The Boy from the Woods(107)

Ava just looked at him with her big brown eyes.

The boarding line was clear. The gate agent made another announcement.

Naomi stepped forward and put her hand on his arm. “Please, Wilde, if we’re caught, I’ll have to go back to him. Ava might go to jail.”

“She’s my daughter,” Ava said, her tone never steadier. “I love her with all my heart.”

They both stood together and faced him.

“I know,” Wilde said.

“So…?”

“I just came to make sure you were all right,” Wilde said. “And to say goodbye.”

Naomi threw her arms around him so hard she almost knocked him over. Wilde usually recoiled from this sort of embrace. But he didn’t. Not this time. He let the girl hold him, and it felt right.

“Thank you,” Naomi whispered.

Wilde nodded. “If you ever need anything…”

The boarding agent was back on the loudspeaker. “Final call for Flight 374 with service to Liberia, Costa Rica.”

“You guys better get on board,” Wilde said.

Naomi looked at Ava. Ava looked back. Then Ava turned and took Wilde’s hand and said something that caught him totally off guard: “Come with us, Wilde.”

“What?”

Naomi put her hands together. “Please?”

Wilde shook his head. “I can’t.”

Ava held on to his hand and said it again: “Come with us, Wilde.”

“No,” he said.

“Why not?” Ava asked.

“It’s crazy,” Wilde said.

“So?” Ava gave him a smile that dazzled and stunned. “Everything about this is crazy.”

Wilde shook his head again, even as he felt something in his chest crack open. “You guys need to get on board.”

“Come with us, Wilde,” Ava said again. “Naomi needs you. Maybe I need you too, I don’t know. If it doesn’t work out, you just come back.”

“I can’t,” Wilde said.

The gate agent came over, cleared her throat, and said, “I’m closing the door in thirty seconds.”

“They’re boarding now,” Wilde said in a tone that left no room for debate.

Naomi’s eyes were wet with tears when she threw her arms around him one more time. Then Ava handed the gate agent their tickets to scan. Wilde watched them start down the jet bridge. Naomi turned and waved. Wilde waved back.

Ava’s eyes lingered on his a little longer. When she broke eye contact and turned away, Wilde felt his chest crack open a little more.

He watched them disappear from view.

The gate agent reached for the door. As she was about to close it, Wilde asked, “Is there any room on this flight?”

“What, you want to buy a ticket?”

“Yes.”

The gate agent squinted at her computer screen.

“Well, what do you know?” she said. “There’s one more ticket available.”