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Back Baggage Claim Save as PDF
Chapters (48)
  1. 1. One
  2. 2. Two
  3. 3. Three
  4. 4. Four
  5. 5. Five
  6. 6. Six
  7. 7. Seven
  8. 8. Eight
  9. 9. Nine
  10. 10. Ten
  11. 11. Eleven
  12. 12. Twelve
  13. 13. Thirteen
  14. 14. Fourteen
  15. 15. Fifteen
  16. 16. Sixteen
  17. 17. Seventeen
  18. 18. Eighteen
  19. 19. Nineteen
  20. 20. Twenty
  21. 21. Twenty-One
  22. 22. Twenty-Two
  23. 23. Twenty-Three
  24. 24. Twenty-Four
  25. 25. Twenty-Five
  26. 26. Twenty-Six
  27. 27. Twenty-Seven
  28. 28. Twenty-Eight
  29. 29. Twenty-Nine
  30. 30. Thirty
  31. 31. Thirty-One
  32. 32. Thirty-Two
  33. 33. Thirty-three
  34. 34. Thirty-Four
  35. 35. Thirty-Five
  36. 36. Thirty-Six
  37. 37. Thirty-Seven
  38. 38. Thirty-Eight
  39. 39. Thirty-Nine
  40. 40. Forty
  41. 41. Forty-One
  42. 42. Forty-Two
  43. 43. Forty-three
  44. 44. Epilogue
  45. Afterword
  46. Also by
  47. Acknowledgments
  48. About Author

I sunk into my seat and leaned back. A child across from me screamed, and the passenger behind me repeatedly kicked my seat. I sighed and reached down for my headphones and the eye mask that the airplane provided, but when I went to grab them, I noticed they were both gone. It was the straw that broke the camel's back. I’m unsure if it was the overstimulation of babies screaming, crammed seats, kicking in my back, and the throbbing pulse in my throat, but something in that moment broke me. I tilted my head down, my blonde hair falling to cover my face. Tears viciously fell down my freckled cheeks and onto my yoga pants, soaking my lap. I sniffled and didn’t care if anyone was staring at me. They were probably all going home to family while I was leaving mine.

Everything I had was crumbling, and in that moment with tear-soaked pants and tangled hair, I had never felt so alone.

It wasn’t until I heard a voice I knew well that I lifted my head. My favorite person sat next to me, my favorite smirk lighting his face. My mouth gaped, but no words escaped it.

“Anxious flier?”

41. Forty-One

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When I found Olive, her blonde hair a curtain around her face, shoulders shaking with sobs, I nearly broke. The fact that she was as torn up over our break up as I was nearly made me smile. The shock on her face made sprinting like Forrest Gump through the airport completely worth it.

“What are you—”

“I love you.” There I said it. Now I knew if I didn’t have another moment with her, at least she knew the truth. Olive’s expression remained shocked, so I continued. “I don’t care that it’s only been a couple of weeks. Truth is I am utterly, insanely in love with you, and,” I huffed out a small laugh, “I don’t care. I know that it’s crazy. But the thing is, Olive, I don’t want easy, or simple. I want absolutely crazy, and I want it all with you.”

Olive opened her mouth. “Finn.”

I held a hand up to stop her. “Just listen. I should be upset that you lied to me. That you hid all your baggage from me. But truthfully, it means nothing. That moment of pain I felt was miniscule compared to the love I have for you. And I swear I will be that old man at the dinner table telling our story to our great-grandkids for the hundredth time because I want them to know I found the love of my life in a matter of two weeks. So, I would gladly claim all your baggage if it meant you would be mine.”

I took a breath after my rant, light-headed from my sprint through the airport and my confessions.

She smiled. “Are you done?”

Immediately I said, “No.” Then, “Wait, yes.”