Passengers rarely came into the office. Sometimes Noah would have someone up for a business meeting or even a social visit.

Charlotte tipped her microphone back and smiled at the woman who merely scowled at her. The woman was obviously a client. Her perfect blonde hair swept back from her perfect face. She wore a red dress over her perfectly toned body.

“How can I help you?” Charlotte asked.

From the way she’d walked straight from the elevator to the Charlotte’s station, the woman seemed to know her way around. “Where’s Ryan?” She checked her watch.

“He’s flying.”

“No. We’re flying. In less than an hour.”

Charlotte already knew Ryan’s schedule by heart. But she checked anyway just in case she’d missed something. Nope. “Ryan doesn’t have anymore flights today.”

The woman turned and smiled at her. Charlotte recoiled. The woman’s smile held so much… contempt.

“It’s not on the schedule, dear. It’s personal.”

“I see.”

“So?”

“So…”

“Where is he?”

“He’s flying.”

“Where’s Noah?”

“Noah has left for the weekend.” Charlotte informed her. She could have just said Noah was out for the rest of the week, but something about the woman made her want to taunt her - just a little.

“It’s Monday.”

“He’s the boss.”

The woman rolled her eyes. “Then who’s in charge?”

“I guess it depends on what you need.”

“I need to know where Ryan is.”

Charlotte opened her mouth, but the woman interrupted. “Don’t say flying.”

“Okay.”

The corners of the woman’s lips twitched, but she didn’t smile.

“His flight was delayed.” Charlotte told her. “Can I book you a flight with someone else?”

The woman laughed without humor. “You have no idea who I am, do you?”

Charlotte shook her head.

“I’m Sariah Winston.”

Charlotte looked blankly at her.

“I’m Ryan’s fiancé.”

The bottom dropped out of Charlotte’s stomach and the room spun. Sariah said something else, but Charlotte didn’t hear her words.

She got up and took a step away from the desk, but was stopped by the cord on her headset. She pulled it off her head and tossed it on the desk, took her purse from the desk drawer, and after remembering to set the phone calls to route to the answering service, turned and opened the door to her left that went down the stairs.

She could barely see as she raced down the steps. She didn’t stop until she was inside her car with the doors locked. She sat there, clinging to the steering wheel, her heart shattered into a thousand tiny pieces.

Ryan. Engaged. She had to get home. She turned on the ignition and put the car in reverse. Somehow she managed to make through the traffic to her apartment. She would never know how she managed it.

She let herself into her apartment, locked the door, and went straight to her bedroom.

Hugging her knees to her, she sat there, her mind blank.

Ryan. Engaged. To Sariah Winston.

And he hadn’t told her.

After a few minutes, she got up and put on her sleep shorts. As she reached in the closet for a tee shirt to sleep in, she saw the tee-shirt with Silver Creek Ranch blazed across it. She loved that shirt. It had an image of the ranch and a black bear on it.

She pulled it from the hanger and, hugging it to her, she slid to her closet floor and cried. She cried until the shirt was soaked.