Chapter 94 — Kade

It was a perfect day for flying and I was glad I’d taken this one. I’d been right. It had been good for me to get away.

And the fact that Madison hadn’t fought me on it just confirmed my instincts.

Mr. Williams seemed like a genuinely nice man. He was probably early forties. Still in good shape. He’d called his wife before we took off and again right after we landed.

After we landed at the little airport in Ruston, Louisiana, Mr. Williams announced that his client had a family emergency and wouldn’t be making their meeting.

He didn’t even bother to hide his disappointment.

“I hate I had you me fly all the way up here for nothing,” Mr. Williams said.

“Are you kidding?” I asked, sitting down next to him and adjusting my tie. “I went to college here.”

“No kidding?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I learned to fly right here at this airport.”

Mr. Williams laughed. “Well, I’ll be. Isn’t that something?”

“In fact…” I glanced at my watch. “Do you like po’boys?”

“Are you kidding?” Mr. Williams said. “I grew up in Lafayette. I love good seafood.”

“There’s a place I used to go. On Main Street.” I pulled out my phone. Did a quick search. “And it’s still there. You want to grab some lunch before we head back?”

“That’s the best idea I’ve heard all day,” Mr. Williams said. “But if we’re going to lunch, you’ve got to call me John.”

“All right, John,” I said. “Let me secure the plane and we’ll be on our way.”

It was good to be back on my old stomping grounds. I had a lot of good memories here from my years at Tech.

And every one of them I could think of right now had Madison involved in some way.

I thought about texting her. To tell her that we were going to have lunch in one of our old favorite places, but I decided to wait.

If it was still good, maybe I’d surprise her with a trip up here one day.

In no time, we’d grabbed an airport loaner car and headed off toward downtown.

A few things had changed. There had never been much out by the airport other than the hospital which had doubled in size. There was a new apartment complex near the airport. That would have been a convenient place to live.

I pointed things out to John as I drove.

When Wiley Tower come into view a knot formed in the pit of my stomach.

That was where I’d met Madison.

And we’d spent countless hours there studying.

Hell. We studied everywhere. My place. Her place. The library. The airport.

We’d been good for each other. Kept each other on task.

Probably contributed a lot to how successful we both were as adults.

As always, Main Street was crowded, so we had to park a ways over and walk.

The restaurant looked the same. But the servers looked like children.

Either they were hiring them younger, or I was definitely getting older.

While we waited to be seated, I saw someone waving to me.

At first I thought maybe they were waving at John.

I didn’t know anyone here anymore.

But then I realized I did.

Damn.

It was Mike. Mike Phillips.

Mike spoke to his server.

The girl, had to be a college freshman, looked over at us.

“Sir?” she said coming over to me. “That man over there would like to invite both of you to sit with him.”

“It’s my old college mentor,” I said to John. “Do you mind?”

“Not at all,” John said. “But I don’t want to intrude.”

“Nonsense,” I said. “Mike’s a great guy. You’ll like him.”

Mike and I greeted like the old friends that we were. And I introduced him to John.

Mike had gotten older. Reminded me of Noah Worthington. But still looked like he took good care of himself.

We settled into the booth and ordered our po’boys.

I realized I was still wearing my captain’s cap and pulled it off.

“Let me guess,” Mike said. “You’re working for Noah Worthington.”

I was dressed in standard pilot uniform, but nothing identifying me with Skye Travels.

“How did you know?” I asked. This truly was a small world.

Mike grinned. “The cap. It’s Noah’s thing.”

“Right.” I set my cap down next to me and laughed. “I’ve been there nearly a month.”

“Good career move,” Mike said. “Noah has built himself an empire and made a good place to work at the same time.”

“I agree,” I said. “It made the decision to move back to Houston a whole lot easier.”

The young girl came back a few minutes later and dropped off our food.

“Can I get y’all anything else?” she asked.

I smiled to myself. Madison and I sometimes tried out the southern accent on each other and I remembered clearly just how sexy I found it when she talked to me with that southern drawl that I swear came second nature to her.

“So,” Mike said, almost seeming to read my mind. “How is Madison?”

Of course he would remember her. Not just for her, but because she was Noah’s daughter. Madison Worthington had a last name that opened doors whether she wanted it to or not. Especially in the world of aviation.

Sometimes I forgot about that. Sometimes I just saw her as Madison.

“She’s great,” I said. “She a licensed psychologist taking her first job as a college professor.”

“Good for her,” Mike said. “I always knew she’d be successful.” He bit into his sandwich. “Good as always.”

It was as good as always. I was definitely bringing Madison here.

Mike looked at me. “How many kids do you two have?”