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“You haven’t even taken a sip. I went to all that trouble opening the refrigerator.”
“I’m going back to the airport.”
The wineglass stopped halfway to Fen’s mouth. “Excuse me?”
“There’s no reason for me to stay here.”
Understanding dawned, followed by a smile that promised Grady would eventually regret giving him this much entertainment.
“You’re turning around and going straight back?”
“That’s the idea.”
“Oh, this just keeps getting better.” The glee in the man’s voice and expression was almost comical.
“For you.”
“Immensely.”
Grady pulled out his phone and brought up his reservation. “My return flight isn’t until Monday. I have to try to get it changed.”
“Give me your booking number.” Fen set aside his wine and reached for his phone. “I’ll change it. You get your rugged sheriff ass back in that rental car and head for the airport before Los Angeles traffic decides you live here now. I’m serious. It will swallow you whole, especially on a Friday.”
Grady read off the number while Fen entered it into his phone.
“I’ll get you on the first flight available and text you the details.”
“Thanks.”
With that taken care of, he headed for the door, already thinking about the drive back to LAX and how much time he’d lose sitting in traffic. He’d made it several steps before Fen called after him. “Wait.”
He stopped and looked back.
“If the two of you somehow pass each other again, I am locking you both in a room the next time I get you together.”
“Change the flight, Fen.”
“I’m doing it. Now go get your woman.”
A grin broke across Grady’s face. “That’s the plan.”
Minutes later, he was back in the rental car, the airport programmed into the navigation system and his phone connected via Bluetooth. Traffic crawled around him, a seemingly endless line of brake lights stretching ahead. Grady drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. He’d thought the traffic to Amanda’s house had been bad. Now that he was trying to catch a flight back to Wyoming, every minute they sat without moving tested what little patience he had left.
His phone chimed before he’d gone far, and the Bluetooth system announced a text from Fen. Grady instructed it to read the message aloud.
“Got you on the next flight. It leaves in two and a half hours. Check your email for the boarding pass. And you owe me a bottle of wine. A good one. None of that Wyoming cowboy nonsense.”
Relief washed over Grady as he listened. Even with the heavy traffic, two and a half hours gave him plenty of time to reach LAX, return the rental car, and get through security, especially since he only had a carry-on. By the time the automated voice reached Fen’s demand for a decent bottle of wine, he was laughing.
He’d gladly buy the man a case if this flight got him back to Amanda tonight. She’d be on the ground before he reached LAX, but that was okay. He knew exactly where she was now, and in a few minutes, he’d finally be able to talk to her.
As soon as her plane landed, he would call her.
Chapter Forty
Amanda switched off airplane mode as she followed the other passengers into the terminal, then pulled up the message Fen had sent before she left Los Angeles. Her rental car reservation was waiting, and overhead signs indicated that baggage claim and the rental counters were in the same direction. She had everything she needed to get herself to Antelope Rock without anyone knowing she was coming.
Especially Grady.
