step, then another toward the door. Down the hall. Into the elevator.
If I’d been thinking, I would’ve known that going to Times Square, or however close I could get to it, wouldn’t change anything. I’d be no closer to knowing if Tracy and Annabelle were okay. I’d just be closer to the actual place they might have perished.
The elevator door opened to the lobby. I was looking down, before my head immediately shot up—all because of the most beautiful, wonderful, amazing word I’d ever heard spoken in my entire life.
“Da-da!”
It was Annabelle. She was in her stroller with Tracy behind her. Our little girl was smiling, her baby teeth looking like little white Tic Tacs. I was overcome.
“Anna-banana!”
I took one step out of the elevator and dropped to my knees so I could kiss her and kiss her some more. Then I popped up to hug Tracy. I mean, a real bear hug. God knows the scene I was making, not that anyone could see us around the corner in the elevator bank.
“Where were you two?” I asked. But all that really mattered was where they weren’t.
I was so relieved to see them alive that I hadn’t taken a good look at Tracy. As much as he was happy to see me, there was something not quite right. He seemed to be in a daze. As it turned out, he was still shaken up.
“We were supposed to be there,” he said. “We would’ve been right in Times Square at the moment those bombs went off.”
“What happened?” I asked.
Tracy shook his head. He still couldn’t believe it himself. “I forgot my wallet.”
He said it so softly I wasn’t sure I heard him right. “Your wallet?”
“We took an Uber and were almost at the Disney Store when I realized I’d left it in the apartment.” He peeked over the hood of the stroller to glance at Annabelle digging into her little baggie of Cheerios. “And you just know you can’t escape a Disney Store without buying something. So I told the driver to turn around. A few minutes later, probably right when we would’ve been walking into the store, we heard the explosions. I’m still in shock.”
He looked it, all right. “You went to the Needle, didn’t you?”
That’s where Tracy always goes to clear his head—the obelisk in Central Park, otherwise known as Cleopatra’s Needle. By staring up at the city’s oldest outdoor monument, originally built in ancient Egypt, he’s able to remind himself that whatever’s bothering him, this is just a blip in time. Or, as a Persian Sufi poet once wrote, this too shall pass.
“Yeah, only this is the first time the Needle didn’t really do the trick,” said Tracy. “I’m still numb.”
“I don’t blame you.”
“I tried calling you,” he said.
“Me, too,” I said.
“All cell service was—”
“Shut down, I know. It still is.”
“I used that old pay phone at that Greek diner on 83rd and tried to reach you on campus. Someone in the psych department said you left as soon as you heard the news.”
“You’d told me that you and Annabelle were—”
“Going to the Disney Store,” he said. “I know.”
We both smiled. We used to make fun of couples who finished each other’s sentences. Now we were one of them. Again, I hugged him.
“What a day,” said Tracy. “What a horrible, scary day.”
“Tell me about it,” came a nearby voice.
We all knew who it was even before we turned to look. Even Annabelle knew. It was her favorite “aunt” in the world, although Annabelle was still working on her name. Actually, in that moment it sounded absolutely perfect.
“Liz-bet!”
CHAPTER 9
IT WAS the middle of the afternoon, but this was no time for coffee or tea. We never even entertained the thought of beers. Instead, we went straight to whiskey once we all got up to the apartment. Johnnie Black, heavy pours. Elizabeth, Tracy, and me.
As for Annabelle, it was sugar-free apple juice in her favorite sippy cup. Straight up.
“Guys, are you sure it’s okay?” asked Elizabeth as we settled in around the kitchen table. “My staying here?”
Gingerly didn’t even begin to describe how slowly she was moving. She was bandaged to the hilt on her arms and legs. They were cut up pretty badly, and she had some seriously bruised ribs. In fact, all of her was bruised.
“We’re more than sure it’s okay,” said Tracy. “Stay here as long as you like.”
To think, it wasn’t too long ago that Tracy questioned my feelings for Elizabeth. Now they’re BFFs.
“It should be