I read it twice.
He still had no idea we were there.
Or perhaps he did, and he simply didn’t care.
I typed a single question.
Me: Who is Vanessa to you?
The reply came almost immediately.
Tyler: This isn’t the time. Please trust me.
I nearly laughed.
Trust him.
I had trusted him when he said he was working late.I had trusted him when he explained the unexplained hotel charges on our joint credit card. I had trusted him when he claimed that Vanessa was nothing more than an old colleague.
And now he was asking me to trust him while declaring his love for her to an entire airplane.
I put my phone away.
When the wheels touched the runway in Chicago, Mason looked toward the window without saying a word.
As passengers began standing and reaching for their bags, I stayed seated until the aisle cleared.didn’t want to embarrass Tyler.
I didn’t want to embarrass myself.
Most of all, I didn’t want Mason to remember this day as the moment his mother lost control.
We walked off the plane together.
Tyler was waiting near the cockpit, still wearing his uniform and smiling as he spoke to a tall blonde woman standing beside him.
Vanessa.
She was holding a bouquet of white roses.
When Tyler saw her, his whole face softened in a way I hadn’t seen in months.
Then he leaned down and kissed her.Right there in the terminal.
In front of passengers who had just listened to his announcement.
I stopped walking.
Mason stopped beside me.
“Mom,” he whispered, “is that the special person?”
