Abby’s brain processed the words, and she nodded. She tried to ignore the whirl of her senses after Jordan’s hot breath had piped into her ears, but she didn’t quite manage it. She waited for Gavin to demonstrate blowing into the top-up tube for the life jacket, and how to locate your light.

When he was finished, Abby gulped back the vodka, wincing as the neat alcohol hit her taste buds. Jeez, alcohol tasted bad on its own. She tried not to imagine the vodka stripping her insides like dried paint from her fingertips, and instead focused on the dull buzz that slowly began to seep through her. She pocketed the whisky in her handbag, and tried to recall how to wrap the life jacket ties around her waist. Who was she kidding? If the plane crashed, she was a goner.

“Gavin, take your seat,” said Michelle over the PA. Gavin promptly disappeared.

This was it, they were about to take off. Abby’s least favourite part of flying. She tugged on her seatbelt to make sure it was secure, then glanced Jordan’s way.

Jordan gave her a smile, then took Abby’s hand in hers and settled their joined limbs on their shared armrest.

Abby almost stopped breathing, fixing her eyes on their hands, before deciding it was too much. She snapped her eyes shut.

“I hope everyone’s ready to fly, because the runway is within sight. Have a great flight everyone.” That was Michelle again, before the PA snapped off.

There were whoops from behind.

Abby couldn’t work out who they were from, and she didn’t much care. All she could hear was the roar of her heartbeat in her ears. The wobble of her body as every muscle she possessed clamped shut. She was on a plane and she was holding Jordan’s hand. The strangest part about it? It was having the desired effect.

Jordan was a calming influence.

As the plane gathered speed and lifted off the tarmac, Jordan squeezed her hand tighter still, and Abby put all of her focus on that, and not on the fact they were now airborne in a metal tube. Abby glanced across at Jordan, catching a glimpse of the outside world getting smaller as the plane climbed.

Big mistake.

She took a deep breath, pulling her eyes to the front. But all the while, Jordan didn’t let go of her hand, and didn’t say a word.

The exact thing she’d always wanted a partner to do, and they never had.

Jordan understood her.

That wasn’t lost on Abby.

Chapter 14