His Ransom 4(21)

“Can I take the blindfold off now?” I asked. Jake unbuckled my seatbelt.

“No,” Jake said. “Not yet.”

The thrum of the engine died down. I could still hear other noises in the background that made me think we’d landed at some airport. Was he going to keep me blindfolded all the way to the restaurant for dinner? He walked me across the tarmac, going slowly as I picked my way along the rough surface. I clung to Jake’s arm as he led me up the stairs and into the terminal. The sounds of the outside world disappeared.

“Sit here,” Jake said.

Sit? I followed his order, sinking into the chair he’d guided me to. Was this a private restaurant inside of the terminal? Then I felt a vibration under my feet.

“Jake?”

“Yes?”

“What’s that?”

“Nothing.”

The vibration was growing stronger. Maybe there was a plane taking off just outside the terminal.

“Why are you doing this to me?” I asked.

“It’s a trust exercise,” Jake said. “You have to trust me.” He massaged the back of my neck.

“Sure. Okay. But what—”

The ground beneath me shook. I felt it.

“Jake!”

I ripped off the blindfold and looked around. I had to blink twice before I realized where I was. This wasn’t a plane terminal. It was a plane.

“What is this? We’re in a plane!”

“Sounds like you answered your own question there,” Jake joked.

I turned to the window next to me. The tarmac was moving under the plane wing. It was a smaller plane, not one of the large jetliners. I was sitting in a large plush chair, and there was nobody else in the back of the plane except me and Jake.

“Are you trying to get me over my fear of heights tonight?” I asked. “Because if that’s that what you’re doing, I’m good. I’m fine. Really. I don’t need another plane ride.”

“That’s not it, Lacey,” Jake said. He pressed his hand over mine. “I want you to trust me. But until you do, I’m going to prove myself to you.”

“Prove yourself?”

“Over and over. For as long as it takes.”

“Why are we in a plane? We could have just stayed in the helicopter,” I mumbled. The plane’s engines began to roar. We were at the end of the runway, getting ready to take off.

“You can’t fly to Paris in a helicopter.”

I turned to Jake, my jaw dropping. The airplane began to pull down the runway. The engines roared loudly as we built up speed.

“Paris?” My voice was lost in the roar of the jet plane, but Jake watched my lips move, and he could tell what I was saying.

“Yes,” he said, squeezing my hand. We were racing down the runway.

“You’re taking me to Paris with you?” I couldn’t believe it.

“I’ll take you wherever you want to go.” Jake leaned over to me so that I could hear him over the rumbling engine. “Lacey, I’ll keep you with me as long as it takes you to trust me. Understood?”

I think I nodded yes, but at that moment the plane pulled away from the ground and I gripped his hand tight.

I was going to Paris. I was going to Paris with Jake.

I looked out of the window at the rapidly shrinking ground, and I smiled. Forgotten completely was my fear of heights. Forgotten was the argument we’d had. We were going to Paris.

This was going to be fun.