by Lynn Ames
Jessie headed back toward the elevators. Within twenty-four hours, she would see her beloved Claudia again.
“Would you do me the great honor of being my co-pilot, Jessie?”
Jessie surveyed the plush interior of the jet. “A Gulfstream G450? You own a Gulfstream G450?”
Natalie smiled. “I see you’ve kept up on your aircraft.”
“Ceiling of 45,000 feet, average speed 528 mph. They didn’t build them like this back in the war.” Jessie ran her hand lovingly over the controls.
“Have you flown one of these?”
Jessie raised both eyebrows. “I’m not even allowed to drive a car anymore. You think they’d let me at the controls of a honey like this?”
Natalie laughed. “I’d be willing to bet my life and Chelsea’s that you could take us all the way across the country solo.”
“That’d be a foolish bet on an old woman like me.” Jessie continued to examine the cockpit. “Take a look at these displays. Incredible. They do everything but brush your teeth for you.”
“Are you saying you don’t need any skill to fly one?”
“No, no. I’m just jealous we didn’t have anything like this back then.”
Natalie glanced at her watch. “We’ve got to get going. Will you help me finish checking her out, Jessie? And take the co-pilot’s chair?”
“I’d be honored.” Jessie read off the checklist to Natalie, and before long they were buckled in and cleared for takeoff.
Jessie watched as Natalie taxied onto the live runway and lifted the plane into the air. “Very smooth. Your mother was right—she said that even at sixteen you had an uncanny aptitude for flying.”
“Mama said that?”
“Mmm-hmm. She was very proud of you, you know.”
Natalie checked in with the tower as they climbed to altitude, then she set the auto-pilot. “And I have always been very proud of her. She’s a great mom.” Natalie’s voice broke. “The best.”
Jessie reached over and covered Natalie’s hand with her own.
Natalie smiled in gratitude. “You know, from the time I can remember, she drummed one thing into my head. She’d say, ‘If anything ever happens to me, you find Jessie Keaton. Jessie will take care of you. Who are you going to find?’ And I would have to repeat your name until Mama was satisfied that I knew it by heart.”
Jessie’s heart tripped. “Really?”
“Honest to God.” Natalie crossed her fingers over her heart. “I knew who you were from the time I could talk. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if I said your name before I said ‘Mama’.”
“But Claudia didn’t have my address.”
“No. And, as far as I know, she never tried to find it. When I questioned her about it, since I thought it would be practical if I actually knew where to find you if I needed to, she would say that I was a smart girl, I’d figure it out when the time came.”
“You must have been curious. Did you try to find me, yourself?”
Natalie feigned indignation. “And go against my mother’s wishes?” She shook her head. “No, I wouldn’t do that. I have to tell you, though, for the longest time when I was small and before I understood that children were supposed to have a mommy and a daddy, I thought you were my other parent.”
Jessie, who’d been taking a sip of water, choked.
“Are you okay?”
Jessie blotted the water on her shirtfront. “Fine.” Jessie glanced toward the back of the plane. Chelsea was stretched out and appeared to be sleeping. “Is that all she does?”
Natalie shrugged. “She’s a teenager. It’s what they do when they’re not texting, tweeting, Facebooking, or playing video games.”
“Is she going to college?”
“Yes. She says she wants to major in Women’s Studies.”
“Women’s… What the heck is that?”
“Darned if I know. More importantly, I have no idea what such a degree qualifies one for.” Natalie checked their heading to confirm that they were on course. “I’m a little worried about her. She’s very close to Mama, and she’s taking all of this pretty hard.”
Jessie pursed her lips. Chelsea wasn’t the only one having trouble with the idea of Claudia dying. “Wha— Jessie cleared her throat. “What’s the matter with Claude?”
Natalie’s eyes teared up. “Breast cancer.”
Jessie closed her eyes. “How long has she had it?”
“She was diagnosed last month. It’s her second bout.” Natalie’s hands shook. “Here I am, one of the top oncologists in the world, and I can’t even save my own mother.”
