96 Hours (11 page)

“I don’t think it’s a regular occurrence for any of us. But for her especially. In fact, I don’t think an evening of people is a regular occurrence for her.” He took a sip of his coffee and dipped his head appreciatively. Hot, black, and strong, just the way he liked it.

“You got that impression, too?”

“Oh, yeah. She seemed to loosen up, though.”

“I thought she was fun.”

“She was. And I think she actually strung more than two sentences together at one time.”

“I think she’s just shy,” Abby said, a hint of defensiveness in her voice.

“Or an uptight bitch.” At Abby’s gasp, he grinned. “I’m kidding. Well, not about the uptight part. I don’t know her well enough to know if she’s a bitch.”

“You’re terrible.”

“She’s hot, though. What an ass on her.” Brian sucked air in through his teeth.

“You have no idea.”

“You tap that?”

“What? No! But . . .” She let her voice trail off, a mischievous glint in her eye.

Brian glanced at the closed basement door and lowered his voice, took a step toward Abby. “What? You saw something, didn’t you? Tell me!”

“I can’t. It’s disrespectful.”

Brian scoffed. “Oh, please. You were being far from respectful with the questions you were asking last night. No, you don’t get to fall back on respect.” At her look of hesitation, he decided to resort to begging. “Please, Abby. I’m divorced. I’m only in my thirties. Do you think celibacy does it for a guy like me? Come on, throw me a bone. Pun intended. Give me some material.”

Abby hesitated. But one look at Brian’s face, at the hangdog expression and she thought,
That’s what she gets for stripping in front of me like that.
She relayed the whole story to Brian.

“God.” Brian dropped into a chair as if his legs gave out. “My god.”

“Guys are so easy,” Abby said with a good-natured eye-roll.

“And you really didn’t hit that?”

She cocked her head. “And that, my friend, is the difference between men and women. Call me crazy, but sleeping with an intoxicated, half-unconscious woman is not my idea of a good time.”

Brian narrowed his eyes. “Tell me you didn’t think about it.”

“Bri.” Abby leveled a gaze at him. “She was trashed.”

His shoulders slumped and he blew out a breath. “Man, I hate my ex-wife. This divorce has turned me into a sex-crazed pig.”

“Eh.” Abby waved him off dismissively. “You’re a guy. You didn’t have that far to go.”

He laughed. “Hey, did you see Tim or Corinne this morning?”

“Yup. Tim headed off to work and dropped Corinne at the Lions Club, so they could leave us these.” She dangled a set of keys in front of him.

His eyes widened in disbelief. “Are those car keys?”

“That they are.”

“They left us a car?”

“That they did.”

“What is wrong with them?”

Abby shrugged. “They’re Canadian.”

They puttered for a few hours, letting Erica ease into the day and waiting for Michael to return from his run and then shower. By noon, Erica had swallowed (and kept down) a slice of dry toast and two cups of coffee, and all four of them were ready for a change of scenery, so they decided to go for a ride. Abby was elected to drive. Michael took shotgun while Brian and Erica piled into the back seat.

It was another unseasonably warm day (or so the car radio reported) and Gander was beautiful. Lush and green, lusher than the flat, rural area where Erica had grown up, greener than the urban brick and mortar Abby knew.

The town wasn’t big, so finding the main routes took only a little bit of driving, and Tim had left a map to make it that much easier. People were milling everywhere, up and down streets, hanging out in front of buildings, wandering aimlessly like zombies in a bad sci-fi movie. They were trying to pass the time as they hung in limbo, waiting for the moment they’d be told they could board their planes again, that they could resume their lives.

“Hey, look at that,” Michael said, pointing to their left. Outside a building marked Newtel Communications, long tables were set up under outdoor tents. Some held telephones, others held computers. Hand-lettered signs boasted no-charge phone calls and internet access. “All free. Amazing.”

“Corinne said the pharmacy is filling prescriptions for free, too,” Abby said.

