Wren

THE AIRPLANE ENGINES hum. Sabrina is chattering away on her cell while I sit cross-legged in one of the leather reclining chairs in the small jet. I know it’s her family money that pays for this luxury. Being a congressperson has its perks, but a private jet trip to bail out a wayward sister is not one of them.

Sabrina finishes her call, and I quickly swipe away the last of the escaping tears I’ve fought back for the last hour. Listening to my sister tell me in glorious detail things about Flint I, of course, didn’t know.

I’m caught. Trapped. Flint’s been watching me. Recording me.

He’s got more assaults in his past.

Could Sabrina be right this time? The conflict pulling at my insides has me nearly doubled over trying to figure out if my mind or heart needs to make decisions right now. “We can’t get clearance for another hour.” She huffs as she sits down in the enormous seat across from me. Her security guard stands in the cockpit doorway, chatting quietly with the pilot. Funny, you don’t think of hired muscle as ever being relaxed, but right now, he seems at ease. The door to the steps leading up to the plane is open, letting in some welcome fresh, clean air to cool the interior, but it also brings with it a mixed smell of jet fuel and forest.

There is a clutch in my chest. A repeated low sickness curls in my gut. Thoughts of Flint still run through my head, tightening my throat and making each breath a challenge.

Sabrina has been prattling on for the past hour and a half about Flint and the cameras. His arrest record. But I’m numb.

The cameras were a shock. Why would he need them? Sabrina used her connections and contacts to get a security check and figure out where the signal was going, and then showed me the evidence. There can be no doubt about who was behind them. Although they couldn’t pinpoint it to an exact location, it’s only a matter of time before the police get a warrant and search Flint’s place. He never wanted me to go into his office, where there were all those monitors, and now I know why.

Maybe I’m numb, but right now, it’s not so much that he had me under surveillance. I mean, that is a huge breach of my privacy. But it’s more.

Being with Flint felt so right. But now I realize just how little we know about each other. Sabrina made a huge deal about the cameras and looked more into Flint’s background, found out things I didn’t know. And of course, she did, because in reality we barely know each other at all. He barely knows me either.

“Sis,” Sabrina interrupts as I stare out the window, watching another small plane take flight off the runway. The airport is surrounded by miles of deep pines and deciduous trees, making it feel like a portal to another world.

“What?” I don’t look her way. I don’t want her to fuss and make comments about my eyes being red and how Flint never deserved me. Because truth is, I’m not sure what I believe right now.

“You know this is absolutely, one hundred percent, what is best for you, right? That’s important to me. I need you to know that this is for you.”

“I know,” I whisper.

“I just got off the phone with the bank. Both the salon and the house will be paid in full in a few hours. I’ve got a company that will get into your house and pack and ship anything there that’s yours to my place. You’ll need to contact whatever is left of your staff and let them know that, as of tomorrow, the locks will be changed. Good thing you only had contract workers and not employees. That was smart. I’m proud of you for thinking ahead. No mess with letting them go without notice.”

“How smart of me.”

“Hey, being pragmatic about business is smart. It’s how the world works, Wren. And I’ll get you into one of the salons in Charlotte if that’s what you really want. But honestly, you need to aim higher, sweetie. Look what almost just happened. A felon? A failed business? Unpaid debts? You do know that would have come up in my next campaign, right? Running for Senate is nothing like congress. And with my aspirations, who knows...the White House, maybe.”

She pauses to look down at her phone with a smile.

“Maybe. You’ve got what it takes. And now, you’ve averted familial disaster with having a half sister with shame on her name.”

“Don’t say it like that. I love you, Wren. You will never be a burden or an embarrassment, not to me. You just don’t understand the real world. Business is a dangerous game. You got lucky this time.” She holds up a hand. “It’s not your fault, either. Dad—and your mom—lived their little fantasy life, but that’s not real. They were lucky they got away with it for as long as they did. Time for you to become what you can become. Adult time, Wren. Hell, I could put you to work with almost any company that’s contributed to me. I mean that. You’re smart, you’re pretty, you’ve got tons of energy. What do you want to do? I mean, if you could do anything. Go wild. You can’t just want to do hair the rest of your life?” Her phone starts ringing. “Hold that thought.”