Jessie took Natalie’s hand. “Your mother and I, we’ve lived long lives. Eventually, your body just gives out. You’re not God, dear. Sometimes,” Jessie paused and gathered herself, “sometimes it’s just your time. I’m sure there wasn’t anything you could do to change the outcome. You mustn’t blame yourself.”
Natalie chewed her lip and watched out the windshield. “Pardon me for asking something so personal, Jessie, but how long have you got?”
Jessie pulled her hand back as if she’d been struck. “I’m sorry?”
“Chelsea saw your medications when she went to get you a glass of water yesterday. They’re similar to the medications Mama’s taking. She memorized them and told me about it.”
Jessie blew out an explosive breath and turned her head away to gaze at a passing cloud. Up here, in the air for one last time—she just wanted to enjoy it without thinking about the gathering shadows. She was quiet for a long time.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so blunt.” The regret in Natalie’s tone gave Jessie a pang.
“No. You’re fine. It’s just that I haven’t told anybody I was sick. There wasn’t anybody to tell.” Jessie fiddled with her watch. It was embarrassing, to be so alone in the world.
“Oh, Jessie. Maybe you didn’t know it, but you’ve always been family to me…to all of us. You’re not alone. You don’t have to be.” Natalie stroked Jessie’s arm. “I don’t want you to be.”
Jessie fished in her pocket for a Kleenex and blew her nose. “That’s very sweet, but I’m fine.”
“I’m sure you are, but I meant what I said.”
Jessie nodded. She was well aware that she hadn’t answered Natalie’s question about a timeframe. She had no intention of doing so. It was time to change the subject.
“Something’s been bothering me.”
“Yes?”
“I know your mother changed her last name to Turner, but the military didn’t know that. How is it that they were able to find her and send her an invitation to the ceremony?”
“They didn’t find her. I found them.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Well, I knew Mama was a WASP. I saw a newspaper article about Congress passing the bill honoring all of you with the Gold Medal, and I called Mama’s congressperson. They asked for proof, since they didn’t have the name Turner on file. So I went through an old trunk Mama had stored in the attic with all her keepsakes in it and found all of her papers, her uniform, and pictures of your graduating class. I also found her birth certificate listing her as Claudia Sherwood and her original social security card.”
“That explains one mystery.”
Natalie checked their location. They were changing from one airport tower’s responsibility to another, so she checked in and confirmed their location and heading.
Jessie’s eyelids were getting heavy. She hadn’t slept at all last night, thinking about everything she’d read in Claudia’s letters, all the memories that dredged up for her, and what today would bring. Natalie’s hand on her shoulder made her jump.
“Why don’t you get some sleep for a while? We’ve got a couple of hours to go yet. There’s a nice, comfortable berth back there where you could stretch out.”
“No. I’m all right. I don’t want to leave you alone up here on such a long flight.”
“Why, Jessie, are you going to take me up on my offer to fly t
his jet, after all?”
Jessie smiled. “The very first time we flew together, I was at the controls and your mother keyed the radio. She asked me if I knew how to land that bird. I think I told her she’d have to wait and see for herself.”
“Mama always said you were the best pilot she’d ever seen or flown with.”
“Your mother was a little bit biased.”
“Maybe, but I never knew her to exaggerate.” Natalie stretched her arms over her head. “Please, Jessie. Get some rest. It’s going to be a long day.”
Jessie’s energy was flagging, and she did want to be at her best when she saw her Claudia… “I will, on one condition.”
“Okay, what’s that?”
“If you need to be relieved for a minute or two to stretch your legs or use the restroom, you’ll wake me.”
“I tell you what. I’ll go now, if you’ll take the controls for a minute, then I won’t have to disturb you later.”
“Fair enough.”
“Okay then, Captain. You’ve got the plane.”
