Brace for Impact

by Becky Harmon

  “Denver.”

  “Good. Did you see what happened at LAX?”

  Could she lie? Should she? Deidra had enough going on in her life without worrying about her too. “Yes, I did.” That wasn’t a lie.

  “I bet it’s cold where you are. It is here too,” Deidra paused. “I have a small amount of good news.”

  “Yes, please.” She could use some good news. She had gotten used to Deidra’s call always containing bad news about their father.

  “Dad held his fork and fed himself lunch today.”

  “That’s great. What did the nurses say?”

  “They said there is occasionally an upswing before the last downswing. I’m not thinking about that, though. I’m going to visit him in the morning. You’re coming home tomorrow, right?”

  “Yeah, I’ll be in about noon.”

  “Okay. I’ll call you.”

  “Hey, Deidra,” she said hastily before her sister could hang up. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you back sooner. I saw the voice mail, but I was getting settled in for the night.”

  “I didn’t leave you a voice mail.”

  “What? Okay. Guess I better check and see who it was then. Thanks. Talk to you tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow.”

  Tomorrow. Her mother had started that when she left for the military. Never saying goodbye. Confident there would always be a tomorrow. She smiled at the memory. She hadn’t noticed before that Deidra did it too, but it made her happy. There would always be a tomorrow. Even without her dad or even Lucy. Tomorrow would always come.

  As soon as she entered the shelter of the hotel, she pressed the button for her voice mail. Hearing Lucy’s voice surprised her. She paused in the stairway and replayed the message again. Lucy’s voice sounded tense even though she didn’t say more than for Dex to call her. There was a text message saying the same thing. She climbed the remaining stairs to Level Three and walked the short distance to her room. She wasn’t sure she was ready to call Lucy back. Even though they had texted after they parted on Sunday and she had planned to call her over the weekend, she still was preparing for the inevitable breakup. If she could even call it that. They hadn’t had more than a few nights together and that probably didn’t constitute enough of a relationship to require a breakup.

  She paced her room a few times, trying to settle her thoughts. She had too much energy and she needed to burn it. The back and forth of her emotions was making her jittery. She changed into workout clothes and found her way to the gym on the top floor. All of the treadmills faced a large glass wall, presenting their backs to the door. In the distance she could see the mountain ranges stretching toward the sky. She began running immediately, keeping a slow pace until she warmed up. Staring at the view, she felt a wave of resolve wash over her. She couldn’t keep feeling this way. On again. Off again. She needed Lucy to commit and if she couldn’t then that’s where they would remain. Would committing to seeing each other again be enough? Yes, it would. She liked Lucy enough to wait for her if time was only what she needed. But that was the problem, wasn’t it? She didn’t know if time was all she needed. She didn’t know at all what Lucy was thinking because Lucy didn’t talk about it.

  She sighed as she slowed the treadmill back to a walking pace. Her breathing was labored and she had only been running for twenty minutes. Was it Lucy or the high elevation? It didn’t matter. She was ready for a shower and sleep. Morning would come soon enough. She walked for a few more minutes and then returned to her room. She felt better with a little exercise after the wonderful meal and a shower now would put her to sleep.

  When she emerged from the shower, her cell phone lying silently on the bed began to taunt her. Lucy had sounded concerned when she called. Maybe it was something other than what she expected. Lucy had probably heard about the emergency landing. She dialed Lucy’s number and was surprised when it only rang once before she picked up.

  “Dex?”

  “Yeah. Is everything okay?”

  “You didn’t see the news today?” Lucy asked with a sigh.

  Dex was silent as she thought about her answer. It had been easy to evade Deidra’s questions. Lucy wouldn’t be as easy.

  “I just got to Denver.”

  “There was an emergency landing at LAX earlier.”

  Dex was silent again.

  “Dex?”

  “It happens a lot.”

  “I know, but you weren’t there right? You’re in Denver.”

  “I’m in Denver.”

  “Damn.” Lucy sighed. “You were on that plane, weren’t you?”

