Grounded for Love: A Reunion Romance Novella (2 page)

Serena sat on the couch and tapped at her keyboard searching for a flight back to Durango. Most flights were filled, but she found one in the morning with a three hour layover in Denver. She purchased the ticket then went into her room to pack her suitcase.

After pulling out a few things, she flopped onto her bed, a steady stream of tears flowing down her cheeks.
What if he doesn’t make it? What if I’m too late?

She cradled her head in her hands. Memories of her dad poured in. In her mind, she could see his big smile when she caught her first fish. Her mom had stayed home, so it had only been the two of them that trip. Serena had packed a lunch with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, an apple for each and a bag of Funyuns. She could almost taste the salty onion chips on her tongue. They’d hiked up to a mountain lake and had it all to themselves that day. She missed that cool breeze, earthy smell, and bright blue Colorado sky.

She wiped at her face and sent a silent prayer that her daddy would be okay.
He has to make it. That’s all there is to it.

Serena left a detailed message on Elise’s voicemail at the office. Grabbing a couple more items, she finished packing her small red suitcase then tossed and turned, trying to get some sleep.

Graham McAllister woke early and finished packing his black suitcase. He set it by the front door of his condo then found his coat stashed in the back of the hall closet. He rarely needed one in Phoenix, but he’d definitely need one this time of year in Grand Junction. Thankfully, the wedding ceremony would be inside and so would the reception afterwards, but he planned to spend some time outside in his favorite spots while he was home for the festivities.

A knock sounded at the door. He opened it to Dana. “Hi, baby,” she said as she walked in wearing a red form-fitting dress with her long black hair cascading over her shoulders.

“You look great.” Dana always looked polished.

“Thanks. I have a business meeting this morning, but I wanted to stop by and see you before you left.”

“I’ll only be gone until Monday.”

She smiled. “That’s almost a week. I’ll miss you.”

“When I get back, we’ll go to dinner.”

“I wish I could go with you to your brother’s wedding.” Her lips formed into a pout.

“Well—”

“I know,” she paused, “we haven’t been dating very long, so we aren’t ready to meet each other’s families. At least not yet.” She ran her hand down his arm then held his hand. “Soon?”

Graham nodded. “Yeah.” Dana had it all. Beauty, poise, intelligence. She seemed to be his perfect match. Yet something held him back. Maybe he was simply an idiot for not wanting to take the next step in their relationship. Why didn’t he want to bring her back to his hometown so she could meet his family? Was it that he wasn’t ready? Or something else?

“You’ll miss me?” she asked.

“Of course.”

His phone vibrated in his pocket, so he pulled it out and looked at the reminder. “Oh. I need to call my boss before I leave.”

“Such a workaholic.” She leaned in and kissed him.

Add
great kisser
to the list of Dana’s assets. She knew how to kiss, that was for sure. But somewhere, along the edge of those kisses, something was missing, though he couldn’t quite pinpoint it. “I’ll see you when I get back.”

“Call me when you get there, so I know you made it safe,” she said.

After she left, Graham made a quick call to his boss then headed to the airport.

The phone alarm sounded with Serena’s favorite song. She jumped out of bed, anxious to get to the airport and on her way home to see her dad. She checked her texts and found that her dad had already gone into surgery and her mom was still waiting to hear how it went. Even though her mom wasn’t very tech-savvy, at least she could text, and Serena was thankful for that. Serena made it to San Francisco International with over ninety minutes to spare.

While sitting in the waiting area, Serena decided to check the weather report. Since it was still January, it was likely temperatures could be in the single digits, so she’d worn her new black coat, but she hoped it wouldn’t be too frigid while she was there.

“Oh no,” she said out loud as she stared at her phone screen.

An older woman with short red hair sitting in the seat across from her said, “Problem?”

“Looks like there’s a big storm in Colorado.”

“Yeah, I heard they were expecting a lot of snowfall. Like the biggest storm they’ve had in years. I’m headed to Denver to see my new granddaughter.”

“The biggest storm?”
I hope this won’t interfere with my flight.

“Well, you know how forecasters are.” The older woman waved her hand. “Hardly ever accurate.”

“As long as I can get out of Denver and down to Durango.” A sense of desperation set in. Some snow storm was
not
going to prevent her from seeing her dad.

“Going skiing?”

“No. That’s where I grew up. And,” she hesitated, “my dad just had a heart attack, so I’m going back to see him.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“He’s in surgery. I’m so worried about him.” Serena’s stomach hadn’t stopped aching since she got the news last night.

“I hope it all turns out okay. I’m sure the storm won’t affect the flights. There’d have to be a tremendous amount of snow for that. Don’t worry, you’ll make it back to see your dad.” The lady gave her a hopeful smile.

Serena wanted to believe this kind stranger. “Thanks. I hope you’re right.”

They chatted for a few more minutes when Serena’s phone vibrated. She didn’t want to answer it, but did anyway. “Hi, Elise.”

