Chapter Nineteen
Harrison sat in the pub, an untouched glass of whisky in his hand. Part of him wanted to toss it back, and follow it up with a good dozen more. Get so pissing drunk he’d be out cold for a week. But that wouldn’t help. The pain would still be there when he sobered up, along with a hangover.
Besides, he wanted to feel this pain. Wanted the memory of it to erase the other memories crowding his mind. Wanted it burned in his head so the next time he had the stupid idea to go and fall in love with someone he’d remember this and get out while he could.
She’d packed and immediately left Scotland to return to Alberth Castle. By the time he was able to follow her, she’d cleared out of his bedroom there and moved into one of the empty guest rooms. The rest of the tour group had arrived back at the castle the next morning for one last day in England before heading to the airport. And most of them had taken to following him around the castle, waiting for something to happen. He’d finally escaped to the pub, although quite a few of them had followed him there as well.
His friends sat around him, acting as a sort of buffer, though it didn’t help much. Everyone seemed to be waiting on him to make some sort of move. What the hell they expected him to do, he had no idea. Nicole had made her choice. It was over.
“I know what’s going on in your head,” Chris said. “Don’t let it eat at you. You’re too good a guy to turn into some cranky asshole who never lets himself get close to anyone.”
“Yeah, especially because you’re already halfway there,” Brooks said. “Adding cranky to your repertoire would ruin your whole vibe.”
Harrison snorted and downed his whisky and slammed the glass on the table, mouth down.
“Why haven’t you gone after her yet?” Cole asked.
Harrison scowled at him. “She left. Literally ran away from me. I think she’s made her feelings pretty clear.”
Brooks waved that away. “She just had cold feet.”
“Over a fake wedding?” Harrison asked. “If she’d changed her mind about doing the whole thing, she should have talked to me. Instead, she had to make a huge scene and take off in the middle of it, in front of all our guests. One of whom, let me remind you, got the whole damn thing on camera and uploaded it to YouTube before Nicole had even made it all the way out of the church. I don’t need that kind of drama in my life. I already have plenty of it with my family. She was supposed to help me deal with the crazy, not join in.”
“He really doesn’t see it, does he?” Chris asked the guys.
“See what?” Harrison asked.
“Do you love your family?”
He scowled again. “Of course.”
“Then why would you want to be with someone who doesn’t fit in with them? Someone who’d be uncomfortable around the crazy things they get into? Someone who’d spend your whole lives together looking down on them, bad-mouthing them to your kids, ridiculing them behind their backs? Isn’t it better that you’ve found someone who not only isn’t fazed by seeing your grandmother streaking through the castle at three in the morning but who jumps in and joins her? Not because she’s crazy, but because she cares enough about the people you love to try and make them happy? She even had you loosening up and enjoying their company rather than stressing over every little thing they did. How in the world is that a bad thing?”
Harrison wanted to argue, but damn it, Chris had a good point. As crazy as his family drove him, he couldn’t ever be with someone who treated them with disdain.
He shook his head. “It doesn’t change the fact that she ran out on me. If she cared about me, about any of us,” he added, still not wanting to admit out loud how much it hurt that she’d run from him, “she wouldn’t have left like that. We could have talked about it. She could have at least waited until after the re-enactment. It was the one thing that would have gone off without a hitch.”
“And I ruined it.”
Harrison looked up, jerking his head around so quickly the room spun for a moment. Nicole stood there beside the table, her hands shoved in her pockets.
“You came back,” he said.
“Just for a minute. I’ve got a cab waiting,” she said, gesturing outside.
The quick burst of hope that had blazed in his chest at her appearance snuffed out, leaving him with a gnawing pain in the gaping hole where his heart used to be.
“So why did you come here then?”
The room had gone dead silent. Someone must have even unplugged the jukebox because the music had shut off mid-song.
“I wanted to say sorry,” she said, her eyes boring into his. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“You didn’t,” he said. It was lie. Everyone in the room knew it, but he wasn’t going to admit it to her, especially in front of everyone there, how badly it had hurt when she’d run out.
She looked down at the ground. “Good,” she said, though the word sounded like she had to force it from her throat. She looked back up and gave him a small smile, though her eyes were shiny. “I’m glad. I hope I didn’t ruin things for the tourists.”
He shrugged. “We’ll survive. We told them it was part of the plan. A jilted bridegroom is so much more interesting than the same old scene.”
She nodded but didn’t say anything else. And didn’t turn to go.
“Was there something else you needed?” he asked. He knew he sounded cold, distant. Knew he was hurting her with every word, but he had to keep it up. If he softened even a little, the pain would rush in again, and he’d be on his knees begging her to reconsider. He had some pride left. Not much, but he was going to hold on to what was still there.
She blinked like she was coming out of a trance and nodded, pulling something out of her pocket. “I needed to give this back to you. I didn’t want to leave it lying on a table, and I couldn’t find anyone at the house.”
“Everyone is here,” he said, nodding to the back of the room where his parents watched them. Even Amy had glanced up from her phone to see what was going on.
Nikki nodded again and held out the ring for him. He took it, closing his fist around it.