As she answers her phone, I think about what she said. Her question hangs there in my mind, and I take time to honestly think about that. I haven’t for a long time. Yes, I got my cosmetology license. I enjoy the work. But is it what I want to do for the rest of my life?

Sabrina’s eyebrows raise as she listens to whoever is on the other end of the line. “Really? No, I did not know that.” She turns away, and her voice goes low so that I only hear it as a mumble.

Hercules looks up at Sabrina and snarls, before going back to licking his behind in his position at my feet. He and Flint really got along, didn’t they? I mean, Hercules never takes to anyone, it’s not just my sister. He hates the world. But then, Flint saved his life.

Flint saved both our lives, come to think of it. If he hadn’t been there when the ladder fell in front of the salon, I could have really been hurt. Knocked my head so hard I’d be wearing adult diapers the rest of my life. Or worse.

Not that I can think of anything much worse than adult diapers.

And then there was the maniac with the knife. He even took a figurative bullet for me on that one.

And then there was Hercules.

It doesn’t excuse the cameras, though, right? Or his criminal past, for that matter. But it has to count for something. Right now, I’m sure he’s being carted off to prison. Is that fair? The thought of it tears at my heart. After all, if he hadn’t been watching me, things could have turned out much differently.

God, that’s a sobering thought. If Flint Rendell hadn’t been keeping an eye on me, I might not even be here to fly away with Sabrina. The way he stepped in every time, my own personal white knight... Despite everything, my heart flutters at the thought of him, even now.

And...I love him.

“Sabrina, I don’t want to—”

She flaps a hand at me, shushing me, still deep in conversation. No doubt something to do with her career. “Okay, I’m going to have to talk to her. I’ll call you back. Thanks, Jim.”

As she turns back around, ending her call, I take a deep breath. This isn’t going to be easy. “Sabrina, I don’t think I can—”

“Never mind about that.” She shakes her head at me, like whatever she has to say is far more important. “How much do you know about Flint Rendell?”

“What?”

“You know, um, your boyfriend. How much do you know about him?”

“I don’t understand what you mean. Has he done something else?”

“What? No. Wren, did you know he was one of the Rendells? The Los Angeles Rendells?”

I shake my head at her, not even sure who the Los Angeles Rendells are. Should their name mean something to me? Have they been on some reality show?

She draws a deep breath through her nose. “Sweetie, we need to talk.”

FORTY-FIVE MINUTES later, both Sabrina and I are wiping our tears away, and she reaches across the space of our seats and holds my hands in hers. I look up to see the pilot emerging from the cockpit, walking the short distance to stand to the side of Sabrina, whose back is facing the front of the plane.

“Ladies. We’ve got clearance to take off. Charlotte-bound. Quick trip but I bet you are ready to get home.” He’s about fifty years old. Reminds me of Tom Hanks with a friendly air about him. Someone who looks familiar at first meeting.

I give him a tentative smile, and he winks at me in a paternal way. It’s clear I’ve been crying, and Sabrina doesn’t look over at him, instead, just staring down at our connected hands.

“Give us a few minutes to get ready. Then let’s go.” Sabrina looks at me as she speaks, and more tears crest her bottom lashes. She wipes them away, laughing at herself. “Ignore me. I’ve missed you, that’s all.”

I think this is maybe the second time I’ve ever seen her cry. Our talk took turns I think neither of us expected. We talked about our parents, of all things. Well, our dad and each of our mothers. She’s been my only family for so long. We talked about her political aspirations. How even what I do can affect her life, and I realize now more than ever just how true that is. It’s real life. And one thing Sabrina has always been good at is...well, everything, really.

The outcome of one of our first true heart-to-heart conversations as adults is a mixture of emotions, but the best part of it is the honesty that we both spoke. I look out the window when I hear the engine of the small jet change its pitch as the pilot prepares for takeoff.

My heart is racing. I tap my feet and give her hands a squeeze.

“I appreciate everything, Sabrina, I really do. It’s just...”

“I know you do.” She smiles and drops my hands, smoothing her skirt down over her thighs. “Everything is going to be okay. You’ve made the right choice.”

“Yes. As hard as it is, I know I have, too. Thank you for everything.”

“You’re welcome. So, time to go home.”

I nod, running my fingers back through my hair. “Yep. Time to go home.”