You're Gone (Finding Solid Ground) (15 page)

A horrible wave of nausea swept over Charleigh as she lay in bed, quietly watching the sun creep up over the horizon. One moment, she felt as if everything in the world was going her way. A satisfied grin played on her lips as golden rays trickled through the windows and cast faint patterns on the wall across the room. The next, Charleigh was on all fours in front of the porcelain throne in her bathroom, emptying the entire contents of her stomach. Her body convulsing with every heave.

Finally, Charleigh leaned her forehead against the cool porcelain of the toilet and closed her eyes. A cold perspiration coated her entire body. Teardrops rolled down her cheeks as she tried to focus on taking slow, deep breaths. Her throat stung.

When the heavy, gray haze that permeated her brain started to fade and her stomach began to settle, Charleigh stood up and made her way, swaying and staggering, to the sink. In the mirror, she could see her face was pale and her eyes bloodshot. She turned on the tap, holding her cupped hands under the stream of water. Charleigh brought a handful up to her mouth, swished the cool liquid around. She splashed some on her face and neck. It took several mouthfuls before the acidic taste began to subside.

But the queasiness disappeared just as quickly as it had hit her. Instead of staying there and worrying about what could have caused it, Charleigh stripped off her pajamas and hopped in the shower. There were still a lot of little loose ends that could cause
everything
to unravel if they weren’t taken care of quickly, and there wasn’t enough time to ponder something that could be chalked up to nerves.

***

Together, Charleigh and Madie sat at the kitchen table, going over the day’s agenda, as Lenore cooked breakfast.

So far, everything was going as planned.
Thank you, God!
The party planning company, where they rented the tables and chairs, had delivered the right ones the previous evening. They also rented a tent— which they made sure was waterproof
this time
on the unfortunate chance that it rained, though the weatherman forecasted perfect skies.

The olive-green and lavender table linens were waiting in the dining room to be pressed. And the matching seat cushions— all two hundred and fifty of them— were also waiting there to be checked over for any snags or tears. Crates of china and stemware and silverware needed to be accounted for, and checked for cracks.

The florists wanted to wait until the day of the wedding to deliver the garland, trellis and centerpieces, which Charleigh and Madie agreed would be fine. The last thing they wanted or needed were wilted flowers.

Madie made a note to call the caterers. The menu was firmed
up, but it never hurt to double-check.

The photographers would take both still shots and a video of both the ceremony and the reception. They’d take photos with the wedding party and both the bride and groom’s families immediately after the guests moved to the reception area for cocktails, where a cameraman would be to make a well-wishes video
. Although Charleigh wasn’t sure why they needed one, Madie thought it would be a nice sentiment when they looked back on the day. And the photographer assured it was the latest thing.
Anything to make a buck
, Charliegh supposed.

Charleigh
’s dress was finally finished, and she didn’t mind saying that she looked fantastic in it. Liz was pretty proud of her bride’s maid dress as well. Olivia took extra care and many painstaking hours to hand stitch dozens of tiny colored butterflies on the hem of Lauren’s flower girl dress.
Flower girl. Lauren needs flower petals.
Charleigh made a note to call the floral shop.

Jenna and Olivia were in the living room making al
terations to the dress she brought with her from New York. Lenore thought it looked too…
revealing
to be a maid of honor gown.

The tuxedos were expected to be at the bridal boutique on Thursday morning. Much to John
’s displeasure, every male member of the wedding party and both families would be wearing one.

Brian and Rob would be ushers at the ceremony. Both boys joked that they were planning to ask the guests if they were friends of the groom or
‘the old ball and chain.’ Charleigh found it mildly amusing, snickering under her breath, while Madie and Lenore thought the comment was completely inappropriate. They scolded the boys for even considering it. Any other time Madie might have found it just as amusing as Charleigh did, but she was taking the wedding plans more serious than she’d probably taken anything else in her life, Charleigh assumed.

Jamie would be back on Thursday night with Kevin and Greg, and Amelia and Gerald, and unfortunately
Claudia
. Charleigh
just couldn’t wait
to see the crazy antics that evil woman had come up with.  Thank God she was going to be staying with Madie and Lenore at the ranch, instead of at the house with Charleigh and Jamie. Kevin and Jenna where going to stay there with them, though, until Friday night when the guys would go out to the ranch. Mellisande and Grant were due to arrive on Wednesday, and they’d be staying with Charleigh.

And the rehearsal dinner was going to be on Friday night.
Yippee.

Everything is going just as planned, so far
. Charleigh just hoped it would stay that way.

She looked up from her legal pad, where every page was filled with with some little note, over to the oven where Lenore was pulling out a freshly baked b
atch of banana-nut muffins. Bagels popped up out of the toaster. Sausage patties and eggs were in skillets on the stove.

Her brain was saying
‘Yum.’ However, her stomach was screaming for her to get to the nearest bathroom.

When she stepped out of the downstairs bathroom, she could hear the sound of the television in the living room.  Wiping a water droplet away from the corner of her mouth, she slowly made her way back toward the kitchen.

It was the second time she’d tossed her cookies that morning, but Charleigh didn’t given it another thought. There was no room for nerves or illnesses because there was still so much to do. There was no…

Stepping into the kitchen, she looked around. Everything was just as she had left it. Her legal pad was still on the island next to a half-empty glass of orange juice. The same aroma of food that had made her sick before still permeated the room. Her empty stomach growled from hunger.

But something was off. The banana-nut muffins were setting on the countertop next to the oven, which was still opened wide. The bagels were still sticking up out of the toaster. The sausage and eggs were burning in the skillets on the stove. Just
where
were Madie and Lenore?

