their way to the large navy-blue SUV waiting for them at the curb.
A White man in a blue-and-green plaid shirt and a white cowboy hat hopped out the driver’s side and rushed around to open the passenger door.
“Zach, Jesse. Ladies,” he said with a smile.
“Thanks for coming out, Bruce,” Jesse said, clapping him on the back.
“Not a problem, boss. Had to run the Johnstone party out to catch their flight. And it just so turns out your place is on my way.”
“Evie, this is Bruce. He works at the ranch. This is Evie and Tilde.”
Bruce tipped his hat in their direction with a smile, then started loading their bags into the trunk. From the way he seemed to accept Zach’s introduction, Evie figured he was not a member of the staff who knew her when she was a kid. Zach and Tilde helped Evie get settled in the back-row seat, and when they were buckled in, Bruce pulled out of the airport. Evie looked out the window as they headed toward the Pleasants’ home. She hadn’t seen too much of New York City, just what she took in on their snowy trip to the JFK airport. California felt so open. No tall buildings. The sunny sky seemed to stretch on and on. With almost no traffic, they cruised along and Evie took in the rolling hills and flat expanses that lined the side of the road. Far off in the distance there were mountains.
She was so caught up in the sun-kissed landscape, she nearly jumped when Tilde’s fingers patted her hand. “Zach is trying to speak to you.”
She looked between them, startled, and was greeted by Zach’s smiling face as he turned in his seat to face them. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”