The Broken Lake (19 page)

Dawn unplugged her iPod and turned around. “Where’s the flight attendant? I want some muffins or something.”

I looked around in an attempt to help her spot one, but gave up quickly. I heard her suck her teeth as she put her ear buds back in.

“She might be waiting awhile,” Wes said.

“Why?

“Times are hard. The economy and decline of people’s trust in flight safety have airlines tightening their pockets. It’s sad.”

I was surprised to hear him talk about it as sad. I thought it was cheap, not really a big deal, but he had something to compare it to, and I didn’t.

“In the ’30s and ’40s, airlines were competing for passengers, like today, but it’s not the same. Back then, airlines took pride in being respectable. Today, they just want to be profitable. When passengers stepped onto a DC-3, they felt the pride of the airline, and the flight attendants took honor in making the passengers feel like they were on a vacation. Now, it’s all about implementing rules and procedures and giving the minimum to gain the maximum out of passengers’ dollars.”

He had given me something to consider. He was talking about planes, but I couldn’t help wondering what the world was coming to in general. Wes was sitting on the medical discovery of the century but no one could know about it because people would go nuts over it. I don’t think I was totally convinced before, but after my encounter with Andy, and the ruthlessness at the fight club, I was beginning to believe it.

Wes had seen so much greed and selfishness unfold over the decades, and the sad thing about it was I wasn’t sure how or if it could be fixed. But I couldn’t let go of the feeling that if anyone could change the way the world thought, it would be the person sitting next to me.

I heard Dawn snore, and by the tilt of Jackson’s head, I assumed he was out as well. I looked at my watch and it was only 8:00. In fact, most of the passengers were resting. A few people had laptops out and some others had books. I thought about reading, or even picking Wes’ brain some more, but I noticed he was gazing out the window again. He seemed lost in thoughts that I didn’t want to interrupt. I decided to rest my head on his shoulder and close my eyes. I thought about being somewhere on the ground, hoping my dreams would take me to that place.

I didn’t sleep well. There’s no way I can sleep peacefully while in motion. It’s the same with cars, but I must’ve been in and out, because Wes needed to tap my leg to let me know we were descending.

I lifted my head, hoping to see the ground. Instead, I saw clouds. “Why didn’t you wait until we were on the ground?”

“You don’t want to miss this. Look.” He pointed out of the window.

“No, that’s quite all right.”

“Look. It’s beautiful.”

I shook my head, still not interested.

“You’re missing Lake Michigan.”

Although it did pique my interest a little, I still wouldn’t look. He, on the other hand, was leaning into the window. “You don’t get to see a skyline like that every day.”

I remained staring straight ahead.

“And look at that. A carnival.”

“Where?” I asked, perking up.

“Right there.” He pointed.

“Wow.” I smiled a big cheesy grin, not realizing I was lying across him to get a peek.

There it was, a carnival located next to a pier. A huge Ferris wheel, and a giant swing that was spinning like a merry-go-round, captured my attention in an instant. It looked unbelievably fun
and
far down.

Realizing how high we still were, I tensed and sat back in my seat. “I’ve seen enough.”

Right about then, the pilot’s voice came over the intercom, letting us know we were preparing to land at our destination, Chicago Midway Airport. I clutched Wes’ arm until we touched down. Now it was okay to look outside.

Relieved and curious, I watched through the window as we taxied to our gate. I noticed right away the gray hue of the sky. It looked cold.

“Wes? Was Chicago the only layover option?”

He started zipping up his jacket. “No, I think there was Las Vegas too.”

“Then why did you choose the coldest one possible?”

“Sophie, we’re not leaving the airport. Relax.”

I made a face that should’ve accompanied a growl.

“You’re not going to be a big grump on this trip are you?” He smiled.

I nudged him. “I just might.”

“Lucky me.” He sighed.

“Yeah, lucky all of us,” Dawn interjected.

“Shut up, will ya?” I shot back.

She scowled.

“Ignore her,” Wes told Dawn. “She’s having a moment.”

I huffed, feeling like the odd man out. We were all holding back a smile.

“Fine. Let’s go, tough guy.”

