As I stood up and pulled my backpack out of the overhead bin, I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic for all the times I’d done this before, when I came back from boot camp and any one of my three tours. But this time was different. The aisle cleared for me to exit the plane first, with Boomer in front of me, wearing his army-green K9 vest, complete with all the badges he’d earned.

I nodded as people smiled and thanked Boomer and me for our service. By the time I reached the front of the plane, my anxiety level was skyrocketing. I let out the stale breath I’d been holding as soon as I stepped into the skybridge. Every time I walked through this tunnel, I was a different man than when I’d left. This was more true today than it ever was.

As Boomer and I stepped out of the skybridge into Southwest Airlines Gate T2, I was overcome with a bone-deep sense of relief. I grinned like an idiot as we passed the familiar concourse shops and restaurants. I had shipped four boxes of my belongings to my parents’ house, so we didn’t bother going down to the baggage claim. We took the Skyway straight to the parking garage and hopped on the lightrail going to Terminal 1, where my dad was set to pick us up in about twenty minutes.

My mom didn’t question me when I called her four days ago to say I was coming back. She just asked me when, and if there was anything she could do to help. My mom could always be counted on to leave the past in the past.

I stepped out of the terminal and the smell of Minneapolis hit me like a freight train. It was the familiar scent of Minneapolis after a November “scorcher” in the 50-degree range. The warm winds heated the soil and brought in all the “pleasant” smells from farms to the west. People were covering their faces with their shirts in the passenger pickup area. But not me. I walked up and down the sidewalk a few times, breathing in lungfuls of nostalgia as I looked for my dad’s black BMW. It was nowhere in sight.

I found a bench and set my backpack down. Boomer gazed up at me as I slid my phone out of my pocket and dialed my dad’s number. The phone rang four times before it went to voicemail. My dad usually answered the phone, even if he was driving. The only time he didn’t answer his phone was when he was with a patient. Maybe he forgot he was supposed to pick us up and he was still at work.

No big deal. My dad’s dental office was less than forty minutes from the airport, I could wait a while longer. Actually, if he was tied up, I could take a Lyft to the house. But as I opened up my Lyft app, I froze at the sound of a familiar voice calling my name.

“Isaac?”

I turned toward the voice and a huge grin spread across my face. “Well, I’ll be. This is a nice surprise. Is this a coincidence or are you here to pick me up?”

Emily shrugged. “To pick you up, I guess. Your mom called me, like, literally twenty minutes ago to ask me. She said your dad had a dental emergency with one of his patients.”

She was tiny. No more than five-foot-two, and cute as a button.

I looked her up and down for a moment, taking in her dark tousled hair, her army-green jacket, and skinny jeans that showed off her curves. “If this is what you look like when you have twenty minutes to get ready, I may just have to take you out somewhere nice to see what you look like when you really put in the effort.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Is that a compliment or an insult?”

I laughed as I slung my backpack over my shoulder. “Definitely a compliment. You’re naturally beautiful.”

Her cheeks flushed flame-red. “My car’s over there,” she said, pointing to a silver Chevy Volt with flashing hazard lights parked in the loading zone. “We’d better get going before they tow me.”

I tossed my backpack into the back seat with Boomer. Reaching in to grab the latch on the front of the passenger seat, I pushed it back to make room for my legs before I got inside.

“Thanks for coming out on such short notice,” I said, closing the car door and reaching for the seatbelt.

Emily looked around and over her shoulder. “I feel a little embarrassed admitting this, but I’ve never actually picked anyone up from this airport before. I… I only got my driver’s license three years ago. I don’t know how to get out of the airport.”

“No need to be embarrassed about that. You want me to drive?”

Her face lit up. “Would you?”

I laughed. “Of course.”

We both got out and, as we rounded the front of the car, I gave in to the overwhelming urge to reach out and brush her hand with my fingertips. She continued moving toward the passenger side with her hand clutched to her chest, like found treasure, and a gorgeous smile on her face.

I had to move the driver’s seat even farther back than the passenger seat, which made me wonder, for a split second, if she’d been driving around with another guy in the car. “Where to?” I asked as I pulled the seatbelt across my chest.

She buckled in and looked up at me with an adorably confused expression. “I thought you were going home.”

“Do you have somewhere you need to be?”

She shook her head. “Nope.”

I sat back and pondered for a moment before I threw out a suggestion. “You told me you moved to Minneapolis when you were sixteen. Have you ever walked all the way down Nicollet Mall until you reached the Mississippi River at nine o’clock at night in the middle of autumn with a guy you just picked up at the airport?”

A beaming grin spread across her face. “Oddly enough, I have not.”

I shook my head as I pressed the ignition button. “Well, let me know when you get a chance to do that. I’d love to know how it goes.”

She laughed as she punched me in the arm, which prompted a deep bark from Boomer. “You’re worse than my brothers,” she said, completely unfazed by Boomer barking at her.

I rubbed my arm. “No need to resort to physical violence,” I said, pulling the car out into the flow of traffic. “Unless you’re into that sort of thing.”

She leaned back in her seat and shook her head. “I have a feeling you’re going to get me in a whole lot of trouble.”

I smiled as I stopped at a traffic light. “I sure hope so.”