“Hello!” my half-sister, Rachel, who is three, answers.
“Rachel, is Daddy there?”
“Daddy! Daddy!”
“Can you give the phone to Daddy, Rachel?”
“No!” She giggles and the line goes dead. I call back, but it rings busy. Crap. She probably didn’t put it back on the hook right. She has a knack for doing that.
He hasn’t left if her devious giggle can be trusted.
“Y’all really don’t have to wait with me. I guess I should find a taxi or something.”
Ian takes my hand, interlacing our fingers, and gives them a squeeze. My gaze flicks to his dad, who is watching with surprise and interest. “You don’t think he’s coming?”
“Well, last time this happened, it took him an hour to show, and I’d hate for y’all to be stuck with me for that long.”
Mr. Rhett surprises me by speaking over Ian’s response. “Have you talked to him at all today?”
“No, sir.”
He nods. “We’ll give him fifteen minutes and then we’ll give you a lift home, if that’s okay.”
If I were to tell my mom that a guy I met on the plane apparently knows Dad and he and his dad were offering to give me a ride to his house, she’d have a fucking cow. But I feel safe. Shouldn’t red flags be going off if something wasn’t right?
“Are you sure?”
“We pass by his house on our way home,” he says with a nod.
“Okay, thanks. That’d be great.”
“Do you want to let your mom know the latest or anything?”
“Oh, yeah. I forgot to let her know I landed, too.” I’ll leave out that Ian and Mr. Rhett are taking me home, but in a just-in-case safety measure, I text Logan, who promptly calls me. “Excuse me.” I stand and walk away.
“Are you out of your ever-loving mind, Syd?”
“Don’t yell at me. I’m pretty sure they are legit.”
“Pretty sure? What if you come home in a body bag? How are you pretty sure?”
“Ian is the one who brought up my dad being a dentist.”
“That’s it?” His voice takes on an incredulous tone.
“It’s enough for me.”
“I want you to text me constantly and if you go two minutes without responding to me, I’m telling your mom to call the cops.”
“Deal.”
Logan is quiet for a moment. “So, he must be hot, then?”
I laugh. “I’m hanging up now.”
“Text me. Two minutes and not a second longer.”
I end the call and text him as I walk over to Ian and Mr. Rhett. The fifteen minutes seem to pass quickly. Logan is more freaked out than I am as I text him the update that we’re about to leave the airport. Mr. Rhett drives an old truck, and there’s only one row of seats. Ian takes the middle, so I can have the passenger seat.