Running Northwest (30 page)

A short time later Thomas and Tracie were alone on the couch wrapped up in each other’s arms and talking, Dean Martin lightly playing on the stereo. Tracie was in front of Thomas with his large arms around her, she was gently rubbing his forearm with her fingertips. The lights were off and the fireplace was filling the living room with its flickering light and warmth. Thomas was doing the thing where he played with Tracie’s fingers, rubbing them very lightly and she loved it. In one slow and graceful movement, she turned around, faced Thomas, and looked at him. A moment later, the two of them were kissing deeply their hands moving over each other’s bodies smoothly and with purpose.

“Do you want to spend the night” he asked as he rubbed his finger tips on her face and looking into her eyes a
s he took a brief break from
kissing
her
.

“Did you really have to ask
,
” she replied
.

“I didn’t want to assume
,
” Thomas said
.

“You can assume a lot of things Thomas and most of the time you’re pretty close to being right, Lets go to bed.” She said smiling as she kissed him one more time and then stood up.

They had talked about her staying over before and this was the first time they had decided to do it. Thomas wanted her there more than he could say and she wanted to be there in bed with him also. They had not made love yet because they were not ready for that step, at least Thomas was not, and Tracie understood. They were also both uncomfortable doing so with Daniel in the house. However, they agreed that sleeping together occasionally was something they both wanted and were okay with doing.

When they got into the bedroom, Thomas went and took a shower while Tracie changed into a t-shirt to wear to bed. Thomas was tired, and kept the shower short. He also did not want to keep Tracie waiting too long. Thomas walked out of bathroom wearing just a pair of shorts, he found Tracie standing in front of the open slider and looking out at the ocean in front of her. The breeze was gently blowing through her black hair and Thomas could not help but think how sexy she looked as she stood there in his t-shirt. He walked up behind her, wrapped his bare arms around her and then kissed her neck gently and shut the slider door. She turned around to kiss him as he gently lifted her up off the ground. She wrapped her legs around him and he carried her to bed and gently setting her down kissing her the entire time.

A few minutes later the two of them were lying in Thomas’s bed, his blankets over them and the light from the moon shining in. As Thomas was lying on his back with Tracie’s head resting on his bare chest, he ran his fingers slowly through her soft hair. She was lightly playing with his chest hair and it was something he loved, the way she touched him was like lightning going through his body. She turned her head up slightly and they kissed slowly one more time as they slowly fell asleep in each other’s arms. Before falling asleep, he realized it had been a long time since he had felt this happy and in his head wondered what Tracie was thinking.

As Stephanie Davis went through the security line at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, she looked back and could still see her friend Karen standing at the entry sign watching her. Karen had driven Stephanie to the airport as promised even though it was 6:30 in the morning. The two friends had a light breakfast b
efore her plane took off and dra
nk a lot of coffee. They talked more about Stephanie’s trip to Oregon and all the details, chatting about what she was going to do there and how often she would call Karen and keep her informed. Stephanie agreed to call Karen at least three times a day and check in, although it was more of an order from Karen than a request. After Stephanie made her way through the security line, she turned and waved goodbye to Karen before heading up the ramp and out of site.

Karen who generally did whatever she wanted suddenly yelled “Love you girl, watch your ass” and waved her hands like a crazy woman to the dismay of the security personal who were not impressed.

“Love you too, be good while I’m gone” Stephanie yelled back smiling and waving equally as hard as Karen did.

Then she turned, went around a slight corner and headed down to the loading gate to get to her plane which was about to start boarding.

That was a few hours before, and now Stephanie with the exception of three other people sat alone in first class on another plane after a boring 2 hour layover in Chicago. When she had checked in at her planes gate after having a drink at a bar and doing some research on online, she found out the plane was only half full. In addition, seeing that Stephanie was traveling alone the female gate attendant asked her if she would be interested in a free first class upgrade. Stephanie had never in her whole life flown first class and jumped at the offer not having any idea what to expect. The plane had taken off about 45 minutes before and was now high in the sky and heading west towards Portland, Oregon. It was a new and strange place that she had only heard about and never seen in person. And it was not until she sat on the Delta airlines plane as it was taxing down the runway getting ready to depart Chicago that she got nervous and started question her own decision making process. The very friendly flight attendant had offered Stephanie a drink prior to take off, she ordered a cranberry and vodka, which helped her nervousness.

As she sipped her drink and enjoyed her very wide and comfortable first class seat, she watched the land below go by and the scenery change constantly. Sitting there, she remembered the first time she had been in an airplane and how nervous she was. It was when Thomas had taken her to Florida to visit his mother Grace for the first time all those years ago. Thomas had been very sweet and kept assuring her everything was going to be fine despite her fears the plane would crash and they would die. She also remembered the flight back and how paranoid and quiet she was for “other” reasons. Stephanie could not help but think that if she had not been so dumb and scared when she was younger that there would have been more flights with Thomas than just that one.

Silently, Stephanie caught herself hoping there possibly could be more flights with him and that it was not too late. A tear ran down her face as she rested her head on the pillow the flight attendant had giving to her. She crossed her legs and eventually fell asleep to the gentle hum and vibration of the planes massive engines.

