Once in a Blue Moon (54 page)

Jennie followed a
businessman down the ramp. He muttered about the delay in a big
computer deal. Behind her an older woman cried because she would
miss her sister’s 50th anniversary party.

Jennie was too tired to
either cry or mutter. Place one foot in front of the other. That’s
all.

Jostled by the crowd as
she entered the airport, she followed the businessman, who seemed
the type of person who could get things accomplished.

He strode toward a
counter with a long line of people waiting--as there were in front
of every counter she could see down the length of the
concourse.

As a blue-uniformed
woman walked past, Jennie snagged her arm. The business man turned
today Jennie.

“When can I get a
flight out of here?” Jennie asked.

“I’m sorry, but this
storm has closed down the entire airport. There will be no flights
leaving for at least a few hours.” The woman looked as tired as
Jennie felt, and she’d obviously forced the smile on her face. “And
there is no guarantee when they’ll start up again.”

Hours? Stuck in
Abilene?

“You’re kidding,” the
businessman echoed Jennie’s thoughts, only with more decibels. “I
can’t sit around here. I’ll take my business elsewhere.”

The woman shrugged. “I
wish I could help you. You can talk with the other airlines if
you’d prefer, but they can’t take off, either.”

If Jennie couldn’t fly
out of town, she’d drive. She’d been in this airport before, and
she knew where to find the rental car booth. Leaving the man behind
her, she crossed the length of the airport, now muttering.

She passed a huge line
of people before her foggy brain registered the fact that they were
all waiting for a rental car. Disheartened, she started back toward
the end of the line, but hadn’t reached it before a woman called
out, “I’m sorry, folks. We just rented our last car.”

No rental cars,
either?

Jennie sighed. She
needed sleep. She’d been up for one hundred hours a week for the
last month, during her emergency room training, and she could
barely think straight. She probably wasn’t safe behind the wheel,
anyway. Hopefully the airport shuttle was still working but, even
if it wasn’t, surely she could catch a cab. She’d let someone drive
her to a hotel somewhere, get some sleep, and find a way out of
town when she was rested enough to think of one.

Jennie passed a bank of
telephones. Before she began this running around, she’d better call
her mother and let her know she wouldn’t be home for at least a day
or two, even longer if she had to drive back to Idaho.

Turning to go back and
collect her suitcase from the carousel, she bumped into someone.
“Sorry,” she said automatically.

Startled, Jennie looked
down into the eyes of the old woman who’d sold her and Bryce the
painting the year before.

Charity Beaumont.

“My word, Jennie Ryan,
is that you?” Charity’s familiar face crinkled into an excited
smile. “The storm did bring you into Abilene after all? Well, this
is the day. You must come and stay with me, my dear. I insist. I
have to hear all about whatever destiny brought you here
today.”

Jennie shook her head and couldn’t respond. The older woman
was delusional. There was a much simpler explanation.
Not
destiny.
Not
fate. Not anything
but a horrible, ironic accident that proved God does have a sense
of humor.

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