  “Yeah.” What else could she say? Lucy sounded upset, but she didn’t know if it was because of her or whether the incident had dredged up feelings from her father’s death. She waited to see if Lucy would explain.

  Lucy was silent so long Dex wasn’t sure she was still on the line.

  “Lucy?”

  “Yeah, I’m here. I was worried and I didn’t even know for sure you were on the plane.”

  Her heart did a little leap at Lucy’s words. “That’s sweet.”

  Again Lucy was quiet. Dex wasn’t sure whether to push her or give her time. It was clear she had more to say. Things that might not be easy for her and Dex wanted to hear them. This could be the turning point she had been hoping for.

  “I’m fine,” Dex said softly.

  “I know. After freaking out a little and leaving you a message, I realized how much I wanted to see you again.”

  “That can be arranged.”

  “Good, because I’ve arranged to be in Toronto for my days off. When do you get in?”

  “Around noon.” She couldn’t believe Lucy was making the first plans for them to be together. For the first time it wouldn’t be impulsive or a coincidence. They were actually planning a weekend.

  “I’ll arrive a little earlier. Text your flight number and I’ll hang around your gate. I’m not sure where the Eastern office is in Toronto.”

  “Sounds like a plan. I’m looking forward to it.”

  “Okay. See you tomorrow.”

  Lucy hung up before Dex could say goodbye. She crawled into bed hugging her phone to her chest. Her stomach was churning and her heart wanted to leap out of her chest. No woman had made her feel like this. Especially not with so few words. She knew how big a step it was for Lucy to have made those arrangements. She had even admitted to Dex that she had been worried.

  Dex snuggled into the covers, mentally planning what they would do for the weekend, what things she wanted to show Lucy and what places she wanted to take her. She knew the smile on her face would still be there when she woke up in the morning.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Lucy paced the length of the seating area again. Dex’s plane had landed almost thirty minutes earlier, and it looked like everyone had departed. Still no sign of Dex. What if this wasn’t the right plane? What if at the last minute Dex wasn’t on the plane?

  She took a deep breath. When had she lost her composure? Dex would text her if something had gone wrong. Wouldn’t she? She had almost worked herself into an anxiety attack waiting on the plane to arrive, something she had never had before. None of this seemed right, but then she remembered her time with Dex. That had felt right. She missed her touch, but she also missed being with her. Seeing her laugh and sharing a look. She turned and began the trek back across the room once more.

  When Dex’s voice caught her ear, she stopped and leaned against the closest wall, trying to look casual. Her heart raced. Dex emerged from the gateway with another pilot. Though she carried on a conversation with him, her head turned from side to side taking in the entire gate area. Lucy waited patiently until their eyes met. All the anxiety she had been feeling fell away, and she was filled with the warmth of Dex’s smile.

  She knew Dex would have paperwork to clean up from the flight so she fell into step behind them. She hesitated when Dex motioned her to join them. She said the appropriate things when Dex made the introductions and then
walked beside her to the Eastern Airlines office. Motioning to the coffee shop across from the office door, she told Dex to take her time. She would be waiting.

  Less than twenty minutes later, Dex emerged and dodged the flow of people to join her.

  “Shall we go?” Dex asked.

  She immediately stood. She didn’t need any encouragement. She was surprised at how anxious she was to have Dex to herself for the entire weekend. Yesterday’s fears still lingered, leaving her wanting to spend a significant amount of time just holding Dex in her arms. She had thought a lot about the words she would say to Dex when she had the opportunity, but now that she was here she wasn’t sure she would be able to say them. She was confident she would be able to at least show her how she felt, though. Having finally given herself permission to enjoy Dex’s company, she couldn’t wait for their weekend to start.

  As they made their way through the airport to the exit by baggage claim, she saw Dex was holding back something she wanted to say.

  “What?” she finally asked. If Dex had changed her mind since they had last seen each other then she needed to know now. Changing her own thought processes had been hard enough, but she wasn’t going to put her feelings and emotions out there now just for Dex to stomp on them.

