By Monday night, Ali was settled into a hotel room overlooking the calm waters of Puget Sound—but it didn't feel like the countless other business trips she'd made before. For the first time in her adult life, she was lonely. The sensation of leaving a part of herself behind in Colorado nagged at her, and she truly hated it. Dealing with this newfound vulnerability the only way she knew how, she jumped headfirst back into work.

She spent the next two days on the convention floor, checking out vendors and making contacts. The South Korean clothing industry was surprisingly well represented, which led to a few good leads she could also pass on to Robert. She owed him as much after blowing off his request for help a week earlier.

Aaron Lassiter had also flown into Seattle to get the ball rolling on setting up Foxhall's new location, and he'd asked Ali to help him scout out potential office space. They'd just about finished looking at prime real estate in the heart of the central business district when her cell phone rang. The caller ID indicated "Unknown Number," but she recognized the Colorado area code. Leaving her boss with the leasing agent to discuss terms, Ali took the call in the privacy of an empty office.

"Hello?" Her voice was hesitant from both apprehension and anticipation regarding who could be on the other end. There were only two people she could think of who would be calling from Colorado, and Liz McGhee wasn't on top of the list.

"Ali. It's Hank." The curt introduction confirmed her suspicion.

Although Ali's pulse raced at the possible reasons for the call, her mouth only managed to form one word: "Hi."

"Harriet passed away," he stated flatly, answering the unasked question.

Her breath caught in her throat, and she put her hand against the floor-to-ceiling glass wall to steady herself. Staring at the skyline, she could just make out the top of the Space Needle in the distance before her vision blurred.

"Ali? Are you there?"

"Um, yes." She shook off the shock of the unexpected news. Wiping the tears from her face, she cleared her throat. "Thank you. Thank you for letting me know."

"Of course," he said, sounding increasingly genuine, as if his artificial façade of not giving a damn was beginning to crack. "And I'm sorry for your loss."

She sniffled, now wishing it was Liz who'd called. Hearing Hank's voice and knowing he was so far away made the situation even more unbearable. "Thanks again. If there's nothing else—"

"Actually, there is if you have a minute," he interrupted.

Ali closed her eyes and let the warm sunshine streaming through the window wash over her. Nothing could be worse than what she'd just heard. "Sure."

"You know Harriet's dog?" There was a slight hesitation to the question.

"Marv?" she asked, opening her eyes. This may have been the last thing she'd expected to hear. "Of course. Why?"

"My niece and nephew have been taking care of him for the last week and a half while she'd been in the hospital. We thought Harriet's family would take the dog eventually, but they don't want him." Hank paused. "Since Marv liked you the best, I thought I'd ask if you would take him."

She frowned. "Don't Sarah and Colin want to keep him?"

"Of course, but they're kids," he said. "Liz already has too much going on without a pet to worry about."

A flurry of thoughts ran through Ali's head. She wouldn't be moving into a new place in Seattle for at least two months and her apartment building in New York had a no-animals policy. She couldn't let Harriet's beloved friend end up in a shelter, but maybe she could persuade her parents to house him. Her father still spoke fondly of their beagle that passed years earlier.

"Yes. I'll take him," she said. One way or another, she'd make it work. "I'll have my assistant contact a pet travel service—"

"Are you flying back through Denver anytime soon?" Hank chimed in before she could finish.

Her heart was pounding in her throat again. As a matter-of-fact, her return flight to New York did take her back through there. "In a couple of days, why?"

"If you give me your flight details, I'll arrange to add a pet to your ticket and have Liz drop him off at the airport." He seemed to have everything already figured out.

"All right." Her mind buzzed again, but this time, it had nothing to do with the dog. "I'll text you the info, but can you do something for me?"

"Of course." Hank didn't hesitate, and Ali could hear him breathing while he waited for her to speak.

She bit her lip, gathering her courage to say it out loud. "Can you be the one who brings Marv to the airport?"

The silence on the other end seemed to go on forever.

"All right," he finally answered. "See you then."

* * *

Ali scanned the departures hall, looking for her airline's check-in desk. She'd made it off the flight from Seattle in record time and backtracked from the arrivals lounge, but the hard part was only now about to begin. Although she'd asked Hank to personally bring Harriet's dog, she still wasn't sure why or what she intended to accomplish with the spontaneous request.

When he'd called unexpectedly, she'd been happy to hear his voice again. Maybe seeing him now would tell her why. Or better yet, perhaps he'd tell her himself. After all, he'd believed he knew what she wanted just a few days earlier. She'd foolishly dismissed him then, but now she was at least open to listening. Hopefully, it wasn't too late.

Her palms were sweaty from anticipation, and when a group of travelers wearing matching T-shirts moved out of her way, she finally caught a glimpse of him. Holding a spot in the first-class line, he had a duffel bag slung over one shoulder and a pet crate by his feet.

Ali smiled at the pup's need for so much luggage. When bittersweet thoughts of Harriet entered her mind, she had to fight off the urge to cry and instead quickened her steps.

Hank adjusted the brim of his baseball cap as he watched her push through the crowd. "We were starting to think you stood us up," he greeted her coolly.

She tightened her grip on the handle of her wheeled carry-on. So much for hope.