“I’m very sorry about your dad.” Elise almost sounded like she meant it.

“Thank you.”

“I don’t mean to be rude or callous, but do you know when you’ll be back?” Elise had a heart made of steel.

“In a week.” Honestly, Serena had no idea. It would depend on what happened when she got there, but she couldn’t tell her boss that. Elise only dealt with concrete information.

Elise clucked her tongue. “I’ll have to reassign Steve’s book to Amy.”

“But I’ve worked really hard—”

“I know, but the edits have to be done before the end of next week.”

“I can do it.”

“Amy already has the file and I told her to contact Steve.”

“But—”

“I may shift some of your other books as well.”

No use in arguing with Elise. She was as goal-oriented as they came, and she disliked any weakness in her employees. “I will keep you updated,” Serena said.

“Serena?”

“Yes?” She prepared to hear a tongue lashing for leaving so abruptly.

“I really am sorry. I lost my dad about five years ago and I miss him every day.”

Serena blinked a few times. “Oh, I didn’t know that.”

“I know that I’m hard on you, but I have to keep things running. You’re one of my best editors. I hope your father is okay and that you can come back soon.”

“Thank you.” Serena was dumbfounded by Elise’s unexpected compassion.
Guess I don’t know her as well as I thought.

Serena ended the call in time to hear that her flight was boarding. Flying wasn’t her favorite. Maybe she’d watched too many episodes of
Lost
and read too many articles on missing planes, but she just wanted to get to Denver and then to Durango as quickly and uneventfully as possible.

The flight from San Francisco was smooth. Trying to keep her mind off her dad, Serena read
A Moment in Paris
, the manuscript she still had, at least for the moment, and made notes in the margins. Most editors did their editing electronically, but she was old-school and liked the tactile feel of the paper and using a red pen to make her comments. It made her feel like the editor she’d dreamed of being back when she was a teenager.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We will be delayed in our descent to Denver because of the storm. More snow than expected has fallen and they are working to keep the landing strip clear so we can land. This storm is causing problems with many flights so be sure to check to see if your connecting flight has been delayed.”

“Exactly what I didn’t want to hear,” Serena said to no one in particular.

A man with a dark goatee and glasses sitting next to her said, “This storm is supposed to be a major one. They’d predicted it wouldn’t drop much snow until later today, but they must’ve been wrong.”

Serena licked her lips and rubbed her temples. “I have to get my connecting flight to Durango.”

“Good luck. I’m not counting on mine.”

“I can’t deal with this.” Tears burned behind her eyes. What if this delay prevented her from seeing her dad before… She could never live with that. Maybe she could rent a car and drive down. It was only seven hours or so. She shook her head.
No, that would be too dangerous and take way too long in a big storm.
She pushed out a breath of frustration.

“Maybe your flight won’t be delayed, especially if it’s in the next thirty minutes.”

“I have a three hour layover.”

The man gave a weak smile.

As soon as the plane came to a stop at the terminal, Serena was up and ready to disembark. She hoped that her next flight was on time and maybe the storm would hold out long enough for her to fly away from Denver.

Serena rushed into the terminal and found a monitor with departure information. Her flight was still scheduled to leave at its appointed time.
Whew, what a relief.

The man from the flight came up behind her. “Good news?”

She turned to him. “Yes. My flight is still on time.”

He studied the monitor. “Uh oh.”

Serena watched as
Delayed
flashed next to her flight to Durango. “No!”

“I’m sure it won’t be too long.”

Feeling deflated, Serena dragged herself away from the monitors and plopped down on a hard, uncomfortable chair. She was so close, but still so far away from her dad.
What rotten luck. Why couldn’t this storm have waited a day, or even a few hours?

She pulled out her phone and called her mom. “My flight is delayed.”

“Good news.” Her mom’s voice sounded lighter than the night before, but her response made no sense.

“No, it’s terrible news. I want to get home to see Daddy. Right now.” If she could’ve flapped her own arms and flown home, she would’ve.

“Not that. Your dad. He’s improving.”

“What?”

“He isn’t critical anymore. His surgery went very well and he’s doing much, much better.”

Her mom’s words registered and the crushing weight lifted a bit. “Really?”

“Yes. The surgeon said they were successful and your dad should recover.”

“He’ll be okay?” Relief cascaded over her and happy tears sprang to her eyes.

“It’s too soon to tell for sure, but it looks like it.” Her voice sounded hopeful.

“I’m still on my way. I want to see him.”

“Why is your flight delayed?”

“This storm, I guess.” Serena rubbed her forehead. “I just want to get home and see for myself that Daddy’s okay.”

“Keep me updated, honey.”

“I will, Mom.”

After they finished talking, Serena felt like she could finally breathe again. She was still anxious to see her dad, but at least she wasn’t frantic. Spotting a café, she headed over for lunch.