  “I don’t know.” Dex grimaced. “Okay, I do know. I’m not sure why I said that. I’m just wondering why the sudden change of heart. A week ago you were blowing me off and now you’re here waiting for me. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to react.”

  She took a deep breath. She knew they would have this conversation, but she hadn’t expected it so soon or in the airport with so many people around.

  “Yesterday when I was watching that flight do an emergency landing, I couldn’t stop thinking about what if it was you in the cockpit. How would I handle losing you? I realized I would regret losing the opportunity of spending time with you.”

  Dex grinned. “So you want to spend time with me?”

  “Yes, I guess that’s what I said.”

  “You want to date a pilot?” Dex joked.

  “Now, you’re just pushing it.”

  They maneuvered around other travelers and made their way to the exit doors.

  “Am I safe to assume we’re headed to my condo?”

  Lucy grinned shyly. She was willingly returning to the scene of a previous one-night stand, something she was sure she had never done in her life. What was wrong with her? Is this really what she wanted? She glanced at Dex as they stepped outside the doors and the wind caught her hair. Dex was more than beautiful. Could she handle calling Dex hers? Yes. Yes, that was what she wanted. To belong to someone and know they belonged to her.

  “Sounds perfect.”

  They walked together to the nearest cab. Lucy opened the door for Dex to slide in. Holding up her coffee cup she pointed at the trash can nearby so Dex would know where she was going. When she turned, a woman the same height as Dex had looped her arm through Dex’s and was leading her away. As Dex climbed into another waiting cab, she turned and met Lucy’s eyes. Lucy thought she could see confusion and maybe regret, but she wasn’t trying to pull away from the woman.

  Her heart collapsed as she watched the cab with Dex in it pull away from the curb and merge into traffic. She wanted to fall to the street and cry. What in the world had happened? Did Dex have a girlfriend she had never mentioned?

  “Hey, lady. Are you coming or not?”

  She slowly walked back to the cab she and Dex had picked and climbed inside.

  “Head into Toronto. I’ll let you know what hotel.”

  She knew she sounded a little rude, but she would make it up to him with the tip. She needed to make it clear she wasn’t in a chatting mood. She began searching hotels on her phone and located one near the CN Tower and Blue Jays Stadium. She gave the information to the driver and then turned off her phone. There wasn’t anyone she needed to talk with.

  * * *

  “What the hell!” Dex exclaimed.

  Deidra looked at her in surprise. “What?”

  “I was…We were…oh, never mind.” Dex slouched back in the seat. Deidra wouldn’t have come to get her unless it was really important. “What’s going on?”

  “Dad’s asking for you. I thought you would want to get there as soon as you could. His clearness could vanish at any minute. He recognized me as soon as I walked in. It was like he had never been gone. He knew he was in the nursing home and that Mom was gone. He knew how old the boys were.”

  Deidra’s voice drifted to the back of Dex’s mind as she thought about having her father back again. She knew it wasn’t going to last, but a few moments would be enjoyable. Her thoughts shifted then to Lucy and she quickly pulled her phone from her pocket. She couldn’t call her with Deidra sitting next to her, but she could certainly text. Keeping it short, she explained it was a family emergency and she would call later. She watched the delivered tag on her text message and waited hoping it would switch to read. After a few minutes, she closed the screen and slid it back into her pocket. When she looked up, Deidra was staring at her.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Who was that?”

  She shrugged. There was no reason to make Deidra feel bad now. “No one.”

  “Is it the new girl? The love of your life?”

  “What are you? Five years old? She’s not the love of my life.” But she could be, Dex thought. Lucy was everything she had always looked for. Strong and kind. And so adorable. As soon as she answered the text she would make arrangements to meet her tonight. She groaned as she realized Lucy now had nowhere to go until they met back up. Damn Deidra’s enthusiasm. If she’d had a moment to think, she’d have given Lucy the keys to her condo.

