“I don’t know what to do. What do I do?”

“Say a prayer, sweetheart. That’s all we can do right now. I’ll call you the second I know more.”

“I’ll see about getting the car on the ferry, and I’ll get there as soon as I can. Will you text me the info about where you are?”

“I will.”

“Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Erin ended the call and dropped her head into her hands, sobs shaking her body.

“I’m so sorry, honey,” Slim said as he rubbed her back.

“Did you hear all that?”

“Enough to put the pieces together. Sweetheart, look at me.”

Erin raised her head to meet his gaze.

“I could get you there pretty quickly. They live in Philly, right?”

“Just outside,” she said, her throat closing with panic and anxiety at the thought of flying. She would’ve thought nothing could trump that fear, but the fear of losing her dad, of never seeing him again, was greater than her flying phobia.

“That’s just over an hour by air.”

“I… I should tell you…”

Gazing down at her, he caressed her bare shoulder. “What, honey?”

She forced herself to look at him when she said, “I haven’t flown since before 9/11.”

After a long pause, he said, “Oh. Okay.”

“I’m not entirely sure that I can.”

“How about we try and see how it goes?”

“What if I freak out in the air?”

“I’d get you down as fast as I could.”

“Then what would we do?”

“Hire a car to drive us to Philly?”

“You’d do that?”

“I’d do anything I could for you.”

With just one sentence, he managed to convey a world of meaning that had her sobbing all over again, this time from the emotional overload that came from realizing, right in that already fraught moment, that she was falling hard for him.

Leaving that discovery to deal with at a later date, she said, “How long will it take to get there?”

“About an hour and twenty. I have a twin-engine plane, so it won’t take long.”

“Good to know there’s a backup if one engine quits.”

“The engines won’t quit. You don’t need to worry about that. Come here.” He gathered her into his arms. “I promise you’ll be completely safe with me. I’d never take any chances with your safety—or my own.” As he spoke, he continued to rub her back in soothing circles. “It’ll be a really quick flight.”

“I’m afraid of so many things that never used to scare me,” she whispered. “I’m afraid of everything.”

“Then you need to stick with me, because in addition to my former careers as an EMT and circus performer, I’m an outstanding dragon slayer. Never met one yet that could defeat me. I gotcha covered, sweetheart.”