Everyone on the plane had a drink. Everyone had a newspaper, or a pillow, or whatever their blessed little hearts wanted.
Everyone, that was, except for Julie Collins.
Okay, so she wasn’t alone in having to work today, but it certainly felt like she was alone in her suffering. She was the only one with a wounded heart, after all.
The curtain between the galley and the passenger section of the plane brushed open, and her fellow flight attendant Nikki Maguire stepped into view—and promptly burst into gentle laughter.
“What?” Julie asked, not trying to hide her misery.
“You look like you really want to steal someone’s gin and tonic,” Nikki said kindly.
Julie looked at the bottle of gin on the service cart.
“Or maybe just pour yourself your own?”
Julie laughed. It was funny because neither of them would actually do it…or so Nikki probably thought.
A few days ago, Julie would have thought the same thing.
A few days ago, Julie hadn’t been dumped for the eighth time in a row.
When you were staring thirty right in the face, eight breakups were hard to swallow.
Eight breakups, none of them her choice, were enough to make a girl think about drinking—just a little—on the job.
The fact that she liked her job, and very much wanted to keep it, kept her on the right side of that decision.
Nikki handed her a chocolate bar instead. “I’m sorry you’re stuck working today.”
The chocolate definitely helped. “It’s fine.”
“It’s not. You worked nonstop last week, and this weekend was supposed to be a romantic getaway, and now…” Her friend trailed off.
And now it wasn’t. Julie sighed. She should have seen it coming. She hadn’t even liked this guy that much, but…there comes a point in a girl’s life where she starts to worry that it might not happen.
True love. Happiness. A solid partnership with a healthy dose of passion. In-jokes and a comfortable shoulder to lean on.
A nice, tight ass to ogle freely, forever and ever.
All the important things in life.
“And he dumped you by text message?” Nikki shook her head. “That’s cold.”
Okay, so Ron from Napa wasn’t a good guy after all. Julie needed to shake it off. She reached for the most recent edition of Vanity Fair and snapped it open to an article about…she wasn’t sure what. Her fingers itched to put it down and pick up a celebrity gossip magazine instead, but wasn’t that part of her problem to begin in? Envying the shiny people’s lives? That wasn’t real. And those people had ups and downs on their way to love, too.
She shot a quick look across at Nikki, who’d found her own happy ever after. And with one of the shiny people. Okay, so Senator Mike Gowan was also a super nice guy.
Which is the point, remember? Nice guys. That’s who Julie needed to focus on. Tell the universe that she was done with players and show-offs.
There was a lot about this situation that made Julie take stock of what she had—and didn’t have—in her life. What she wanted, and more importantly, what she truly needed.
“Hey, I know what we can do to make up for your lost weekend!” Nikki snapped her fingers. “Let’s go visit Emme in Monterey.”
Emme Ryan was a fellow flight attendant. Her fiancé—a Navy SEAL—had moved from San Diego to Monterey for a year, so she’d moved in with him and put her room up for sublet on a private message board they all frequented.
Julie had been the first to respond, and the rest was history. The two redheads hit it off like they were old friends, and with Nathan often busy with his intensive studies, and Emme not knowing many people in the Bay Area, they’d slipped into a routine of spontaneous day trips and drinks in the city. When Nikki’s husband was in Washington, she joined them.
Julie grinned. A girls’ weekend was exactly what she needed. “I’m in.”
Lt. Jason Steyner got out of his brand-new Mustang Shelby GT350 and shook his head at his best friend, Nathan Meyers, who’d been sitting waiting for him on the front porch of a little bungalow, and was now approaching with a ridiculous grin on his face. “Don’t even say it, asshole. I know you’re just jealous.”
“Of your racing stripes? Oh hell no, I’m not jealous. Just how small are you afraid your dick is, man? Because I’ve seen you in the shower, and there’s no way this is necessary.”
“And double no to talking about my junk, thank you very much.” He grinned. “Isn’t she beautiful?”
“You’ve named her, haven’t you?”
“Be nice to Betty.”
“Good Lord.”
“It’s good to see you, too, man.” Jason laughed as Nathan gave him a bear hug. “Monterey treating you okay? I’d forgotten how gorgeous it is here. My hotel has the most amazing view.”
“I bet. Gotta say, I like it here. There are worse places to be sent.”