“Is that all?” he asked, needing her to leave before he made a total fool of himself.
She waited for a second and then finally nodded. “I guess so.”
She turned and walked out, stopping only once as she climbed into the cab to look back through the window of the pub. Their eyes met through the glass. Neither one moved, and then she was gone. The cab pulled away.
A low murmur picked up as the other patrons of the pub restarted their conversations. Harrison still stood, staring out the window, his grandmother’s engagement ring cutting into the palm of his hand as he squeezed it.
Granny appeared at his side from who knew where. He held out his hand to give her ring back to her. She took it, shaking her head.
“You’re a damn fool.”
Harrison looked down at his grandmother before slumping back into his chair. Nicole really being gone hadn’t sunken in until that cab had pulled away. Until that moment, she’d still been there somewhere. Within reach.
His stomach dropped with the sudden realization that even if he wanted to, he had no way to reach her. She’d told him when they first met on that plane…she’d been staying with her mother, whose name he didn’t know. She’d been using a burner phone because she’d been on her ex-boyfriend’s plan. And he didn’t have that number, if she even still had the phone. He doubted she’d taken the phone he’d given her with her. He had no idea where she was even flying off to. Back to the States? Was she flying at all? She might be taking a train down to London or something. Or over to France. Or farther. She could be going anywhere.
Until that second, he hadn’t quite understood that if he let her walk away, there was a very good possibility he’d never find her again. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he’d assumed she would be there if he changed his mind. When he’d finished licking his wounded pride, he could maybe look her up again.
But…he couldn’t. He’d just let her walk away. For good. His grandmother was right. He was a damned fool.
She nodded her head. “About time you figured it out.”
He opened his mouth to ask how she knew what he’d been thinking, but then closed it again. He didn’t want to know. The only thing he wanted to know was where the love of his life had just disappeared to.
“Austin!” Granny called out. “Find out where that cab went.”
“Austin is here?” Harrison asked.
“Of course,” Granny said. “You don’t think I toddled on down here by myself, do you?”
Austin hung up the phone he was on. “Already did,” he said, with a little head bow at Harrison. “Miss Franklin is on her way to the airport, sir.”
“Which airport?”
“Newcastle International.”
“Where is she going?”
“The cab company didn’t have that information, sir.”
“No, of course not,” Harrison said, waving him off. “I was just…never mind.”
“If you leave right now, you might catch up with her. But you might want to hurry because if she gets there first…” Chris said.
Harrison nodded. If she got there first, she’d be lost and he’d never find her. He looked around the table at his friends, each of whom sat smiling up at him like a bunch of goons. “I have to go,” he said.
“Yeah you do!” Brooks said. “I’m coming, too!”
“Me too!” the rest of the boys said, all jumping up from the table.
“Don’t forget me!” Granny said, hopping to her feet. “I’m not missing this.”
Harrison broke out in a dopey grin and turned to run out the door. “Don’t declare a winner yet!” he called over his shoulder to Gerry, who’d taken out the pool board when Nikki had left. The pub broke out in cheers and half of them followed him out into the street.
Where he promptly realized that he’d walked to the pub from the castle.
Austin was already on the phone. “The cab company said it’ll be twenty minutes at least before someone gets here.”
Harrison jammed his fingers through his hair. It would take that long or more to retrieve his car from the castle, even if he ran.
“Let’s go, laddie! She’s getting away!” Granny called, as she climbed up the stairs into the small shuttle bus that they’d purchased to run their tourists from place to place.
It wasn’t exactly what he had in mind, but it was there. And would fit everyone. They sprinted for the bus, all piling in. Austin slid into the driver’s seat, holding the keys.
“Allow me, sir.”
Before Harrison could say a word otherwise, he’d started the van and peeled away from the curb, dodging an oncoming car and navigating the narrow streets of the village like a veteran Indie 500 driver. A particularly tenacious corner had Harrison stumbling into a seat and buckling up.
“Don’t worry,” Chris said from beside him. “We’ll make it.”
“I hope so. I don’t know what the hell I’ll say to her if we do, though.”
“Just tell her how you’re feeling.”
“What if she still decides to go?”
“Then she goes, but at least you won’t sit there wondering for the rest of your life what would have happened if you’d gone after her. You’ve got to give yourself that much of a chance.”
Harrison nodded. Hopefully he’d figure out something spectacular to say before he caught up to her. If not…maybe dropping to his knees and begging would work. Even if the whole world was watching. It’d be worth it if he could convince her to listen to him for five minutes.
The drive to the airport took half as long as it usually did. Austin weaved in and out of traffic with truly stunning skill. He was definitely getting a raise.
When they finally pulled into the unloading lane outside the terminal, Harrison jumped out, barely waiting for Austin to pull to a complete stop. Everyone else piled out behind him.
“Hey! You can’t park there!” one of the attendants called.
“Tow it!” Austin shouted, chucking the keys at the guy.
Harrison laughed and ran inside the building. He didn’t care if the bus was towed. Or stolen. He’d buy another one. It was replaceable. Nikki wasn’t.
His optimism faded when he made it inside the main terminal though. The place was as crowded as always, and with no clue where she might be going, the chances of finding her were slim.
