Grover “Shep” Shepherd is the only thing Felix Medrano loves more than being the current darling of Hollywood. He throws a star-studded surprise engagement party to declare their love to the world, and it’s a smash, save for one detail: Shep is a no-show. Felix knows Shep missed his flight home from New Orleans, but that was hours ago. What’s the hold up?<br><br>Shep’s still at the airport is what, watching flight after flight wing westward without him. Each time he sends Felix a progress report via text message, Felix replies with a romantic photo from their past, and Shep spends much of his airport odyssey Remembering When. It’s easy to see how these two fell in love, but can Shep possibly make it home in time to celebrate with Felix and their friends?

Say Cheese

Still, he stood by. He had to stand somewhere, and as the crowd grew feistier, he began to pick favorites. He’d never been to a cockfight, but he imagined a similar, if smokier, atmosphere. When theBluetooth earpiece business jerk jostled a pregnant mom to cut in line, Shep cheered to see her five-year-old stick her tiny fearless foot under the wheels of his suitcase. Business Jerk dropped the bag, along with a few choice swear words, and Mom herded her harried brood around him. A hipster kid in ahandlebar mustache stopped in his tracks to ‘absent-mindedly’ tap at his phone, infuriating the seat-hungry rabble behind him, but clearing a path for Granny, in her wheelchair, and her slow-moving husband to splash into the otherwise relentless stream.


Chapter 9