Deceitful Choices by C.A. Harms Page B

didn’t worry and turned on my phone to send him a quick text.
    It was the weekend and I wasn’t sure what his schedule was, so I was a little shocked when my phone rang within seconds of sending him the message.
    “Hello,” I said, as I lifted the spoon to Camden’s lips and he opened wide, leaning closer to hurry me along.
    “Delayed, huh?” Zack sounded disappointed. Call me strange, but it actually made me smile knowing he felt that way.
    I know. Delusional, but what the hell, right?
    “Yeah, it looks like at least for another hour if not two, depending on the flights they had to reroute,” I explained as I continued to feed my obviously hungry boy.
    “How’d the first flight go?” he asked. “Was he okay for ya?”
    “He slept part of the way and I may have bribed him with a teething cookie or two to help the remaining part of the flight pass.” It was that or hear him scream.
    “You gotta do what’s necessary right?” Zack said with a laugh.
    “Tell that to the light pink shirt I decide to wear.” I looked down at myself in disgust. “I looked like I’ve been in a food fight.”
    “I’m sure you still look beautiful, even with cookie all over you.”
    The spoon I had extended toward Camden froze midair when Zack said those words. It was the first time he had said anything like that to me, and it made my heart beat just a little faster. With the exception of the night we talked about how things could have been when Cam was in the hospital, all our conversations had remained more friendly than anything truly intimate.
    I looked up to find Camden extending his neck forward, his mouth open as he tried to reach the spoon that still hovered inches from his mouth.
    Poor baby just wanted his food.
    I was just about to say thank you when a voice announced yet another plane boarding.
    “Is that your flight?” Zack asked.
    “No.” I had a bad feeling things were about to get worse.
    I looked up about that moment to find the hour and a half delay I had seen only moments ago had been extended to two hours and ten minutes.
    “Looks like I have a long wait here in Dallas.” I tried not to sound too disappointed, but it was hard to hide.
     
    ***
     
    My original arrival time of 4:00 p.m. ended up being more like 7:00 p.m. when the plane touched down in San Diego. It had been a torturous day, and by then Camden was beyond irritated. I had run out of soothing methods about halfway through the second flight, and after he cried himself sick he passed out on me. When I say cried himself sick, I mean just that. He ended up puking bananas all over my shoulder and I now had a new stain to add to the shirt I decided I would just burn. Maybe I was just being a drama queen, but you try having half a dozen people give you the evil eye while your six-month-old threw the fit of all fits in the middle of a plane with no escape.
    So when I exited the plane and walked down the ramp toward luggage claim I was already on the verge of tears. I hadn’t remembered feeling this exhausted since the day after I brought Cam home from the hospital when he was born.
    I walked with my head hung and a very cranky baby still passed out on my shoulder. I smelled like cookie and bananas, and to some, that may sound like a combination that wouldn’t be half bad, but I could assure them it was nasty.
    “You need some help pretty girl?” I looked up just as I almost collided with a handsome, smiling, and very sexy SEAL. He looked gorgeous and puke free, and there I was, surely resembling a homeless person who’d ransacked the dumpster looking for something to eat.
    His smile faltered when our eyes connected and he stepped up closer, placing his hand on my arm. “You okay?”
    “Just a really long day,” I confessed as I felt my shoulders sag in defeat.
    “Come on, let’s get you two out of here.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and led me through the crowd of people. I welcomed his touch as I leaned into him.
    “I’m