Jessie sat up straighter and surveyed the control panel in front of her. The fourteen-inch LCD displays were crystal clear, and everything was digital. She checked outside the windshield. The sky was a brilliant blue with only an occasional puffy cloud to provide contrast.
The last time she’d flown a plane was twenty-three years ago. Lila had wanted to take one last ride in the sky before he died. He’d begged Jessie to agree, and they’d hired a male nurse to ride along to keep Lila comfortable. The day was a lot like this one, and the flight was glorious.
After Lila’s death, Jessie couldn’t bring herself to get back in a cockpit. Between memories of the WASPs and Claudia, and memories of weekends spent flying with Lila, it was all too much for her. And now, here she was, eighty-eight years old and on her one last ride in the sky. She wondered if Natalie intentionally engineered the moment to give her this opportunity in the pilot’s chair. Did it really matter?
Watching the radar, the altimeter, the air speed, checking the navigational points. It brought back a lifetime of memories. Going up as a young girl for the very first time, her first solo flight, the freedom she experienced while in the air. It was the only place Jessie felt she could escape her father’s disapproving glare. It was her refuge and her one true home.
Then there was her time with the WASPs. Those magical months with Claudia. And afterward, flying was the only thing that kept Jessie sane. She lost that for a while when she moved to New York, but Lila helped her find her way back to the sky.
Perhaps it was poetic and just that her last flight should be with Claudia’s daughter. Jessie shook her head. Of all the things she envisioned happening in her life—this wouldn’t ever have made the list. Lila would have loved the delicious irony of it.
“Enjoying yourself?” Natalie sat back down.
“Well, I didn’t bring us down accidentally, so I’d say it was a good turn, wouldn’t you?”
“Careful, or I’ll make you land her.”
Jessie held up her hands. “And here I thought you’d want Chelsea to have a long, full life.”
Natalie looked at Jessie long enough to make her squirm. “I like you. I like you a lot. I can see why Mama was so in love with you.”
Jessie shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
“I’ve done it again—stuck my foot in my mouth. For what it’s worth, Mama never said it in so many words. It was in her face, in her eyes whenever she spoke of you, in the fact that she would never go to bed without writing to you first. It was obvious from the fact that a beautiful woman like her would never even consider going on a date, despite attracting numerous would-be suitors of both sexes…”
Jessie’s stomach twisted at the notion of other women pursuing her girl. She knew that was patently unfair, considering her own history, but jealousy wasn’t about logic, was it?
“And it might have been that picture of the two of you she kept by her bedside. I think she always believed I didn’t know about it. But I caught her kissing it once. The next day, when she wasn’t home, I went in her drawer and took out the photo. Her lipstick was on your lips. Even as naïve as I was, I understood what that meant.”
Jessie kept her eyes straight ahead. It wasn’t that she was embarrassed by her sexuality, it was that Claudia obviously had chosen not to address the issue. “What does your mother say?”
“Like I said, she never addressed it directly.”
“Then I think we ought to honor your mother’s sensibilities.”
“Fair enough. I’m sorry if I offended you, Jessie. That wasn’t my intent.”
“You didn’t.” Jessie unbuckled her harness. “I really am quite tired. I think I’ll take advantage of that nap offer, if you don’t mind.”
“Go right ahead, I’ll wake you before we land.”
Jessie headed for one of the berths in the aft galley. She was bone-tired and unused to being buffeted by so many emotions. For now, she wanted to shut down and dream of her reunion with her beloved Claudia.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The scenery flew by as Jessie watched out the passenger window of the car. She ran nervous fingers through her hair and wished that she had taken the time to look in a mirror before they’d left Bob Hope Airport in Burbank.
“You look great,” Chelsea offered from the back seat. “You’re going to blow Grandma Claudia away.”
Jessie dropped her hand into her lap. Was she really that obvious? “How far away is this place?”
“Not far,” Natalie said, as she moved into the left-hand turn lane. “We’ll be there in about five minutes.”