We all walked off the plane and into the terminal. Wes was right, we didn’t leave the airport, but it still felt cold. He was fine, or at least he was acting that way. Dawn and Jackson went their own way to check out food choices. Our layover was only about an hour, so Wes and I stayed close to our next departure gate. There was a little eatery nearby, along with a bunch of yummy dessert stands, but I passed, not wanting to upset my stomach for the flight.

We boarded our next plane as soon as they let us.

Wes decided to challenge me to a game of rock-paper-scissors during the plane’s takeoff. It worked up until the wheels left the ground, and then I had to close my eyes and rest my head against the seat.

“You’re just mad because you were losing,” Wes said.

“Whatever.” I smiled.

Things went smoothly once we leveled off, but apprehension was building. Our next stop was Virginia.

“So tell me what Virginia is like.”

I looked at Wes, wondering if he was holding back some sort of mind reading skill. “Why?”

Taken aback by my tone, he answered, “I’ve never been. I thought you might want to tell me what I’m in for.”

“You’re in for cold.”

He smiled and licked his lips in a way that I was sure was meant to distract me. “Other than that. What else?”

I took a few deep breaths, trying to let go of the horrible feeling that we were the stupidest people on the planet right now. Once I pushed that out of mind and thought about what Virginia had to offer, I started to feel better.

“Their slogan is ‘Virginia is for lovers.’” I smiled.

He laughed out loud. “Okay, we’ll fit right in. What else?”

“It has four seasons, which I love. Just when you get tired of a certain temperature, the weather changes for a couple of months, and when you get tired of that, it changes again. It’s great.” I felt myself smiling with each reflection.

“It also borders Washington, DC,” I continued. “And where we’re going is convenient to just about everywhere. Virginia Beach is a few hours away and, of course, there’s the mountains.”

“It sounds like a great place.”

And it was. I couldn’t deny that.

Right about then, the plane dropped and my stomach jumped into my chest. Several passengers let out nervous squeals. I grabbed my armrests as my heart started pounding. Deep breaths and Wes beside me were not enough to make me feel calm.

With my eyes closed, I heard a professional voice on the loudspeaker. “Attention, passengers. We’re flying through a patch of turbulence, and as soon as we get through it, we’ll turn off the Fasten Seatbelts light.”

Before I could open my eyes, Wes was already buckling me in. He didn’t look concerned.

“What about you? Have you nothing to fear?”

Straightening out my shirt beneath my belt he replied casually, “Only of losing you.”

“Well, that might just happen,” I huffed.

“We’re not going to crash. It’s just a little turbulence. It’s fine.”

“Right,” I replied sarcastically. I closed my eyes and started counting, slowly. I reached seventy before the pilot came back on to tell us we were all clear.

“See,” Wes said. “These planes are built to withstand a lot.”

At that point, I was getting a little annoyed at his overly cool persona. “Have you never been scared on a plane? Ever? Seriously?”

Reaching over to unbuckle me, he said, “I never said that. I was scared once,” he admitted.

“Really?” I looked at him, trying to tell if he was pulling my leg. “When?”

“Actually, it was in the eighties. I was flying a Cessna 152 with a flight instructor. I already knew how to fly, but I still had to go through the motions and get my license as Weston II. Anyway, my flight instructor’s name was Dan. He knew right away that I could fly. He called it a natural ability that must’ve been in my blood.”

That made me laugh a little.

“He was quick to show me new things, just for kicks. We became pretty good friends. He said I was his favorite student, because I never showed fear. One day, we were in a practice area, doing maneuvers. It started when he asked me if I wanted to roll the plane, so I said, ‘Sure.’”

“How do you roll a plane?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to know, but I interrupted anyway.

He put his hands out like he was steering a car. “Well, you make sure the plane is coordinated and you pitch the nose up, and then turn the yoke. Then you hold it until you come full circle.”

I was staring at him and I don’t think I blinked once. “In English, please?”

He laughed. “Just take the yoke, the handlebars,” he clarified, “and pull up the nose by pulling the handlebars toward you, then turn the handlebars in the direction you want to rotate. It’s sort of like a rotating backflip.”

