“Wonton tacos and burrito pho—phorittos. Sound good?” Harper had checked it all out.
“Pho sure,” Mary responded and added a chopsticks emoji. “See you soon!” She tucked her phone into her white belt bag and got off the plane.
The terminal was quiet as she wheeled her duffel bag on top of her carry-on to the exit.
She wore a long cream-colored linen halter dress, a blue jean jacket, and wedge sandals that tied around her slim ankles. Her hair was thrown up in a high bun and she wore large gold hoops.
When she took a left into the baggage claim area to exit the building, there was only one other person there.
Jake.
He had caught the sun, and his blue eyes looked even bluer against his suntan. He wore sneakers, khaki shorts, a white T-shirt, and a light blue long sleeve cotton button-down with the sleeves rolled up.
He held a posterboard sign that said, in big block letters,NEW YORK.
She shook her head at him and walked to where he was standing. She pushed up onto her toes to find his lips. And he put his arms around her and she snuggled into his chest. They stood there for several moments.
“I can’t believe you’re doing the airport pickup,” she said.
“I couldn’t leave you to fend for yourself in Milwaukee. Besides, I missed you.”
“You did?”
“Yeah, crime is way down in Cedar Falls. I kept wondering what sort of trouble you were getting up to back home.”
“So, you were fantasizing about me?” She cocked her head and winked at him.
“Troublemaker.”
He took her suitcase and duffel bag and started toward the exit.
“So, what do you want to do?” he asked.
She was quiet for a moment. She’d been thinking about the answer to this question on the entire flight from New York as she looked out over the small towns, rivers, lakes, and fields on her way to Wisconsin. She had rested her forehead on the window and daydreamed about the future.
On the one hand, she pictured herself in a corner office at the firm, having made partner by the age of thirty. She’d have a gorgeous apartment in a high-rise with a great view, beautifully decorated by a hotshot designer, and a closet full of modish clothes. She’d throw dinner parties, donate to the Met, and still make it to Sunday supper at her parents’ house. In this scenario, she wouldn’t have any financial worries and she’d be the best aunt to all her nieces and nephews.
And on the other hand, since she’d watched her brothers and their wives and children doing all the family things these past two weeks—going to Little League games, throwing birthday parties, chastising the kids for not finishing their homework and leaving their bikes scattered on her parents’ lawn—she realized she wanted that in her life, too.
What she couldn’t do was merge the two pictures. She just didn’t see how she could have both the career she wanted and the family she dreamed about. The two paths seemed incompatible to her.
And she wasn’t sure what she was going to do about Jake. She knew herself well enough to recognize that she was falling for him. It had gone from harmless flirtation to something approaching serious.
But it was never far from her thoughts that he lived in Wisconsin. She couldn’t see staying in there—her life was in New York. But her heart... was her heart with Jake?
It was impossible to sort it out in her head. Not to mention that a committed relationship with Jake was not in the cards. Nowhere in her life’s plan was there a vision of not going back to New York. If there was one thing that she was sure about, it was that.
“I’m not sure I’m ready for a relationship,” she blurted quickly.
“Okay.... I’m not sure where that came from.” He turned toward her and said, “Let me try again. What do you want to doright now. I could take you home. To dinner. To confession?”
“Oh. Ha,” she said, a little embarrassed at her presumption. Having no good idea, she said, “Um, how about you just drive? Take me somewhere you love.”
“I can do that.”
They walked to where his car was parked, and he put her suitcase in the trunk while she texted Dot and Harper.
“Hey—sorry. Change of plans. Go without me. Jake picked me up. I’ll be home later. Xoxo.”