Brian’s voice was low, in awe. “These people are really something.”

“What’s this highlighted part?” Michael asked, pointing at bright yellow on the map.

“Turn it around,” Abby said, making a spinning motion with a finger. “See the gander head?”

“Well, I’ll be damned.”

She was right. Three streets: Elizabeth, Edinburgh, and Memorial, all curved and met in such a way as to form a crude outline of the head of a goose.

“That’s where the town got its name. Tim told me.”

“Huh. Clever.”

“I was thinking maybe we could go to Cobb’s Pond.” She glanced at the map and pointed in the general vicinity. “Tim said there’s a boardwalk and it’s such a nice day. You all up for a stroll?”

Fifteen minutes later, Abby and Erica were waving goodbye to the men in the car, who promised they’d be back in two hours or less.

“Is walking along a boardwalk a girly thing or something?” Abby asked, a little stung that the guys didn’t hang around.

“Yeah, it kind of is,” Erica replied, amused by Abby’s pout.

“Too bad for them,” Abby declared with a shrug. “Look at this place. It’s gorgeous.”

She was right about that. A large archway announced Cobb’s Pond Rotary Park and beyond it, beautiful blue water and the deep, thick green of fir, birch, aspen, and spruce trees. Other people milled about, dining at various picnic tables or launching canoes for a relaxing glide around the pond, but overall the atmosphere was quiet and peaceful. Erica sucked in a big lungful of air and let it out slowly.

“Feeling better?” Abby asked, noting that the blue of Erica’s eyes had brightened since earlier that morning.

“Much.” She turned to look at Abby. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” Abby pointed. “Hey, that looks like the boardwalk. Tim said it goes all the way around, between three and four kilometers.” She laughed. “And I have no idea how far that is.”

“A little over two miles.”

“Figures you’d know that. You up for it?”

With a quick dip of her head, Erica headed for the boardwalk, Abby jogged to catch up.

They spent nearly fifteen minutes walking in silence, simply enjoying their surroundings. Birds were plentiful, as were squirrels, both feeding from the various feeders and houses scattered throughout the trees. Observation decks were spaced every so often for stopping and looking out over the pond, and breathing in the beauty of it all—the water, the birdsong, the clean air. Erica could feel her body relaxing, finally; the first time she’d been able to let go in several days. Her shoulders seemed to soften, the rock hardness of that area finally melting away. Her lungs felt clear, like every last molecule of airplane air was finally, only now, gone from her system. Muscles that had felt taut as stretched rubber bands gradually relaxed, the rigidity easing, and her pale skin soaked in the rays of the sun. She turned her face toward the sky, eyes closed, content.

No wonder the people of Gander were so wonderful, she thought. How could you not be happy here?

It was the most foreign feeling she’d had in ages. And it was so amazing it nearly brought tears to her eyes.

Abby was in tune with people, a characteristic on which she prided herself, and she watched the change come over Erica with interest. She saw it happening, saw her relax, saw the worry lines on her face smooth out, saw the almost-smile that turned up the corners of her mouth. It was quite a sight. She wanted to ask if Erica was all right, but didn’t want to send her skittering back into her shell. Instead, they walked a bit farther in silence. When it felt right, Abby spoke.

“It’s beautiful here.”

“It really is.”

“Where I grew up in Connecticut, it’s very green and there are lots of trees like this, but I was never close to a lake or anything. Were you?”

“No. It’s pretty flat and dry where I grew up.”

“What about where you live now? In Raleigh, you said?”

Erica pursed her lovely lips, thinking. “It’s gorgeous there. Very green, lots of trees and lakes and trails for walking or biking.” The pursed lips changed into a slight frown. “I don’t get to enjoy it as much as I’d like.”

“Work?” When Erica nodded, she asked, “What do you do?”

“I’m a research scientist at a pharmaceutical company and I manage a team of other scientists.”