With Daniel being out of school for the summer, Thomas was spending less time during the day in his coffee shop. Although he still popped in for an hour or so most days and worked the occasional shift, he more or less trusted his employees to do their jobs. Tracie’s cousin Alexis had been working out very well and had proven that Thomas and Tracie could rely on her to show up for work and be responsible. It was something they had worried about for a time. Thomas’s other employee Matt Linstrom, came back from his families’ farm in British Colombia and seemed more or less at peace with his father’s death. Thomas had hired Jackson from The Whaleback to work thre
e shifts a week on thirds when M
att was off from work since another employee moved out of state. The summer tourism season on the Oregon Coast was in full force now and the shop constantly had people either inside or sitting on
the deck out front on
the picnic tables.

It was Wednesday, May 12, Thomas and Daniel had stopped in to the shop to say hello to Tracie while she was working. When they walked in just after noon, the place was busy and there was long line with nine or ten people in it.
Tracie upon seeing Thomas smiled and gave her boyfrien
d and boss an
I need help
look
.
It was a rare thing to be this busy at one time even in the summer but Thomas was not going to complain about it. After giving his girlfriend a quick kiss on the lips and sending Daniel back to the office to play on the laptop for a bit, Th
omas jump behind the counter to
give Tracie a hand. An older female customer made a comment about it “being nice to see a husband and wife working together” which made Tracie blush uncontrollably and causing Thomas to laugh a bit.

Most people were buying at least three or four drinks at once, many for people that were outside or waiting in the car. There were few hot drinks ordered, most people choosing something colder like iced mochas, iced lattes, and smoothies’ things of that nature. It was pushing 80 degrees outside and the breeze was very light so that might have had something to do with the type of drinks ordered. Th
e shops stereo started playing F
rank Sinatra’s “Fly me to the moon” and Thomas, being a huge Frank Sinatra fan started singing along loudly as he made drinks and being very cheesy as he did it. The customers were amused and entertained and Tracie could not help but laugh at her boyfriend

A half an hour and over $200.00 in sales later Thomas and Tracie got through the large line. As they cleaned their mess up they talked about their days and mildly flirted. Thomas was always messy when he made his drinks, using his own method of pouring flavors into them and how he put the drinks together. He did not believe in carefully measuring espresso shots and syrup flavors for the drinks and did not like his employees to do it either. To Thomas, measuring was the work of an inexperienced untalented barista who had control freaks for bosses. Bosses that were more worried about their bottom line than making drinks customers actually thought tasted good. He had been in the coffee shop business off and on for many years; and had a reputa
tion as one of the best barista
s on
the
coast. His coffee shop was popular for its quirkiness, amazing drinks and for having talented, knowledgeable and fun baristas.

As a successful owner of a multiple coffee shops over the years, Thomas knew that people generally cared more about how their coffee and mixed drinks tasted and the price they paid for them. He knew the average customer could care less about where the coffee bean came from, how it was roasted and if it had a pretty design on top. To Thomas that kind of thing was just a sideshow and was something only “coffee snobs” paid attention to. One thing Thomas also knew was that “coffee snobs” were full of crap most of the time. However, being in the Pacific Northwest and the coffee shop capital of the world it was something Thomas had grown used to having to tolerate occasionally. As Thomas and Tracie were finishing up Daniel came out of the office and sat on the counter.

“So Dad what’s the plan for the day” the boy asked.

“I don’t know, Bud. I didn’t have too much planned. It’s kind of a boring Wednesday I guess. What are you in the mood for
?
” Thomas asked.

“Well I sort of have plans, at least if it’s okay with you” the boy said shyly.

Thomas laughed a little as Tracie bit her lip trying not to do the same. Thomas eyeballed his son a little bit as the boy returned the stare.

“You’re only 7, dude. What do mean you have plans? Almost 8 years olds can’t have plans,” Thomas said as he glanced over at Tracie.

“Sure I can have plans Dad, and don’t call me dude. You’re too old to call someone dude, it sounds odd” the boy said.

“I was around when that word first started being used you know, and I can’t believe you just called me odd” Thomas said.

“Wow Dad you remember when words were made…you are old” Daniel said with a grin as he looked at Tracie who could not help from laughing now.

“Ha, ha, Very funny smart aleck. So what are your plans, or maybe plans?” Thomas asked.

“Well you know my friend Stevie from school?” the boy asked.

“Stevie Hogarth
?
” Thomas asked.

“Yep him, well he just texted me. Anyway Stevie, his mom and his little brother are going over to Oceanside to hang out for the rest of the day on the beach and stuff. He was wondering if I could go with them. Please Dad can I go” Daniel asked.

Thomas had wondered when this was going to start happening; his son wanting to go and hang out with friends. However, he knew at some point that it was going to happen, as the boy got older.

He thought about it for a minute before answering and then said, “Yeah I think that would be okay. I want to talk to his mother first though and I want you back here by 8 pm. Where and when are they going to pick you up?” Thomas asked.

“W
ell I told him I was here with you and his mom said she could pick me up and drop me off here if that’s okay with you” Daniel said.

“Okay sounds good to me, when is this all gunna happen bud
?
” Thomas asked his son who was texting as he was talking.

“They will be here in about 20 minutes or so” Daniel said smiling.

“Do you need money?” Thomas asked as he pulled out his wallet.