Is this destiny?

Sarah almost rolled her eyes thinking how Jarred has crazy ideas. How can you go backward from married to engaged? But she can\'t tell the truth either… at least not the full truth. "At that time, we were under cover. We are not married. We are engaged. OK?"

Sarah wanted Jarred not to probe into that, because if he asks why they lied about their identities, she either needs to explain that most of casinos banned her previously, or she needs to come up with another lie… also, she wants to clarify her staring into Charles so that Aiden stops with his possessive-fiancé-act. His arm was around her waist and he was pulling her closer, as to remind everyone that she is his. Sarah told herself that if she does not speak up quickly, she will end up on his lap.

"I was looking at Charlie because I was wondering how he ended up in that wheelchair."

She looked at Charles and realized that might be a sensitive topic.

"Sorry, if I\'m over the line. Feel free not to answer.", she quickly added and tried inching away from Aiden, but he didn\'t let her move. Well, at least he stopped pulling her closer. That is progress.

Charles smiled in a well-practiced manner. "Not a problem. My legs were just fine until those hoodlums in Las Vegas gifted me with comminuted fractures."

Based on his expression, Sarah can tell that he provided this explanation many times.

"Comminuted fractures? Can\'t that be fixed?" Sarah could not contain her curiosity. Broken bones can be mended, even if the bone is severely damaged it can be replaced with an artificial one. Why is he still in a wheelchair?

Charles shook his head, looking defeated. "The damage is too great to the bones, muscles and connective tissue. Bone shards are everywhere. I\'ve seen many orthopedists, and surgeons. And they all say that they are not reckless enough to try to operate, fearing that they will make it worse. I don\'t know what can be worse than this…" He placed his palms on his knees and sighed. "My legs are useless."

"Not reckless enough?" Sarah mumbled and got her phone. She texted JoAnna.

"By the way, old man…" Sarah looked at Jarred. "We are here because we need a favor from you. I remember you said that I can call you for anything. Is that offer still valid?"

Jarred got into a serious business-mode. "I said that you can call me for anything, and I am man of my word. How can I help you?"

"We need a helicopter. Military helicopter." Sarah was short. Well, she can\'t say more than that, Aiden is expert in that field.

Jarred narrowed his eyes, looked at Sarah, then at Aiden and back to Sarah. It looked like he does not believe his ears. "Little girl, why do you need a military helicopter?"

Sarah turned to Aiden and gestured that it\'s time for him to takeover.

Aiden started explaining to Jarred what they are looking for. Aiden was very technical, and Sarah enjoyed listening to him. It was interesting that Jarred held a meaningful conversation with Aiden, and that told Sarah that both of them are familiar with helicopters and their technical details.

While Aiden and Jarred spoke, Charlie listened. Sarah listened as well in between exchanging texts with JoAnna.

"I see you came prepared, boy…", Jarred praised Aiden. "I need to make some calls and will get back to you on this."

"Oh? You can help us get a helicopter?" Sarah was hardly containing her excitement.

"Hmph! Of course, I can!" Jarred said proudly. "But based on what your FIANCÉ told me, you are looking at customizations and I need to make some calls before I commit to that."

Sarah ignored his strange emphasis on a word \'fiancé\'. She was happy that he is willing to help and thanked him sincerely.

She turned to Charles. "Charlie, are you willing to allow another surgeon look at your legs?"

Both Charles and Jarred frowned. They were surprised by this sudden question.

Sarah realized that her question came out of the blue and explained: "My sister is a very good surgeon. They call her the prodigy. I told her that you have comminuted fractures, as well as damage to muscles and tissue. She is not promising anything, but she is willing to look at your legs and see if she can do something about it."

Jarred and Charles exchanged glances for a second before Charles agreed to it.

"Little girl, if your sister fixes Charlie\'s legs, you will get your helicopter for free!" Jarred extended his hand to seal the deal.

Sarah looked at his hand reluctantly. "Old man, how about we pay for the helicopter, and if my sister fixes Charlie\'s legs you owe me one?"

Jarred squinted and half-retracted his hand for a second before he started laughing. "You have a deal!" Two of them shook hands on it.

"How do we go about this?", Charles asked Sarah. She can see that he is excited.

Sarah thought that it must be hard on him, getting bad news who knows how many times. She really hopes that JoAnna can fix him up because it\'s obvious how badly Charles wants to get back to his feet.

"If you can send your medical records to my sister, she can look at it in advance. For the in-person exam it will be best if you can come to Los Angeles." Sarah explained.

Charles smiled. "That is perfect! We will be there in two days and will stay in the area for a week. I\'m available anytime."

"You will be in Los Angeles? In two days?" Sarah looked at Jarred.

"Yes." Jarred grinned.

"Why didn\'t you say so? When we spoke on the phone, I told you that we are coming to New York from Los Angeles. We could have met there…" Sarah felt cheated. If this old man told her that in two days they are coming to Los Angeles, maybe they would not come to New York. Oh, there is that Katherine or Darla that they want to investigate, so they would come anyway, but the old man does not know that!

"Little girl, you asked me: when can we meet. And I said: for me, lunch time, today, works. And you said that works for you as well. You didn\'t ask for anything beyond that." Jarred seriously responded.

Sarah rolled her eyes and laughed. "I can\'t argue with that."

They finished lunch in a good atmosphere and parted ways with a promise to stay in touch.

Sarah already confirmed that JoAnna can meet Charlie in three days, and she will get back to him about the location and exact time. JoAnna needs to confirm which facilities have equipment that she needs and availability.

Sarah wants to be present as well. After all, this is a perfect chance to have old man owe her one, again. Having a friend with deep connections like Jarred Smith can only be beneficial.. At the same time, she wants to see her sister at work.