Part of me did.
She had known he was married. That mattered. Even if she believed his story about an ending marriage, she had still entered something unfinished. She had accepted secrecy. She had taken a vacation with a man whose wife, in her understanding, had not yet become an ex-wife.
But standing there, I also understood something else.
Ryan had lied to both of us differently because different lies gave him different advantages.
To me, he was busy.
To her, he was trapped.
To himself, he was probably entitled.
"You need to return to your seat," I said.
Ashley nodded.
Before she turned away, she asked, "Do you want me to get off the trip when we land?"
It was such an unexpected question that I had no answer ready.
"What you do after we land is not my decision."
"I didn't know. Not all of it."
"I believe you didn't know all of it."
Her eyes filled, but she blinked the tears back before they fell.
"That isn't the same as saying I did nothing wrong," she said.
I respected her slightly for saying it.
"No," I agreed. "It isn't."
She returned to her seat.
Ryan looked at her questioningly.
She turned toward the window.
For the remainder of the flight, they barely spoke.
When we began our descent into Cancun, the late afternoon sun turned the clouds gold at the edges. The Caribbean appeared beneath us in impossible layers of blue. Normally I loved that view. Even after nine years, there were days when the sight of a coastline from the air reminded me why I had chosen this work.
That day, it looked almost cruelly beautiful.
I made the landing announcement.
"Cabin crew, prepare for arrival."
The words came naturally.
I checked seat backs, tray tables, bags, seat belts.
At row two, Ryan avoided my eyes.
Ashley looked directly at me.
I gave both of them the same nod I gave every other passenger.
We landed at 6:18 p.m. local time.
The cabin filled with the familiar sounds of arrival: seat belt buckles snapping open before the sign turned off, overhead bins thudding, phones reconnecting to networks, people standing too early and then discovering there was nowhere to go.
I took my position at the aircraft door.
Passengers thanked us as they left.
"Have a wonderful stay."
"Take care."
"Thank you for flying with us."
Then Ryan and Ashley reached the door.
She walked ahead of him this time.
Ryan stopped.