I ran my hands through my hair wondering why she would leave without saying goodbye.
“Why in the hell didn’t you wake me?” I yelled, not meaning to have as much force behind it as what came out.
Instead of Norah cowering to my raised voice, she straightened her posture and yelled right back, “Because she asked me not to!”
“The one time you choose to listen is now?” Her eyes narrowed and I felt awful, so I quickly calmed down, “I know, you always listen. I’m sorry, but I wanted to tell her goodbye. I didn’t even get to say goodbye.”
My shoulders slumped and I slowly shuffled my feet into the kitchen to retrieve the folded note that was on the fridge.
I only got through the first sentence before I started to take matters into my own hands.
Baylor,
Please let this count as our goodbye.
“Norah, get dressed! We’re going to the airport!” I folded the note again without reading the rest and shoved it into the pocket of my shorts.
“I’m ready, Dad,” she replied breathlessly as she ran into the kitchen. “Let’s go get her.”
I darted to grab my keys and started running into the garage before Norah stopped me, “Uh Dad…You may want to put on a shirt and some shoes if you want to be allowed entrance into the airport.”
I stopped dead in my tracks once my foot hit the cool concrete of the garage floor, reiterating what Norah just said. “Shit,” I said under my breath.
I skidded to a halt in one of the open parking spots right next to the terminal entrance. It was a crooked parking job but it would have to do. I threw the Camaro in park and turned to look at Norah.
“Go, Dad, I’ll sit right here.”
“Thanks, sweetheart,” I yelled as I slammed the door on the car and rounded the front of the hood to rush inside.
Once I got through the door, I really didn’t know where I would go from there. No one would let me past security without a ticket and boarding pass but I was going to try and give it a shot. I went over to the board that listed the arrival and departure times and saw the one from Eugene to Nashville. I followed the line that told me what the flight number was, but the departure time was wrong. That couldn’t be, it said nine a.m. and that the plane had already departed.
I approached a ticket agent to confirm that the board was misinformed. “The arrival and departure board, is it always accurate?”
The agent continued pecking away on her computer for a few moments before she looked up at me with a sour expression painted on her face. “Sir, whatever those boards say,” she pointed to exhibit A, “is the most up-to-date information we have. Now if you’ll excuse me I have work to do,” she ended with an eye roll.
I walked away from the counter just wandering around aimlessly. How could Eden outright lie to me about the time her flight left? I had to physically palm my chest because I felt my heart breaking. Had the entire week just been a bit of fun for her? I was under the assumption that she felt the same way I did, but you knew what they said when you assume. I really hoped that I wasn’t the one to be made an ass.
Feeling my phone vibrate in my pocket, I quickly fished it out and connected the call before bringing it to my ear. “Eden?”
“What? No, it’s Dean,” he replied.
“Dean, she’s gone. She left without telling me goodbye. I don’t understand it.” I found an empty bench and sat down while listening to Dean.
“Did she leave a note?”
Him asking that sparked my memory and I felt around for the note in my pocket and dug it out. “Yeah, she did.”
“Well, what does it say?”
Baylor,
Please let this count as our goodbye…
I had already read that part but I actually kept on reading until the very end.
I know you, Baylor, and I know you ended up running to the airport without reading the rest of this letter. I could’ve saved you the time. I want to admit that I did indeed lie to you about the time my flight left because I figured this would be easiest for all parties involved. I didn’t sleep much last night because my mind was constantly running in a million different directions. How would our goodbye go? Would you ask me to stay? Would you send me on my merry way? You might think that this wasn’t the right way to go about this, but in my heart it was.
This week was one of the best ones of my life and I’m so thankful that we were able to reconnect and explore each other in a more intimate light. You were my first love, Baylor Jenkins, and they say that the first is always the hardest to get over. If nothing more becomes of us I wish you a happy life with lots of laughter. Take care of yourself and Norah.
Love Always,
Eden
I finished reading the letter, more confused than before. “Baylor? Are you there?”
Focusing my attention back on Dean, “Yeah, I’m here. Listen, is there any way that Eden can get out of her contract at the radio station?”
“I don’t know, man, I’m not that kind of lawyer. You know that.”
“Well, don’t you have friends or contacts that can find out for me?” I snapped.
Dean replied, deadpan, “I can try. Listen, I’m coming over, I need to run something by you. I’ll be there when you return from the airport.”
I ended the call and quietly walked back to my car without my precious cargo in tow.
Noticing an airport security officer standing in front of my car and Norah’s wide eyes from inside I knew that I was going to be on the receiving end of a ticket. Rushing up a little faster, I raised my hands in surrender, “Officer, I’m getting ready to move.”
“Sir, is this your car?” He pointed his pen towards the Camaro, I nodded in response. “This isn’t a parking zone for your pleasure, it’s an unloading zone. Now I’ve already written out the warning,” he ripped off the paper and shoved it in my direction, “Consider this your lucky day.”
“Yeah, thanks,” I grumbled under my breath and then got into the car.
“Did you find her?” Norah immediately asked, the optimism apparent in her voice.
“No,” I was sad to burst her bubble because her face immediately fell, “Her plane had already left.” The sadness in my own voice was obvious and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I wanted to understand where Eden was coming from, but I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. She’d spent the week drilling into my head that she was under contract so this was just a visit, but I definitely didn’t expect to go falling even deeper in love with her. If I had known of there being even a remote possibility of her staying I would’ve begged every moment of every day. I wasn’t above begging, especially when it came to matters of our hearts.
When I pulled back into my driveway, Dean was waiting just like he said he would be. I couldn’t help it when my hand accidentally slipped and slammed the car door after I exited.
“You’re taking this hard, aren’t you?” Dean asked.
Norah spoke up first, “That’s an understatement. You didn’t have to sit the entire twenty-five minute return home in absolute silence.”
“Norah,” I warned.
“What, I’m just telling the truth. I’ll be inside watching TV if you happen to need me,” she waved a hand as she walked away from us and into the garage.
“Well, this may warrant some bad attitude from you, but you and Eden never were the best at communication. I’d think that after all these years it would definitely be stronger now, but by the look on your face I’d be wrong. So what’s your next move?”