  Seeing Deidra had surprised and scared her; her first thought had been that their father was gone. It had taken a few moments to realize there wasn’t sadness on Deidra’s face. Why had she let Deidra pull her away so easily? She had to tell Lucy to wait for her. And she had to do it now. She quickly pulled her phone back out and dialed Lucy. She hoped she hadn’t reserved a hotel yet. Maybe she could reach her neighbor, Sharon, who had a key to her place for emergencies.

  Lucy’s phone rang straight to voice mail. Dex frowned as she left a message.

  “I’m so sorry. It was a family emergency. My neighbor has a key so you can get in. I’ll meet you there in a little bit.”

  She avoided looking at Deidra, but from the corner of her eye she could see her watching her. She hung up and sent a text to Sharon. Luckily she was already home from work and would be around all evening. She texted Sharon’s condo number to Lucy and told her to grab the key and make herself at home. She slid her phone back in her pocket and finally looked at Deidra.

  “What?” she asked again.

  “What’s going on?” Deidra asked.

  “Lucy was going to stay with me and now she has nowhere to go. I was making arrangements with Sharon to let her in.”

  “Lucy was with you?” Deidra said excitedly, spinning around in her seat to look out the back window as if she could see back to the airport terminal.

  “She was.”

  “Oh, Dex. I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think about the possibility that you weren’t alone. I was so excited to get you to Dad while he would still know you.”

  “I know,” she said, all her previous anger at Deidra fading away. “You didn’t know.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “It all happened so fast. I was surprised to see you there and then you were pushing me in a cab.” She looked around them as if seeing their situation for the first time. “Why are we in a cab? Where’s your car?”

  Deidra shrugged. “I thought it would be easier to find you if someone else was driving. I left my car at the nursing home.”

  “You could have called, you know.”

  She felt bad as Deidra sighed. It wasn’t her fault. At least not completely. She should have kicked and screamed when Deidra pulled her away from Lucy. She co
uld only imagine what Lucy must be thinking. She would make it up to her tonight, she resolved. Resting her head against the back of the seat, she thought about all the ways she could make it up to Lucy.

  She had been shocked when Lucy said last night she would meet her in Toronto. Everything about that went against what she had learned about the woman so far. Sure, she had been shaken by the idea of Dex being involved in an emergency landing. But was that all? Enough to make her fly on her days off and not return to the cabin she was renovating near the town of Madison. She had mentioned it only fleetingly, but it wasn’t hard for her to imagine Lucy enjoying the warm weather of northern Florida and the isolation the cabin offered.

  “Dex.”

  Was it Lucy? No, she was with Deidra. She sat up and blinked her eyes. Had she really fallen asleep so easily?

  “Sorry, but we’re here. Are you ready to go inside?” Deidra asked.

  She nodded, swinging her travel bag over her shoulder as she stepped from the cab. Together she and Deidra walked into the nursing home. The smell of antiseptic mixed with pine trees mingled with the scent of the fresh cut flowers sitting inside the entrance. As usual she wanted to stay right there and avoid seeing her father in such a vulnerable position. But she didn’t. She followed Deidra to his door and waited while she slowly pushed it open.

  Peering around Deidra, she saw him sitting in a wooden rocker facing the television. As soon as he noticed them, he immediately turned the volume down on the news station he was watching.

  “Just catching up,” he said. His voice was gravelly from the small amount of talking he had been doing over the last couple of weeks.

  “Hey, Dad,” Deidra greeted him, taking a knee beside his chair.

  He patted her head and then motioned to the other two chairs in his room. “You girls take a seat.”

  Dex had seen nothing so far to imply he knew who they were, but the talking and watching the news was certainly better than he had been. His eyes looked alert as he scanned her face and then took in her uniform.

  “How’s the flying?” he asked.

  She nodded as tears filled her eyes. He did know who she was. She stepped closer and gave him a hug before taking a seat in one of the chairs. Deidra sat at his feet with her legs stretched in front of her. Her arm rested on their father’s knee and his hand was on her shoulder.