The Best of All

“So does that mean Ryla is out of the godmother business until you settle down and have a baby?”

“Don’t you start that crazy talk, too. How many times do I have to say that I am happy with my career and don’t need anything else to fulfill me. I’m a woman with a plan that does not include a man and a bunch of babies.”

“If you say so,” Ian said in a disinterested voice. “Let me get off the phone so I can book your flight and I’ll give you a call back with the details.”

“No!” Surry yelled.

“No, what?”

“I don’t want you paying for my ticket, or my hotel room for that matter. So, just give me the flight number and I’ll book my own flight.”

Ian chuckled.

“Why do you keep laughing at me?”

“I’m not laughing at you. I just find it funny that you need help, but refuse every attempt I make to offer it.” He sighed deeply and then added, “You can pay me back if you want to, but I need to book the flight, because I want to sit next to you so we can talk while we’re in the air.”

She didn’t like his crack about her refusing the help she so obviously needed, but she allowed Ian to win the argument, or better yet, the discussion. He ordered the tickets while she went home to pack.

The next morning Surry threw on a paisley-print caftan with a V-neck and V-shaped hemline. The knee-length dress had gold and purple swirls, and Surry felt like an African princess with it on. It was also comfortable, and since she was going to be in and out of airports today, she was opting for comfort. A little sex appeal didn’t hurt, either. Sometimes it got a woman through the lines faster.

Surry caught a cab to the airport and got out in front of the terminal where her nonstop flight to Charlotte would be taking off. She gave the cab driver a tip after he took her bags out of the trunk. She looped her tote bag over the handle of her suitcase. She then grabbed hold of the handle and easily carted her belongings into the airport without the help of any man. All she needed was the trusty wheels on the bottom of her suitcase. Move out of the way, men. She was woman and could handle her own business.

She stood just inside the airport. Her head swung back and forth as she looked for Ian. She heard someone holler her name. But it didn’t sound like Ian, so she kept looking.

“Surry,” the man said again as he grabbed her arm and turned her to face him.

She plastered a smile on her face as she turned and greeted Greg Thompson. She’d gone out with him a few times last year because she thought he was a player who wasn’t looking for a serious relationship. Boy, was she wrong. “Hey, Greg, how’ve you been doing?”

“Not so good. I’ve been waiting on a certain lady to return my call.” He looked at his watch and then back at her. “For about a year now.”

She hated confrontations like this. But Surry also thought that it was always best to be up-front and honest, so she took a deep breath and said, “I’m really too busy to get involved in a serious relationship.”

“Who’s asking for serious?” Greg gave her a nudge. “I was just thinking we could hang out...you know, like we used to.”

“How’s that new business of yours going? What was it?” She snapped her fingers. “Sporting goods?”

“Actually, I did sporting goods when we first met. The last time we spoke I had opened a shoe business, but it didn’t go so well.” He started making hand gestures, as if he was conducting a workshop and explaining some things to the group. “Look, I understand how it is with you now. You want your freedom—no rules, no labels. I can flow with that. Just give me a call.”

She put her arm on his shoulder, still giving him that I-pity-you look. “Greg, listen, you are a really nice guy, but—”

“Honey.” Ian kissed Surry on the forehead and put his arm around her waist. “We’re going to miss our flight if we don’t get going.”

Surry looked up at Ian. He was her knight in shining armor coming to her rescue, and at that moment she wanted to thank him by wrapping her arms around him and planting a lingering kiss on his perfectly luscious lips. But since she didn’t want to start anything that she couldn’t finish, she came to her senses quickly. “Hey, I’ve been looking for you.”

“Is that right?” Ian asked as he turned his attention to Greg.

“Who is this?” Greg asked Surry, with possession clinging to his tone.

Ian stuck his hand out. “Ian Duncan.”

Greg shook Ian’s hand as he introduced himself. “Greg Thompson.”

“Well, come on. We don’t want to miss our flight,” Ian told Surry as he put his hand around the handle of her suitcase.

“I got it,” Surry said, pulling back from him.

“I don’t mind,” Ian told her as he took the suitcase and began walking toward the check-in desk.

Surry would have protested the taking of her suitcase as if she was some helpless female who couldn’t walk a few steps without begging for the help of some big, strong man. But Greg was watching them, and Ian had done a good job of convincing him that they were a couple. She wasn’t about to do anything to take that image out of Greg’s mind. “Well, see you another time.” She waved at Greg as she rushed to catch up with Ian.

When she found him, he had pulled their tickets from the kiosk and was getting ready to wrap a tag around the handle of her suitcase. “I can do it,” Surry told him as she took the tag away from him.

After completing the task, she glanced over at Ian and noted that he was laughing at her again. She refused to say anything to him about it this time. If he wanted to spend his life being a laughing hyena, then who was she to stop him?

He pointed at the tag. “You took it from me before I could tell you to write your name on it.” He handed her an ink pen.

“Good thinking. If they lose the suitcase, they’ll know where to send it if my name and address are on the tag.” She bent down and wrote her information on the tag, knowing that he was laughing at her again. She couldn’t take the embarrassment one more minute, so when she stood she said, “Okay, I like to do things myself. Is that such a crime? I am, after all, single and have learned to do things myself.”

Ian pointed in the direction where they’d just seen her friend. “Greg what’s-his-name would love to do any and everything you ask. The man looked positively lovestruck when I arrived.”

She took her tote off the suitcase and handed the luggage to the steward. “Just a case of a man not being able to take no for an answer.”

“Is that right?” Ian asked as he also handed over his bag and then began walking to the security checkpoint.

“Sure is.” Surry took her shoes off and went through the security area. After leaving security and heading for their plane, Surry added, “Look, I have no illusions about men chasing after me because I’m the most beautiful, intelligent or witty woman on earth.” She lifted her hands and twirled around. “Goddess material, I’m not.”

“So you say,” Ian answered while staring at her with a hunger he couldn’t suppress.

Shaking her finger at him, she said, “The way I see it is like this—men chase after me because I don’t want to commit myself to them. I’m more of a free spirit and fully concentrating on making a success of my business.”

“And you can’t have a successful business and a man?” Ian inquired.

Surry shook her head. “One would be a distraction from the other.”

“Now see, that just goes to show how much I know. Because I’d always thought that having success in business and in love would be the best of both worlds.”

What Ian considered the best of both worlds, Surry considered a distraction that she didn’t need. Lately, she’d given up the idea of even hanging out with a man and dating with no strings attached. She had a business to run and wasn’t about to let anyone tie her down before it was in the black.

But Surry could admit that seeing her two best friends so happy about their pregnancies yesterday did something to her. She went home last night and, as she lay in bed all alone, wondered if she had made the right decision with her life. But one single thing kept Surry on her path. That was the memory of how all of her father’s failures affected his family.

A man who can’t take care of his family shouldn’t have one. And with Surry’s business in shambles, she couldn’t even consider finding someone to marry and have a child with. Her friends had chosen their paths in life, and she had chosen hers. Simple as that.

“What are you thinking about?” Ian asked after they had boarded the plane and were seated next to each other waiting for takeoff.

“What...huh? Oh, nothing.”

“It didn’t look like nothing. Your eyes were like this.” He put his face in front of hers and scrunched his eyelids ’til she could barely see his pupils. “So, I know you were thinking about something pretty serious. ’Fess up, Surry. If you were thinking about me, just admit it.”