Jessie’s stomach did a somersault. The idea of being this close to her Claudia, after all these years, was so much to absorb. “Shouldn’t we call ahead?”
“Why?”
Jessie rubbed her moist palms on her pant legs. “T-to tell your mother she’s about to have company.”
“There are regular visiting hours. Mama knows that one or more of us will be there almost every day sometime during the afternoon. She’ll be expecting us.”
“But not me,” Jessie said, quietly.
Natalie glanced over at her before returning her eyes to the road. “Surely you’re not worried that Mama won’t want to see you.”
“It’s not that, it’s just…” What, exactly, was it? It was hard to put it into words. “What if she’s not up to seeing me?” That wasn’t really it, but it was something tangible she could say.
“There’s only one way to find out,” Natalie said, as she pulled into a parking space and cut the engine.
Omigod. Claudia’s inside this place. Just through those doors. Jessie wasn’t at all sure that her legs would hold her. She sat perfectly still and tried to get her breathing under control. Now that the moment was here… This is no time to get cold feet, Keaton. She fumbled with the door handle. She was mortified to see that her hands were shaking.
“Here, let me get that for you,” Chelsea said, jumping out of the back and opening Jessie’s door from the outside.
“Thank you,” Jessie muttered. “I’m not as infirm as I appear, I assure you.” Jessie felt the blush creep up her neck. Never had she felt more inept.
“I know.” Chelsea offered Jessie her arm to help her stand up. She smiled kindly as she handed Jessie her cane. “For what it’s worth, I think it’s adorable that you’re nervous about seeing Grandma Claudia.”
“I am not—”
“Whatever you say,” Chelsea said, winking.
Natalie, Chelsea, and Jessie made their way together through the front doors. “Mama is down this hallway and around the corner.”
Jessie nodded dumbly. She spied a little gift shop to her left. Flowers. She should bring her girl flowers. “Would you mind terribly if we made a small detour?” She indicated the shop with her cane.
“How cool! You want to bring her flowers.” Chelsea practically bounced out of her shoes. “That’s the sweetest thing.”
J
essie looked around. “It’s no big deal…”
“Uh-huh.” Chelsea’s grin reminded Jessie so much of Claudia.
“Anyway,” she mumbled, as she made her way into the shop. There were so many colors and so many kinds of flowers. Jessie looked at the different arrangements. There were too many from which to choose. Then she saw the single red rose with the baby’s breath in a crystal vase tucked away behind some daisies. If she stretched, she could probably reach it.
“You want that?” Chelsea asked her.
Jessie frowned. Just how closely was this kid watching her? “Yes, please.”
“Excellent choice.” Chelsea leaned around Jessie and snatched the vase off the shelf. “Grandma Claudia will love it.” She carried the vase to the checkout counter and waited while Jessie paid.
“All set?” Natalie asked, as she closed her cell phone. “I just checked in with Lisa. She was here this morning. She says Mama’s having a pretty good day.”
The three women walked in silence. When they reached the fourth door down in the next corridor, Natalie brought them to a halt. “Here we are.”
Jessie’s heart hammered in her chest. “W-why don’t you both go in first, so that Claudia isn’t caught totally off guard.”
“I told you—”
Jessie straightened up to her full height. “I know what you told me, but I’d really rather know that your mother is aware that I’m here and that she wants to see me, before I go waltzing in there.”
“Okay,” Natalie said.
“Here you go, Jessie.” Chelsea handed Jessie the vase as she entered Claudia’s room with Natalie.
Jessie took a deep breath and leaned against the wall just outside the room.
“Hi, Mama.” Natalie’s voice carried into the hallway.
“Hi, Grandma Claudia.”
“Two of my favorite women.” There was no mistaking it. Claudia’s voice was hoarse but strong and clearly recognizable. Jessie smiled. Her Claude.
“How are you feeling?”
“Like I could take your Gulfstream out and do loops.”
Jessie nearly laughed out loud. Yep, that was definitely her girl.