After one of the castle limos dropped them at the island’s airport, they quickly realized that their royal treatment was finished. The tiny airport only had a few terminals, but it was overfilled with people.

The frazzled ticket agent informed them they were lucky to get seats on the morning flight to the United States at all when they complained that they weren’t seated in the same row. Pricing for the last-minute tickets had been exorbitant, but Tess charged it on her credit card. She was willing to do whatever it took to help wipe that heartbroken, hopeless look from Mo’s face. If that meant running as far from this island paradise as they could go, then that is exactly what they would do.

When they went to wait for their flight to begin boarding, they quickly discovered that there were no seats left in the gate area. “Great,” Tess muttered as they both flopped on the floor in front of a large window overlooking the airport’s single runway.

It wasn’t lost on her that just beyond the runway was a seemingly never-ending expanse of aquamarine-colored sea. Despite being in one of the loveliest locations she had ever encountered, they were sitting in a crowded airport getting ready to leave. She wanted to be angry with Mo for forcing them to leave this place––and Sebastian, but when she looked into her friend’s bloodshot and devastated eyes, she couldn’t even muster irritation.

The boarding seemed to go on for eons, but their rows were eventually called. While they stood in line to show their boarding passes, Tess couldn’t resist saying, “It’s a little different than the private jet we brought here, huh?”

Mo responded with a sad smile, and the woman in front of them in line turned to roll her eyes and say, “Just wait until we get inside.”

Tess didn’t want to sound like a spoiled brat, but the last thing she wanted to do was get on that stuffy, overcrowded tin can. The prince had offered to have his jet on standby for their return, but she knew Mo wouldn’t want to take advantage of his generosity.

A devastated best friend was the only thing in the world that could have convinced Tess to leave their little slice of island paradise. Looking at Mo’s hunched shoulders, she realized that she needed to stop pouting because Mo was truly heartbroken.

Tess secretly hoped that Pierce and Sebastian would hear about their departure and come make a dramatic scene on the airplane to get them to come back to the castle. But her fantasy was dashed when the filled-to-capacity plane lumbered down the runway and lifted off, just before the pavement ended at the ocean’s edge.

With a sigh, she peeked around the large man sitting in the window seat, and said a silent goodbye to the pristine island kingdom, and the royal steward, who had somehow won her heart. It felt so wrong to be leaving, but she couldn’t let Mo leave heartbroken and alone.

Turning back to look at Mo across the aisle and one row behind her, Tess grimaced at the shattered look on Mo’s face. The sudden realization that her friend’s despair meant that Tess’s relationship with Sebastian would never blossom swept over her and made her feel like screaming in frustration. This was not at all how things were supposed to go… it couldn’t possibly be right.

Both women tried to rest during the long flight, despite their noisy surroundings. Tess didn’t think she would be able to nod off, but realized she must have been successful when the announcement was made to prepare for arrival.

By unspoken agreement, the women retrieved their luggage and hailed a cab to take them to Tess’s apartment. Tess sensed that Mo was not in the emotional state to be alone right now. The taxi driver tried a couple of times to make small talk with them, but neither woman could drum up the interest to take the bait.

When they arrived at Tess’s condo, Mo left her bags just inside the door, shuffled to the sofa, and flopped down face-first. Tess scuttled about the apartment putting away things and making Mo some tea. When her friend failed to acknowledge her, Tess decided to give her some space and quietly went to her bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

Finally able to check her phone in private, she was stunned to see that she hadn’t missed any calls or messages from Sebastian. Had their relationship not been as important to him as it had been to her? Was he going to just let her leave, since Mo and the prince had broken up?

When the burning lump tickled at her throat, there was no denying that she had secretly been hoping that Sebastian would find a way to be with her, despite their friends’ troubled relationship. The knowledge that he might truly have only been entertaining her at the prince’s behest made scalding tears sting behind her eyes.

After firing off a quick text to both of her brothers to let them know she was back in the States, she decided to go back to sleep in the hopes that things would look better when she awoke.