Puzzled, she wasn
’t sure what to think. Charleigh was pretty certain the Rapture hadn’t occurred and everybody had forgotten to mention it to her.

Following her instincts, she walked over to shut the oven door, and turned it off. She turned the burners off on the stove, taking the burning food and tossed it in the trash.

Just as she leaned back against the cabinet, biting her bottom lip, Charleigh heard Olivia cry out in distress. It sounded as if her voice was coming from the living room. Most likely, something had happened to Jenna’s dress. Probably nothing they couldn’t fix.
But just to make sure.

Slowly, she made her way back up the hallway toward the large room. Charleigh took her time, step by step, trying to listen for some sign of what was happening. No, no nagging from what she could tell. The only thing she could hear was the sound of what Charleigh could only guess was the early morning news on television. She looked down at her watch.
8:25
Maybe it was a talk show. Much like her brother’s obsession for cheesy drama, Jenna had a thing for
The Jerry Springer Show.

Approaching the entryway, Charleigh could see Olivia sitting on the sofa with her head in her hands. A horrible wailing sound, which Charleigh judged came from the old lady, rose up over the television. Madie and Lenore were side by side in front of the screen. All of their backs were to her. The two women blocked her view of whatever they were watching. She couldn’t see their faces, couldn‘t gage their expressions.

Moving closer, she saw Jenna, a piece of the dress she was wearing dangled loosely from her shoulder. The young girl’s face was pale, her eyes large, as she stared along with the others.

Still Charleigh had no idea what was wrong. She spoke up, but her question was unanswered.

“What’s going on?” she asked again, stepping around Jenna to get a glimpse of what they were watching.

There she saw it. From the roof of a building where the camera was shooting, a plane, it seemed, had crashed into a skyscraper. Smoke and flames billowed from the large, gaping hole. The news anchors spoke calmly about what was happening on the screen. A little too calmly, in Charleigh’s opinion
, for it to be real.

“What is this?” Charleigh asked for the third time, to no avail.

              The possibility that it could be real never entered Charleigh’s mind. To her way of thinking, it could only be one of those low-budget, made-for-TV movies about the Apocalypse that raised the question ‘What if?’ and struck fear in anyone who watched. She couldn’t understand, though, why they would succumb to such lies.

With a heaviness settling in her gut, she picked the remote control up from the coffee table and instantly began switching stations. Charleigh switched to every news channel she could think of. NBC. CBS. FOX. CNN. On every one of them, the same picture appeared. The only change was perhaps a different camera angle.

“
What
is this? What
is
this? What is
this
?” she cried over and over, slowly lowering herself to the couch beside Olivia. “
Where
is this?”

“It’s the Trade Center, Charleigh,” Madie finally spoke. Her voice was no louder than a whisper. It was filled with fear and anguish.

“Trade Center? The
World
Trade Center? The one in New York City?”

Only one relevant thought among all the muddle that entered Charleigh’s mind.
Jamie!

He and Daniel Crane were supposed to meet with the Thai executives at their offices in the
World Trade Center
at nine o’clock, Eastern Time. That was eight o’clock Central standard time.
Oh, God! Jamie!

Jumping back to her feet, she grabbed the handset from the telephone charger on the table behind the couch. Shaking, Charleigh struggled to dial. It took three more tries because she kept accidentally pressing too many of the same numbers. On the fourth, Charleigh successfully dialed Jamie’s cell phone number, only to be immediately met by his voicemail greeting.

“Jamie, please call me when you get this message. Please?” Charleigh begged. “I just saw the plane crash on television, and I want to make sure you’re okay?
Please
?”

“Oh, God!” Jenna exclaimed just as Charleigh turned the telephone off. “Is that another plane?”

She turned back toward the television just in time to see the second plane hit. Filled with horror, she let the phone fall to the floor.

“Jamie,” Charleigh wept. With every fiber of her being, she needed to talk to him. To hear his voice and know he was okay.

She fell to her hands and knees, desperately hunting for the handset that she’d lost. Tears welled in Charleigh‘s eyes, blinding her vision, and still she searched. Calling out for Jamie all the while.

“Charleigh. Charleigh.
Charleigh
!”

Lenore came over and crouched down beside the younger woman. She touched a hand to her shoulder, only to be ignored. She called Charleigh’s name several more times to no avail before having to shake her. Finally, Charleigh looked up, lost in despair.

“What’s wrong? Why do you keep calling out for Jamie?” She pulled Charleigh up to her feet.

“He’s there. He’s there,” she repeated over and over. Still her face remained dry.

“There. In New York, you mean?”

“Oh, God!” Jenna cried, realizing why Charleigh was so distraught. “He’s in there. In the building. Jamie was supposed to be there for a meeting this morning. And so is Daddy.”

“Please. Please, help me find the telephone,” Charleigh begged. “I have to talk to him.”

“Okay. Okay, we’ll find it.” Madie came to help pacify her. Her voice was calm and composed, but the agony was written all over the old woman’s face.

“He has to be okay, Madie.
He has to be!
He has…” Out of the corner of her eye, the first tower collapsed.
Please, God, no!

A cloud filled the air. The shape of it reminded Charleigh of a tornado, or of a nuclear explosion, as tons of steel and glass crumbled. The sound that escaped through the surround sound speakers was earsplitting. Almost like thunder, but it was the sound of a hundred thunder claps combined, and so much more disturbing. It caused Charleigh’s heart to skip a beat, shaking her to the core.