Flipping Hearts

Chapter 1

I did  some editing and changed a few things.

Chapter 1 Peyton's POV

I paced the length of the baggage area of the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, trying not to look like a total basket case. I touched each finger tip to my thumb in a rhythm that had become my adult version of thumb sucking to ease my jumbled nerves. I did my best to ignore the jump in my belly, every time a new male entered the area. Would I even recognize my brother's best friend, Jack Lewis, now that he was in his forties? Twenty years could change a person's looks a heck of a lot. I didn't stop to think what it said about me that I sort of hoped he had a tooth or two missing. A beer gut wouldn't be bad either.

My mouth tugged up into a little smile with the memory of all the nights I spent staying up late scribbling in my journal, pouring out my secret passion for Jack on paper, while he snored away in blissful ignorance on the floor of my brother Danny's room during the sleepovers of their teen years. My cheeks warmed from the memory of sitting in front of my makeup mirror, layering on red lipstick. My goal was to perfect the most irresistible pout, a la Marylin Monroe, that he would sweep me into his arms and kiss me. Which of course would mean I would be his date for the prom. I could chuckle now, but I'd been devastated when he left for college, without ever once noticing a single one of those very practiced, sultry looks.

When Danny asked if I would be willing to get Jack from the airport, I jumped at the chance. Two hours alone in the truck with my teen age dream had seemed too good to pass up. As I rubbed my damp palms down my denim clad thighs, I had to admit that it might have been a silly decision. Jack barely acknowledged me back in the day and now I was losing a day of work on my current house renovation to do a favor for my brother, who I was mad at. All to refill my spank bank, I was such a loser.

"Broke, lost and needing to regroup." Danny said at Sunday dinner at my mom's, explaining Jack's reappearance in our lives.  I couldn't wrap my head around Jack Lewis being any of those things. Jack had been the most handsome, invincible boy in school, as far as I was concerned. He was always the boy with a quick smile or a kind word. Every boy wanted to be him and every girl wanted to be his.

As each balding, beer bellied man appeared, I felt my hopes rising. Not one man entering the area had the kind of good looks I would lose my shit over. It would be so much more simple for me to look at him and not be reminded of my all consuming crush if he wasn't as easy on the eyes as he once was.

He entered the area and my breath immediately hitched. From afar, it was as if no time passed since the days he suited up for the big game. The closer he got, it became apparent something much deeper than the passing of a few years changed the man he'd become.

His hair was still thick sandy brown and pushed back in a wave, a slight dusting of sliver sprinkled through the close cropped sides. His broad shoulders were rounded, instead of squared and ready to take on any opponent that got his way. His amber colored eyes met mine. The twinkle of humor and kindness that always melted me into a puddle was gone. Thin lines pulled at the corners of his mouth, as if they were too heavy to curve up. A tired, sad man had over taken this person in front of me, making me feel less like a squeeing teenager. I wanted to bring him home and make him better.

Alarms went off in my head, making me shake it, reminding me that bringing home a rescue puppy meant lots of pee stained carpet and chewed up shoes, all for a new family to reap the benefits of your hard work. Oh hell no. You are not going to try to rescue him. Stick to fixing broken houses, not men. The bleeding heart part of me actually ached with the desire to make him feel better.

He moved to where I stood and managed a weary smile. "You haven't changed a bit, Peyton."

I gave a self conscious chuckle, resisting the urge to to list the many ways I was no longer the shy little wallflower I was back then. I moved in to hug him, wondering if I was a horrible person for feeling a little thrill when he pressed the small of my back in embrace. "It's so good to see you." I stepped back to give him my warmest smile, he looked like he needed it. "Fern is so excited to have you and Danny together again."