“Cool.” Abby was impressed.

“It can be.”

“But?”

“But my seven-hundred-dollar bicycle has become a clothes rack in my apartment,” Erica replied.

“I see. Too much work and not enough play make Erica a dull girl.”

“You don’t know the half of it.”

“So why were you in the U.K.?”

“I was meeting with a division of our company, trying to pitch a new drug, which turned out to be a disaster.” She blew out a breath and watched a hawk soar high above the trees. “Enough about me. What about you?”

“What about me?”

“What do you do?”

“I’m sort of between jobs right now.”

Erica squinted at her. “Between jobs?”

“Yeah. I was a business major and I had a job in a small, up-and-coming company near home, but . . .” Her voice trailed off as she glanced over the water to their left.

“But?”

“I hated it.”

“What did you hate about it?”

Abby sighed, floundered around for the right words. “I just felt used up at the end of the day, you know? I was working ten-, sometimes twelve-hour days. I was exhausted. I never saw my family—and I was still living in my mother’s house. I was making good money but I didn’t have time to spend any of it. After a year-and-a-half, I decided I just couldn’t do it any more. I quit.”

“Wow.” Quitting was something Erica had never done, not in her entire life. It was something she frowned upon, something her father frowned upon even more. Abby’s reasons made sense, but still. Erica had a tough time seeing herself doing the same thing. “You just decided one day you’d had enough and you just left?”

“Exactly. I believe in happiness, you know? I believe we all have the right to live our lives as happy people. If we all did that, the world would be a better place, that’s for sure.”

“You’re probably right about that,” Erica agreed, trying hard to imagine what it would be like to just up and quit her job, just walk out one day. “Did you have something else lined up before you left?”

“Nope.”

“No?”

Abby shook her head, amused by Erica’s shock.

“So, you just left. With nothing to head to? No plan?”

“Didn’t need one.”

“Wow,” Erica said again, wondering how incredibly irresponsible she’d have to be to do such a thing, especially living with her parents. Her father would kill her. “What did your parents say?”

“They got it, you know? They totally understood and supported me. They’re awesome.”

“They didn’t push you to find another job?”

“Nah. I mean, I’m sure they wanted me to. Want me to. But, they know I will. When it’s right.”

When it’s right?
Erica had no idea what to say. The delicious relaxation of a few minutes ago was draining away like water through her fingers. Her brain kept tossing her images of her father’s reddened and angry face as he tried to wrap his brain around the fact that his daughter was a quitter with no plan for her future. He wanted her to be happy, sure; he wasn’t an ogre. But he also expected her to work hard, even when she didn’t want to, just as he had. It was the way he was raised, the way he and her mother had raised her. Work hard, pull your weight, be responsible. Abby’s choices just didn’t compute.

Abby was still talking, looking dreamily at the sky. “I don’t want to spend my entire life doing something I hate. And I want to give back, you know?”

“Give back?”

“Yeah, like volunteer. Help the less fortunate. Plant trees. Take care of the animals.” She scoffed. “Too bad that stuff doesn’t pay better, huh?”

“Right.” Erica had never volunteered for anything in her life; she was too busy working. She’d had a steady job since she’d turned fifteen and started working at her father’s feed store (so she didn’t have to get her wardrobe from Walmart). From then on, she’d always,
always
pulled her own weight, never expected anybody to carry her. She’d not be able to bear it if she still lived at home. The shame of burdening her parents would be too much for her. She’d die of humiliation. She snuck a glance at Abby, who was smiling widely, obviously satisfied by her decisions in life. Erica was uncertain whether she admired the woman, envied her, or was disgusted by her. “So, what do you do while you’re between jobs? Why were you in England?”

“I’ve been traveling like crazy. I love it. I’ve been trying to see as much of the world as possible.”

“And how do you pay for all this traveling?” It was a rude question, but it popped out of Erica’s mouth before she could stop it. Besides, she really wanted to know.