He donned a headset and began talking to someone in a language she could barely understand, except for the words Gansett Island and Philadelphia. Things began to happen quickly after that. The engines fired up, more checks and rechecks were done, switches were flipped, knobs were turned, and Erin watched it all, feeling detached and removed from the scene that was unfolding right in front of her.

If she tried hard enough, she might convince herself to believe that she was watching this happen on TV rather than living through it personally.

Slim glanced over at her, found her watching him and offered a small smile. “Ready?”

“Not even kind of.”

“I’ve got this. I promise. There’s nothing to worry about.”

Between his assurances and the soothing effects of the medication, Erin was able to remain still while he belted her in and taxied the plane to the end of the runway.

“I need both hands for takeoff, but after that, one of them is all yours. And remember—there’ll be a few bumps on the climb, but it’ll smooth out as soon as we get above the clouds. Okay?”

She nodded because that was all she was capable of at the moment.

As he revved the engine for takeoff, her hands curled into fists and her eyes closed, but not tightly enough to contain the tears that rolled down her cheeks. They lurched forward and hurtled down the runway before lifting off. A small squeak of surprise crept through her clenched jaw as she felt the plane gain altitude.

“We’ve got this. It’s all good.”

His assurances went a long way toward calming her nerves. If she kept her eyes closed, she could almost convince herself she was home in bed, dreaming that her mother had called about her dad and Slim had offered to fly her to Philly. She could pretend that nothing had ever happened to ruin her love of travel and adventure.

As he’d predicted, the plane rocked and rolled on the way through the clouds, but the warmth of his hand surrounding hers and the sound of his voice as he continued to reassure her worked to soothe her frayed nerves.

“Should get better now,” he said after about ten minutes.

That was the last thing she heard before he squeezed her hand, jarring her out of a deep sleep.

“There you are,” he said, smiling when she looked over at him, blinking his handsome face into focus. “We’re going to land in fifteen minutes.”

Outside the window, the sky was pink and purple and orange, the colors of sunrise. “Did I really sleep the whole way?”

“You really did. But that’s for the best, don’t you think?”

“I did it,” she said softly. “I got on an airplane.”

“You didn’t just get on a plane. You flew for more than an hour.”