“That’s a little dramatic,” I corrected him, as I carefully pulled into an angled parking spot a block down from the NGS. “Weweren’t even close to being killed.” Mostly. “And I don’t want you to throw a fit at Annie.”
“Emmy already told her that she would make the police take her driver’s license,” Charlie said, as he got out of the car.
Luke raised an eyebrow. “I told her I would report her to the Secretary of State if she didn’t start using corrective lenses,” I explained. “And now she’s wearing them. See? Problem solved.”
Luke and I got out, and he looked around. “Is there a reason you parked so far away?”
I flushed. “Cars are always pulling in and out in front of the store. There’s much less chance of getting dinged here down the street.”
Charlie was already running ahead of us. “Look both ways to cross!” I hollered at him. Luke took my hand.
“First of all, I don’t ‘throw fits’ at people,” he said. “And I won’t bring this up with Annie, for now, because she’s really going through a hard time.” I looked at him questioningly. “My dad called me over so urgently the other day because Annie told him that she had filed for a divorce from Milos. She told me last week.”
“Oh my goodness,” I breathed. “I thought she didn’t want to get a divorce.”
Luke sighed. “She didn’t, but his behavior has gotten more and more egregious. And…he has a drinking problem. I think Annie has finally admitted to herself that she can’t fix him. Or fix their marriage.”
“Oh, no. I’m so sorry for her.”
Charlie came bolting back out of the NGS. “It’s ok with Martha, Luke! Carl is going to come too.”
“What’s ok with Martha? What’s going on?”
Luke rubbed my hand against his cheek. “Charlie and I talked while you were getting dressed, and we thought it would be fun to go up in the Cessna again. Maybe go somewhere today while you work. He wanted Frankie to go too, so I called Martha and asked if both he and Carl would want to come.”
“You decided this without me? To go fly again?”
He looked at me. “Is that all right? I thought it would be fun for Charlie.”
I felt my anxiety rise and squeeze my chest. “Luke, it’s such a small plane.”
He looked offended. “I’m a good pilot, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“No, that’s not it.” I rubbed my chest where it was hurting.
“Hey!” He took me by the shoulders. “If it’s making you that worried, we don’t have to go.”
Charlie came bolting out of the NGS again, followed by Frankie. “Carl is on his way! Frankie and I are so excited!”
I shook my head. “No, it will be fun for you guys. I trust you.” I rubbed my chest.
“I hope you do,” he said, looking into my eyes.
I was trying.
∞
I was on edge the whole day. When a customer dropped a cereal box and it slapped on the linoleum, I jumped about a foot in the air and screamed. A little scream.
“Why are you so concerned, honey? Should I be, too?” Martha asked, starting to twitch.
“No,” I said quickly, “not at all. Luke is a great pilot and very careful. I’m sure everything is fine.” I furtively checked the aviation incident website on my phone again to see if there had been any plane crashes reported in northern Michigan.
On top of all my airplane-related worries, I continually replayed the scene at the breakfast table in my mind: “Is it because you love her?” Choke. Thump. Spit the French toast. The band across my chest tightened.
By the time they came back to the NGS that afternoon, I was a wreck of nerves. I grabbed Charlie and hugged him to me, then took Luke with my other arm and hugged him too.
“Did you have fun? What did you do?” I asked, sounding very cool and collected. Nicely done.
