“I will,” I promised her. “And you’ll stay out of trouble?”
“I’ll try,” Jolene replied. I planted a kiss on top of her head and went to find Kristo. We grabbed our bags, and before I knew it, we were in the back of a car on the way to the airport. He called Cleo from the car, letting her know we were off, and she, a little tipsy, cheered down the line.
“Have an awesome time, you two,” she ordered.
“Send my love to Darla,” I called into the phone.
“Oh, I will,” she shot back cheekily, and Kristo hung up.
“I think that’s the last we need to hear of that,” he remarked, and he squeezed my hand as we pulled into the airport. He helped me out of the car, onto the windswept runway, and toward the plane. He had called ahead to let them know we were on our way, and I’d overheard him offering a generous tip to the pilot if he would fly us out of there tonight. I didn’t even want to think about how much money he must have put down for the two of us to be able to do this, but he would have told me it was worth it, no matter how much it was.
We boarded the plane, and I took my seat next to the window. I felt a sense of déjà vu being back there, and as he took his seat opposite me, he leaned over and squeezed my hand.
“You remember the first time we were on this plane together?” he asked, and I nodded.
“On the way back from Vegas.” I raised my eyebrows. “Guess a lot has changed since then, huh?”
“Sure has.” He grinned, leaned over, and kissed me softly. I closed my eyes and reminded myself once more that this perfect man was my husband, and he had committed to me for life.
“I’m so happy I’m with you,” I sighed, and he brushed his nose against mine.
“So am I,” he replied. “More than you could ever know.”
With that, he held my hand as we took off into the clear night sky on toward our honeymoon and to our future together. Forever.