He was insane. “So what happened?”

“Nothing. We rolled the plane.”

“And that scared you?”

“No, after that we started doing steep turns.”

I raised my brows. He took the cue for an explanation.

“The point is to turn the airplane three hundred and sixty degrees with a forty-five degree bank, until you come back to your main heading, without gaining or losing fifty feet in altitude.

“On that day, Dan wanted to see how tight he could make the turn, so instead of gradually pulling the yoke, he pulled up on it.” Wes took his hands and positioned them like he was driving a car again, and then he yanked them into his chest really fast. “Like that,” he said. “And then we heard huge crackling sounds from the wings being stressed by the g-force.” He paused. “That scared me.”

“Why did he do that?” I asked, wondering what kind of loony person this Dan was.

“He just wanted to try new stuff, I guess.”

“What happened next?”

“Nothing. He just cursed and straightened it out.” Wes smiled. “Then he said not to tell anyone.”

“What’s so funny?”

“I’m just remembering the look on Dan’s face. We laughed when it was all said and done.”

I’m glad someone thought it was funny.

“But you see, we stressed the plane so hard that there were cracks in the paint on the wings, but the plane was fine. They’re extremely durable.”

“It scared you.”

“Only for a moment.”

I let the plane talk drop and started refocusing on our trip. We landed a short time later, and I could tell as soon as we touched down that it was cold. Cold enough for snow. The whole sky was the hazy gray color that snowy Virginia possesses in winter, a clear indication that it had either already snowed or was about to. And, considering I didn’t see a speck of white on the ground on our approach, I could only assume it was coming. I sincerely hoped Wes had turbo batteries for that jacket of his.

W
e had arranged for Kerry to meet us in the baggage pick up area. Wes put on his regular overcoat when exiting the plane, insisting he would be fine. We filed out and headed to get our luggage. The airport wasn’t very crowded, so it made it feel that much colder.

“I can’t wait to ski,” Dawn said. “This is so exciting. Where are the slopes?”

“The chalet and slopes are about four hours away.”

She looked at me, disappointed.

We arrived at the baggage claim just as our luggage was coming through the conveyer belt doors. Wes recognized mine and reached out to grab it. His bag was the largest and also one of the last ones to come around. Just as he was reaching for his, I heard Kerry.

“Wooo-hooo,” she called, with a higher pitch than her usual tone.

I smiled immediately, and turned to see her coming in our direction. She hadn’t changed a bit since last summer. Her hair was still dark blonde and cropped very short on the sides and back. Her bangs were longer and fit perfectly behind her ears. She was cute and she knew it, but her hair was not what raised her shoulders the extra inch. It was her perfectly curved hips and behind, which filled her jeans in all the right places.

What made being her friend so easy was that we were both laid-back. She didn’t care about being the center of attention, or being in anyone else’s business. She was confident, not the type of person who collected friends just to feel adequate, and I really liked that about her. She walked up to me with a big grin and gave me a brief hug.

I turned and grabbed Wes’ arm. “Wes, this is Kerry. Kerry this is Wes.”

“Hi, Wes,” she said, greeting him with a mischievous smile.

She reached out her hand for a shake, cocked her head to the side, and twitched it slightly, like she had a tickle on her neck. Everyone looked at her a little strangely, but I knew what she was doing. It was her secret signal when she wanted to say, “He’s fiiine.”

I tried to hold back a smile and took the attention off of her. “And this is Dawn and Jackson.”

Kerry snapped out of her itch and turned to face them. “It’s nice to meet you. I can’t wait to get going and have some fun.”

“I’m all about the fun,” Dawn piped up.

Jackson stood shyly behind her, and I was surprised at how timid he appeared. Dawn was not timid, so the match-up was odd. Their relationship was one where that opposites attract saying definitely applied.

Wes and Jackson grabbed the bags and walked behind us while I played a little catch up with Kerry and Dawn soaked it up.

“So where’s Rich?”

“He’s in the car, circling, until we come out.” We passed a coffee shop and she added, “I need a frickin’ latte.”