That was an understatement. Jason nodded at the small house. “How’s married life?”
“Not technically married yet. If I were, you’d remember standing up at the altar with me.”
He was touched by the reminder. They hadn’t talked enough in the last few months. “What’s the hold up?”
Nathan shrugged. “This course is kicking my ass a bit. We’ll do it when we move back to San Diego.”
“Can’t wait to have you back. The team isn’t the same without you.” Jason was a team leader, and Nathan had been his 2IC, his second-in-command, until he’d come up to Monterey for a year of professional development.
“You know you’ll only have me for a bit.”
“Yeah.” And that would be a good thing for Meyers. He’d move on to being a BUD/S Instructor, and get to go home to his wife and kids most nights.
That wasn’t the life for Jason, though. It was something he’d always wanted, despite his career choice as a Navy SEAL, but over time he’d come to learn there weren’t many women who shared his values and could live with him coming and going.
So now he had Betty. She didn’t keep him warm at night, but she made a road trip pretty awesome. And he could worry about finding someone special in a few years, when, like Meyers, he’d move on up out of the teams, and into the navy leadership.
“What’s the plan for the weekend, then?” Nathan clapped him on the shoulder. “Want to head into San Francisco?”
“I’m easy.”
“That’ll go over well in the city.” His friend winked as he held open the front door.
Jason recognized Nathan’s fiancée, Emme, who was standing in the middle of a cozy living room space, talking on the phone. She made an apologetic face and moved into what looked like the kitchen. Jason looked around the room. Nathan’s guitars hung on the wall, and music magazines decorated the square coffee table. It looked like his friend had always lived here.
“Sorry about that,” Emme said, hurrying back in. She rushed right into Jason’s arms and gave him a surprisingly tight squeeze for such a petite woman. “It’s good to see you again, welcome to our home!”
“No worries. Good to see you, too.”
She stepped back and gave him a big smile. “How does a surprise visit from two of my girlfriends sound?”
From behind her, Nathan laughed. “Like maybe Jase and I should head into the city. Unless they’re single?”
She rolled her eyes, then winked. “One of them is, although she might be more than you can handle.”
Jason laughed. “More than a SEAL can handle? That sounds like a challenge, but I’m not going to swoop in and steal your friend for the night. I’m dying for a steak. How about we go out for dinner, and catch up with you guys later? Unless you think they want to hit up a steakhouse, too?”
She made a face. “Wine is totally overpriced at a steakhouse. I think we’ll be good with cheese and wine here. But don’t stay away on our account. Who knows? Maybe you and Julie will hit it off.”
By the time they landed back in San Francisco and headed south to Monterey, Julie was in a terrible mood. “We should call Emme and cancel,” she moaned, knowing she sounded whiny and not really caring. If anyone understood her pain, it was Nikki. “The weekend is nearly over.”
“No can do,” her friend said, clearly not understanding her pain. So much for that. “She’s all excited. Went out and bought fancy cheese and everything. She says she’s got the house to herself for the night. And it’s Saturday night. So what if we don’t have an entire weekend? We’ve got the best night of the entire week, hands-down. Drinks and talking tonight, brunch in the morning, and we can do some shopping on our way home.”
That did sound good. Better than going home and drowning her sorrows in a glass of wine there. “Maybe.”
“Turn that frown upside down, my friend! This is going to be just what you need.”
She didn’t quite share her friend’s confidence. But what did she know? Her first instinct was to go out and find a cute guy to flirt with. Rebounds were how Julie survived breakups.
But clearly, her own judgement couldn’t be trusted. “If I try to kiss anyone,” she blurted out. “You’re under orders to stop me.”
“Like Emme?” Nikki laughed. “Okay.”
“No.” Julie groaned and tipped her head back against the passenger seat headrest. “I have a way of searching out a rebound guy. Maybe that’s not wise.”
“So you want me to…what’s the girl version of cock-block?”
A few bad words and even worse rhymes rolled around in Julie’s head. “I don’t know. I don’t think we’re normally this mean to each other.”
“Well, I will do my best to ruin any making out you try to do with Emme’s pillow or the mailman or our waiter at brunch tomorrow.”
“You’re the best,” Julie whispered. But what she was really thinking was, I’m the worst. And she hated that feeling. It was time for Julie to move into the grown-up stage of her life.
No more mistakes.
No more men.
Not until she got her head on straight.