“Think about where she’d want to go,” Chris said.
“I don’t know,” Harrison said, his mind spinning. There were so many places she’d told him she wanted to go. She could be anywhere.
“You know her better than you think you do. If she’s sad, hurting, where is she going to want to go?”
“Home,” Harrison said.
Chris nodded. They all hurried to one of the computer displays listing all flights departing to the United States. There were a depressing number of them. He was going to have to figure it out, because he wasn’t going to get past security without a ticket, and he didn’t have time to sit there and puzzle it out.
“Right,” he said, marching up to the ticket counter with the shortest line.
He waited for exactly thirty seconds and then tapped the guy in front of him on the shoulder.
“Yeah?” the guy said.
“If you let me go ahead of you, I’ll pay for your ticket.”
“Yeah, right.”
“I’m serious,” Harrison said, the need to find Nikki before she boarded a plane and flew out of his life turning into a churning frenzy in his chest. “That goes for everyone,” he said, raising his voice enough so the five people ahead of him could hear.
A couple grumbled, obviously not believing him, but they all stepped aside.
“Thank you,” he said, rushing to the desk.
The startled clerk looked at him like he was crazy.
“I need a ticket on every flight you have leaving to the United States today.”
She blinked at him. “Sir, I’m sure you find this hilarious, but I have a job to do and people are waiting.”
She looked behind him at the next passenger but he leaned back into her line of sight again. “I know it’s an odd request, but I’m not joking and I’m in a hurry. So if you could please give me a ticket for every flight leaving here for the States, I’d appreciate it.”
She sighed and started pulling up flights. “Three flights leave for the United States today. One has a layover in Amsterdam, one in London Heathrow, and one in Paris Charles de Gaulle. Most of them only have seats available in first class.”
“That’s fine.”
Her mouth dropped open a little but she continued, finishing up the computer work. “The flight stopping in London leaves in thirty minutes. The other two depart later this evening.”
Harrison just nodded so she shook her head and held out her hand. “I need your documents.”
Harrison’s stomach dropped. He didn’t have his passport on him. The woman took one look at his face and sighed.
“Next,” she said.
“Wait!”
Harrison looked behind him to see Kiersten and the rest of the ladies running up. Kiersten was waving what looked like the small folder he kept all of his travel documents in.
“Granny called after you guys left,” Kiersten said, trying to catch her breath. “Told us to raid the office safe and bring your documents.”
Harrison looked over at his grandmother, his heart about overflowing. He pushed all the documents at the clerk and gathered up the tickets she handed him. When she tried to hand him back his credit card, he shook his head.
“Charge a first-class ticket for everyone who let me cut in line,” he said. “Then just cut up the card. I’ll cancel it later.”
“But, sir,” she said.
He didn’t stick around to explain further, just grabbed his tickets and ran, his whole entourage following behind. He almost stopped when he remembered Granny wouldn’t be able to keep up, but Chris waved him ahead and then squatted down so Granny could catch a piggy-back ride.
They went with him as far as the security gate and then waved goodbye and wished him luck as he went through.
His heart hammered in his chest. How the hell was he supposed to find her? He stood in the middle of the aisle in the terminal, glancing at all the gates. Most had ticket agents standing at the counters. The flight leaving the soonest was the one she was most likely on and it was the closest gate. He quickly pulled up a picture of Nikki on his phone and ran to the almost empty boarding area, showing her picture to every attendant and employee in the area.
Finally, one attendant showed a spark of recognition, though she didn’t say she’d seen her.
“I’m sorry, sir. We can’t give out information on other passengers,” she said.
“No, I just need to know if she boarded this flight.”
“I’m sorry, sir. If you’ll excuse me, I have to close the gate. The flight will be leaving shortly.”
“Please,” he said, reaching out but stopping just short of touching her. “I’m not a crazy ex or a stalker or anything, I swear. I just want to tell her I love her.”
The woman’s face softened, but she still shook her head. “I cannot give out that kind of information, sir.”
“Oh my gosh!” the other attendant said. “You’re the guy from that wedding video.” She whipped out her phone and brought up the now viral video of him getting dumped at the altar.
The attendants looked at each other and then back at him.
“I have a boarding pass,” he said. “I don’t even want to stay on the flight. I will leave before it takes off. I just want to talk to her. Just for a minute.”
The woman checked his boarding pass and passport and then waved him on. “Don’t make me regret this.”
He gave her a huge grin and hurried through the doors of the gate and onto the plane. The attendant there took his boarding pass and greeted him. “You barely made it. Your seat is right here,” she said, gesturing to an open first-class seat.
“I just need to hop back to coach for a minute.”
“Sir, we are getting ready to take off. I really need to ask you to take your seat.”
“I understand,” he said, moving down the aisle. “I’ll just be a minute.”
“Sir,” the attendant said. “If you won’t take your seat, I’m going to have to have you removed from the flight.”
“I need to make sure she’s here,” he said, hurrying faster down the aisle.
The attendant picked up her phone and started talking to someone. Harrison didn’t wait to see who. He hurried to the partition dividing first class from the rest of the passengers and barreled through.
“Nikki!”