"You may now use your electronic devices."

Ned had his cell phone in his hand even before the announcement was made. As the passengers around him on the plane started the laborious process of unloading the overhead compartments, unwedging belongings from under seats, and shuffling, hunched over, toward the center aisle, he stayed in his window seat and stared at the logo as his phone restarted. Outside, the sun was beating down on the tarmac, and heat rose in shimmering waves from the surface. The glint off the metal wings was blinding.

Nancy had said to call as soon as his plane landed. She was ninety-nine point nine percent sure she could pick him up, but she didn't want to leave him stranded at the airport.

As soon as he could, he tapped her name in his contacts and brought the phone to his ear. The flight attendants were still waiting for the skyway to be put in place so the passengers could reach the terminal, and around him, people were grumbling and sighing, toddlers sniffling and whining. Ned wasn't naturally claustrophobic, but if he were, this was the closest he would ever come to it.

Other than that one time, tied up in the back of a van that was slowly filling with water... but he didn't like to think about that. Or the sabotaged elevator. That hadn't been fun either.

The muted ringing in Ned's ear stopped, and he waited for Nancy's breathless "hello," but it didn't come. Instead, he heard feminine laughter, distant.

"Hello?" Ned tried, wondering if something had gone wrong on her end.

"Hello," a voice answered. Male, deep, but with quiet humor in it.

Ned bristled. He knew he had called Nancy's phone, unless somehow he had tapped the contact above or below hers... but he never did that. What was a man doing answering her phone? "Who is this?"

"Hey, Ned. Look, I'll have her call you back."

"Come here," the more distant feminine voice said in a soft plea, and Ned heard another laugh before the call ended with a beep from his phone.

Ned pulled it away from his ear, staring at it. His heart was pounding, his face flushed, his mind... both spinning and blank, somehow. It kept skating toward suppositions, possibilities, and rebounding just as quickly. Nancy wouldn't have invited him to join her here if anything was going on with someone else.

He corrected himself. Nancy didn't have anything going on with someone else. She would have told him. She...

But it was him. And Ned didn't like the numb misery he was just managing to hold at bay.

He had collected his carry-on and joined the shuffling line of passengers when his phone jumped in his hand, a name flashing on his screen. He had added the contact a while back, hoping and praying that he would never need to use it. He had never seen that name actually pop up on his screen until today.

Frank Hardy

In a fit of pique, he had made the image to go with it the Jolly Roger.

Ned took a deep breath and swiped the screen to answer the call. "Hello?" he said, trying to keep his voice neutral.

"Hey," Nancy said breathlessly. "Did you just land?"

"Yes," Ned said, drawing his brows together. "What..."

"Oh. Frank and I swapped phones. Long story. I'm really sorry. I'm about five minutes away, so I should see you at the baggage claim."

"Is he with you? I called..."

"Yeah, Callie came down to visit him, and they're back at the hotel." Ned heard the quiet click of a turn signal. "What, Nickerson," she said, her tone different, almost teasing. "Surely you didn't get jealous?"

A huge weight came off his chest. "Yeah, a little," he admitted. "A guy answering your phone..."

"Trust me, baby," she said, her voice low with promise, "you're the only guy I want answering my phone."

He chuckled at the outrageous flirtiness in her tone. "Good. It's been too long, baby. I can't wait to see you."

"Same here, handsome."