At the bar in Eppley Airfield, Ash pulled up the Wainwright file on his iPad to go over it one more time. He’d been working on this takeover bid for months. Every i was dotted, every t was crossed. All that was left to do was to change the date back to where he’d originally set it: December 25th. Then he emailed it to his assistant. “Change of plans. Let’s ruin Christmas after all.”

“Ouch.”

At first Ash worried the man sitting down next to him had read over his shoulder, but he was gesturing at the bartop, where Ash had been absent-mindedly spinning Briana’s engagement ring.

“She said no? On Christmas eve? I’m sorry, man.”

“Probably for the best,” Ash said. He spun the ring again. “At least I don’t need to wear the matching pajamas with her family tomorrow morning.”

“I hear you,” the other man said. He gestured to the bartender, pointing to Ash’s scotch and holding up two fingers, and then slapped his hand down on the bartop like he was laying down a winning poker hand. Under it was another engagement ring. “It still hurts, though.”

Ash made a sympathetic wince. “What are the odds?”

“When your good-hearted girlfriend decides she misses her tiny hometown right before Christmas? I’d say the odds are pretty high.”

“The city isn’t for everyone,” Ash raised his glass.

“You get it,” the other man clinked his tumbler against Ash’s and took a long drink. “Anyway, you know what they say. They travel the fastest-”

“-who travel alone,” Ash finished the quote. “Kipling. A man of taste, I see.”

“Wealth and taste,” his new friend smirked. “Lucas Wainwright,” he offered his hand.

Ash took it. “Not the Wainwright Group?”

Lucas’s grip was tight. “The very same.”

“Ashton Jones,” he introduced himself. “I’m at Cerebellum Capital.”

He watched recognition dawn on Lucas’s face. “No shit?”

“No shit,” Ash lifted his glass again in a salute. “I think we’re going to be seeing a lot of each other.”

“Let’s see, your investors don’t have the stomach for what it’s going to take, your reputation is already in the gutter, and oh yeah, we’re fighting to save the insurance company my grandad built from nothing. You’re going to lose, my man,” Lucas clapped him too hard on the shoulder, but his arm stayed there when he was done. “But until then,” he added. “I wouldn’t mind it.”

John put his book down on the tray and rubbed his forehead. Red eye flights never failed to bring on a whopper of a headache, and the pressure building up behind his eyes was a sure sign that tonight would be no exception. Given how everything went down with Rachel today, this would be the cherry on top of his shit sundae.

"Rough day?"

John glanced to the passenger beside him. "You could say that. I just flew out here this morning to surprise my fiancee and she fucking dumped me. I just wanted to give her a nice evening out since she's been stuck here all week helping her mom after her dad died, but apparently that makes me an asshole who doesn't 'value her heritage' or something."

The other passenger's eyes widened. "Wow, seriously? What are the odds, the same thing happened to me. My fiancee has been trying to make a go of taking over the family business after her brother died in a snowmobile accident last month. I wanted to fly her back to the city for a couple days to give her a break from all the stress she's been dealing with, but she claimed that means I don't believe in her and don't support her family. I just wanted to give her a break for one weekend!"

"Damn, man, of all the luck. Hey, the name's John." He proffered his hand.

"Patrick," his neighbor responded, accepting the offered handshake. "How long were you engaged?"

"Five fuckin' years down the drain," grumbled John.

"This is getting a bit creepy, I was engaged for five years too!"

One of the passengers ahead of them popped up "wait, what? You were both dumped by fiancees of five years?"

John felt a stab of anger. "Jesus man, yeah, you don't have to rub it in."

"No, no, I'm not trying to do that at all; it's just, I was just dumped by my fiancee today after five years together too!"

Patrick and John shared a brief stunned silence. "You shittin' me?!" said John.

"No, not at all! My fiancee just got back from her last tour of duty a few weeks ago and said she needed to spend some time on the ranch where she grew up. I flew in yesterday and was supposed to be here through Christmas, but we got in a big fight because she says she 'found her purpose' and insists we move here even though there are no jobs for me in this small town. How are we supposed to afford to raise a family on barely half an income? All I wanted was for her to sit down and try to figure out a compromise of some sort that would be realistic, and she was furious! I'm pretty sure it's that new ranch-hand of her family that's putting this idea in her head; hell, I wouldn't be surprised if he moves in on her tonight with me out of the way now."

Another passenger piped up across the aisle "hey, you wouldn't happen to be Tim, would ya?"

"Yeah, how do you know my name?"

"I'm Jeff! I was engaged to your Sarah's sister Kim until this morning. She just up and decided we need to leave the city and take over their uncle's farm. I've spent twenty years building a career, why should I ditch that just because she suddenly decides she wants to take over a farm? She's never worked a farm a day in her life until this week when she came home for her uncle's funeral! She just sees her aunt shed some alligator tears and now it's 'oh Jeff, we just HAVE to save their farm!'"

"Wait, were you two engaged to Sarah and Kim Smith?" called a voice from a few rows back.

Tim and Jeff both looked towards the back. "Paul?! Aren't you supposed to be working?"

"Yes, but I was flying out here to review the farm's finances and process paperwork for them. Then Emily called me crying and going on and on about how I'm always working and I don't understand her and she needs to move back home from the city because of... reasons. She didn't really explain it very well. I've been busting my ass the past year so we can afford a down payment on the home she wants! Of course I'm working long hours! Anyway, I got off the plane and hopped right on the next flight back to the city, she and her family can go right to hell."

The flight grew louder as the hubbub increased as the passengers continued to discover their shared horror.

The men sat down on the flight. They were handsome, these two men, in a bland way. A way that a certain type of woman would like... a certain type of TV-watching woman. But is that irrelevant, or a sign of strange things to come? No matter. They yawned tiredly. It was, after all, a red eye flight. Normally the men would fly at a more reasonable time. But this was no reasonable night. It was Christmas Eve, but there would be no jingle bells tonight as both men had suffered a Christmas tragedy. The same tragedy. Marriage is for life, they had thought, but in truth that's not so for all, or in fact at times marriage never even begins, as it was not their wives they had been dumped by, but their fiancees. Could what was once so sweet turn so sour? Yes, so it could, and did. But is fate so cruel? Perhaps a hand stronger than fate was guiding these men. Yes, it was so odd, so perfect in a way, that it could only have come from the hand of a TV writer. A Hallmark TV writer? The very same. Yes, these men were not real men at all. They were characters. Characters in Hallmark films.

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