Well…it was obvious how considering their current situation, but the less she knew, the better.
The plane lurched to the side drastically, and this time she did scream.
“Almost there! Just hold on!”
The plane shook and sounded like it was going to come apart, and tears began to stream down her cheeks. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This wasn’t the way things were supposed to end for her.
Compartments opened and she could hear things falling down all around her, but she didn’t dare open her eyes to see any of it.
I love you, Mom…I love you, Dad…I love you, Parker…I love you, Mason…
She went through every family member, every friend, and wondered how everyone was going to get along without her. There was another loud boom and more shaking before everything went quiet–eerily quiet. The only sound she heard were her own sobs. There was no point in trying to subdue them. She wanted the universe to know how devastated she was and just wished there were someone she could scream at right now–someone she could shake and demand they make things right.
“Peyton? Peyton, can you hear me?”
Was that God? Was He talking to her?
“Hey,” the voice said softly. “I’ve got you. It’s okay. We’re okay.”
It was Ryder’s arms that went around her. She knew it without opening her eyes. With shaking hands, she undid her seatbelt and wrapped herself around him as she continued to cry. And she had zero intentions of letting him go anytime soon.
They were alive and on the ground and as much as she had what felt like a million questions to ask–like where they were–there was no way she could speak right now. So she held him and was thankful he was holding her right back.
Right now, Ryder had no idea which of them was shaking more. As soon as the plane came to a stop, he jumped from his seat to go to her. The sound of her sobbing was more than he could bear.
Of all the egotistical things he’d done in his life, this was by far the worst.
There had been no reason for him to pilot this flight. He had a pilot who worked for him who could have flown them, but Ryder had wanted to show off a bit.
And look where it got them.
His arms banded tightly around her and Peyton’s limbs held on to him like a vice. Her arms and legs were wrapped round him and there was no way he was going to try to pry her off just yet. She needed this.
And so do I…
One hand reached up and anchored into her hair as he felt her calming down. She wasn’t shaking nearly as much as she was a minute ago. Not that it mattered. She was entitled to cry, and Ryder would do his best to comfort her for as long as she needed.
Or so he thought…
There was a banging on the aircraft door and even with the blinds closed he could see the flashing lights of emergency vehicles. Pulling back slightly, he cupped Peyton’s face in his hands. Big, dark eyes stared up at him and in that instant, he saw the same heat and need he was feeling. More than anything, he wanted to close the distance between them–to claim her lips and kiss her until all the fear and trauma were wiped away.
The banging continued and Ryder knew their time was up. “I need to handle this,” he said quietly. She was pale and her lips were quivering, but she nodded. Slowly, he got to his feet and went to release the door and stairs, stepping outside rather than allowing anyone on board.
There were easily a dozen rescue responders waiting for him along with people from the tiny airport he had managed to get them to. The only thing Ryder remembered was that they were in Missouri. All the other details did not register with him in his desperate attempt to land the plane safely.
He shook hands with some and agreed to let the paramedics board the plane to check on Peyton. Other than his nerves, Ryder knew he was uninjured. Questions came at him from every direction and he did his best to answer them all. Bottom line was that he’d never flown through such strong turbulence and he panicked. It was a rookie mistake and one that could have cost both him and Peyton their lives. There had been no engine failure, no storms; it was 100% pilot error.
He was the only one to blame.
It took almost two hours for interviews to be done and paperwork to be filled out. The plane was being towed to a hangar to be inspected. During it all, Ryder managed to arrange for a ride to a local motel where he and Peyton would spend the night. In all the commotion, he hadn’t had a chance to talk directly to her but from what he’d been told, they were in a fairly remote location with very few options for lodging and none of them sounded particularly appealing. Still, he made the decision for them to stay rather than finding another flight to Denver today. And when she was beside him with his hand resting on the small of her back as he guided them to their car, it appeared she was on the same page.
“I’m not flying to Denver, Ryder,” she said in a rush of words.
“Don’t worry,” he told her. “We’re not going anywhere today. We’re going to go rest and just try to recover.” Looking around, he saw all of their luggage was with them and was relieved to see it being loaded into the trunk of the car.
Carefully, he helped her into the back seat. “We’re staying at a place not too far from here and we’ll talk about travel arrangements once we’ve both had a chance to calm down, okay?”
She nodded, but immediately reached for his hand and pulled him in beside her as if she needed the connection to him. “That’s fine. It’s fine,” she said quietly. “Just…no flying.”
There was no way he was going to get into how long of a drive it would be for them to get to Denver so he just nodded.
When they pulled away from the airport, the list of things he still had to do ran through his head. There were arrangements to be made for the plane and any repairs it was going to need, getting his pilot here, finding a way to get to Denver, and getting settled for the night. As they drove, Ryder noticed the lack of…everything. It was like they were literally in the middle of nowhere and he had to wonder how they were going to get through the night.
It took twenty minutes to get to the motel, and the only place he spotted to eat was a diner. Fortunately, it was directly across the street from the motel, but neither looked promising.
Before they got out of the car, Ryder looked over at Peyton and asked, “If you’re not comfortable with any of this, I can get us on a flight out of here tonight.”
“Ryder!” she cried with indignation.
“I know, I know,” he quickly interrupted. “Believe me, it’s not ideal for me either, but this…I’m not sure staying here is the lesser of two evils.”
“I realize it’s not the Ritz, but…how bad can it be for one night?”
Famous last words…
Not five minutes later, Ryder knew exactly how bad it could be for one night.
“What do you mean you only have one room available? There’s no one here!” he yelled.
The young kid behind the desk didn’t look the least bit offended. “Sorry, but…the motel’s under renovations and we only have two rooms that are finished. One of them already has a guest staying in it.” Then he smiled. “Lucky for you, you’ll get to be the first ones to use the other room!”
He wasn’t feeling the least bit lucky right now and when he glanced at Peyton, he saw she was taking the news much better than he was.