A devoted husband discovers his pilot wife has chosen another man, and a twist of fate gives him the chance to start his life over. As he rebuilds himself, the wife he left behind begins to realize what she lost.
Thanksgiving scheduling went up Monday morning. Diane grinned at me over her clipboard. Same crew as Vanessa again, I'm guessing? I shook my head.
Just put me wherever. She blinked at me like I'd spoken another language. I walked to the corner of the crew room and slid the ring off my finger. I'd been married to Vanessa Hale for seven years.
Seven years and every one of them off the record. I'd never taken that ring off, not once, not for a second. I built my whole career around standing close to her. She flew left seat, so I learned every scheduler's coffee order,
traded shifts, called in favors, all of it just to be on her aircraft. She wanted it quiet, and I kept it quiet. She never wore a ring. I got out of her car two blocks from the terminal,
every single morning, for seven years. In the last 90 seconds of the last life I lived, when the aircraft was going down, she handed the only working emergency kit to her first officer, Caleb.
That was the first time Vanessa ever held me. Her voice came out shredded. Caleb upgrades to captain next weekend. It's all he's ever wanted.
He's waited too long for this. I know these years haven't been fair to you. I'll go down with you. I'll make it up to you next life.
One second before we hit, I finally understood. She never wanted a husband in the back. She someone in the right seat. And I opened my eyes. It was the Monday before Thanksgiving. I put the divorce agreement in the middle of a stack of paperwork and carried it to her office. She wouldn't give me the title. Somebody else would. I set the folder on her desk.
Vanessa didn't look up. Leave it. I slid it closer. Her eyebrows were already pulled tight. This one can't wait. Shane,