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“How late?”
“I’ll be home sometime after nine, as long as there are no flight delays.”
Her gaze shifted toward the signs directing passengers to the rental counters. Picking up the car and driving to Antelope Rock as planned no longer made sense. She’d only end up sitting at his house, waiting for him to make his way back from California.
The absurdity of that almost made her laugh again.
She could cancel her rental reservation, ride home with him, and get a car in Butterfield if she needed one. For now, she'd find somewhere to eat while she waited for him.
“Then I’ll wait here.”
“Amanda, you don’t have to do that. Go to the house. I’ll call Rissa and have her meet you there.”
His concern only made her decision easier. “I know I don’t have to wait here for you, but I want to. I’ve waited so long to see you again, Grady. A few more hours isn’t going to kill me.”
His laughter came through the phone, and Amanda closed her eyes again, this time smiling as she listened. She’d heard that laugh countless times over the phone in the past five weeks, but tonight was different. In a few hours, she’d finally hear it in person again.
“Stay there,” he said. “I’m coming home.”
For several seconds after they ended the call, Amanda stayed against the wall, phone in hand, surrounded by rolling suitcases, overlapping conversations, and passengers hurrying toward wherever they needed to be.
She’d come to Wyoming without knowing what Grady wanted from her or whether their relationship could become real. Something long-term. Maybe forever.
She still didn't know what their future would look like, but Grady had flown to Los Angeles that same day to see her.
For now, that was enough.
She pushed off the wall, canceled the rental car reservation on her phone, and went to find somewhere to wait for the man she loved to come home.
Chapter Forty-One
The next few hours passed agonizingly slowly. Amanda found something to eat, wandered through a couple of shops, and tried to answer emails, but gave up after reading the same one three times without absorbing a word. Mostly, she watched the clock and checked Grady’s flight status far more often than necessary.
When the screen finally showed his flight had landed, anticipation sent a shiver through her.
She packed her laptop into her tote bag and headed toward the area where arriving passengers would emerge. Knowing he was somewhere on the other side of the security checkpoint made standing still nearly impossible.
People began filtering out of the concourse into the main terminal in small groups. Couples and families reunited with people waiting for them, while others continued toward baggage claim, rental counters, or the exits.
No Grady. Yet.
She shifted her weight and peered past an older couple walking toward her. More passengers appeared behind them, and then she saw him.
For a second, everything and everyone around her seemed to disappear.
Grady walked through the security exit with his carry-on slung over one shoulder, wearing jeans, a gray button-down shirt, black boots, and a black cowboy hat. His gaze swept the people waiting beyond the barrier until it landed on her.
The change in his expression nearly undid her.
She was already moving toward him before she registered making the decision. He dropped his bag from his shoulder as she reached him, catching her around the waist when she threw her arms around his neck.
His mouth found hers.
The kiss held weeks of missing him, every phone or video call that had ended too soon, and every lonely night she’d wished he were beside her.
His arms locked around her as she kissed him back, pouring five weeks of longing into that kiss. She was oblivious to the people moving past them, the airport announcement echoing through the terminal, and the fact that they were blocking part of the walkway.
Grady was here.