"My flight was delayed." When he continued to stare at her silently, she realized the statement's frivolity. "But you already knew that."

"No worries," he replied automatically, looking past her at a newly available gate agent. Picking up Marv's carrier, he nudged Ali's elbow. "Come on."

Following along, she rummaged through her purse for her ticket and slid it across the counter. After indicating she was traveling the rest of the way with an on-board pet, she left the woman to tap away at her computer and turned back to Hank.

"I see you took my advice." She pointed to the Air Force logo on his hat.

He leaned in until their noses were almost touching. "About being myself?" he whispered, waiting a beat while staring into her eyes. "Sure, but don't you think it reinforces my living in the past?"

Ali could barely hear the words above the echoes of her own heartbeat in her ears and didn't notice she'd been holding her breath until he pulled away. Why was he acting this way? Why continue that earlier conversation—nay, argument? Was he punishing her for rejecting him? Or did he just want to make sure that he had the final word? Clearing her throat, she managed a weak, monosyllabic rebuttal: "No."

He pursed his lips and crossed his arms. "Not even if I'm wearing it as Hank Mathis, the guy who wants to be a pilot again, and not as Hank Mathis, the guy who teaches nineteen-year-olds about Napoléon at Waterloo?" he asked.

Ali sighed as the glimmer of hope reemerged. This probably wasn't about her at all. Hank appeared to be finally searching for answers to questions he had been too scared to ask before.

"I don't understand why you see yourself as a former pilot." She emphasized the penultimate word.

He shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe because I'm not allowed by the US military to fly?" Noticing the ticketing agent looking up at that statement, he threw up his hands innocently and smiled. "I can be a passenger, I'm just legally no longer licensed to control an aircraft."

The woman appeared content with the clarification and returned to her keyboard, while Ali resumed the conversation. 

"So what?" she asked. "You can't do it now. That doesn't mean it won't ever happen. That's not living in the past, Hank. When I said that, I didn't know the full story because you didn't want me to. Modern medicine can do some amazing things, and I may be overly optimistic, but even a miracle wouldn't be out of the question."

He touched her arm, and his demeanor softened. "You mean there's a chance to fix something that may seem irretrievably broken?"

The move was so unexpected, Ali wasn't sure if they were still talking about his vertigo or their relationship. Left speechless, she blinked in confusion until the ticketing agent addressed her.

"Miss Barros, I can't seem to find a booking for an on-board animal."

Ali looked at Hank. "Did you make the reservation?"

He pulled some folded papers out of his back pocket and handed them to the agent. "I did, but it's probably attached to this."

The woman took the documents and input the new information. "Oh, I see now. Thank you, Captain Mathis. Would you like to be seated together?"

"Yes, please," he answered with a nod even as Ali tugged at his arm.

"What's going on?" she asked, looking again at the bag on his shoulder. "Are you coming to New York, too? Is that what all this is about?"

He leaned forward against the desk and suddenly took a much greater interest in what was happening behind the counter than answering.

"Your boarding passes, sir." The agent handed over the cards. "The gate is already open so I suggest you make your way over there immediately."

Hank tried to head directly toward the security-check line, but after stepping away from the counter, Ali forced him to stop.

"What are you doing?" She held on to his arm, searching his face for an explanation as a feeling of excitement mixed with nausea formed in her stomach.

He put down the bag and kennel before scratching his nose.

"Well, I guess I could say one of two things. Either A, I'm going to fly across the country and enjoy a long weekend in the Big Apple visiting an old friend of mine from basic training while doing the obligatory tourist stuff, or B, I'm doing something very romantic and coming with you to New York on two days' notice in the hopes that you'll realize that what we could have is worth fighting for. And then we spend the next few days trying to figure out how to make things work. It's your call."

He waited for her reaction, but Ali was frozen to the spot. This was it. He couldn't have been any more direct about how he felt, and it wasn't too late for her to change her mind.

"Well?" He nudged. "Say something."

A or B. That's all he needed to hear, but she couldn't speak.

Instead, Ali's hand trembled as she reached under her collar and pulled out the thin silver chain around her neck. Dangling the charms in front of Hank's eyes, she waited while he leaned in to get a proper look at the inscription.

"How long have you been wearing this?" he whispered, rubbing the flat disc between his fingers.

Ali swallowed before finding her voice again. "Liz gave it to me last Saturday before we left for dinner, but I didn't open it until after the party."

He lowered the charm and cupped her face with one hand. "And is that how you feel? Does your heart belong to an airman?"

She nodded, fighting back tears as the answer she'd been searching for finally appeared. "You filled a hole in my life I didn't even know was there until you were gone."

The corners of his lips began to turn upward, but then his eyes became serious again.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

He stroked her jaw with his thumb while reaching around her waist. "I never doubted your feelings for me, but are we just dragging out the inevitable or are you willing to give us a chance?" he asked back.

Ali sniffled. "I can't control everything, but I do want to be happy," she said, steadying herself against his chest as the thought of saying goodbye again loomed overhead. Taking another deep breath, she added, "And you make me happy."

His eyes smiled first, but Ali didn't see it reach his lips before they were locked onto hers. She wrapped her hands around his neck and let herself fall into the kiss, knowing that now Hank would be there if she happened to fall again.