just don’t know.” The worry in his voice scared Peter even more.
“Where’s Adam? Is he there?” Peter stepped onto the crowded plane. Impatient passengers watched. He and Roger were guided to seats near the front.
“Yeah, he’s right here. How long ‘til you land? Dammit, Peter. You should be here.”
“I know. I’m on my way. A couple hours to Denver and a couple more to L.A. Hopefuly by midnight.” He checked his watch and dreaded the idea of being stuck on a plane for the rest of the night helpless to do anything. He needed to be there. Now.
“Just get your ass home. You never should have left. She isn’t worth it.”
Peter ignored the barb. Garrett was scared and angry. So was he. “I’l be there soon. I’l cal when we land in Denver.” The door closed and the plane taxied the short distance to the runway.
“Garrett, don’t let him die. Keep him alive.” He spoke softly, not wanting to hang up. There was no reply for the longest time as the two brothers shared a frightened silence.
“Just hurry.” The tone of Garrett’s voice told Peter al he needed to know.
Peter closed the phone, and sniffed back his emotions. His throat tightened and eyes burned from fighting back tears.
Helplessness tore at him. Roger squeezed his arm in support. In private, Peter might have hugged the big man and cried like a baby.
Instead he put on a brave face as the flight attendants finished the safety talk and did their final check for takeoff.
“Libby!”
Dammit, he’d forgotten al about her. He opened the phone again, about to press dial, when the flight attendant stopped him.
“I’m sorry, you need to turn that off. We’re about to take off and it interferes with in-flight communications.”
“But it’l only take a second, it’s important.” He had to get a cal to Libby. He couldn’t leave her standing at the dance alone wondering where he was. They’d worked so hard to make this happen. She suffered so much the past year, he wanted to bring her happiness. Instead she’d be devastated.
“I’m sorry, it’s airline policy. No exceptions.” She said.
“Put it away, Pete. She’l understand.” Roger’s voice, a calm in the storm, helped ground him, but Peter didn’t like the advice.
He turned the phone off and slid it into his pocket. He slammed his head against the cushioned first class seat.
Chapter 14
Libby stared blankly out her bedroom window toward Parfrey’s Glen and listened again to her messages. Peter’s voice sounded strained and worried. He was so sorry. It tore at her heart.
The emotion in his voice brought back the old memories and pain.
During the hours after her family’s car crash she felt the same way as piercing dread overwhelmed her. She experienced a general numbness and the taste of fear.
She crawled onto her bed, not bothering to take off the homecoming dress. She curled on her side and clasped the phone against her heart. She cried for Peter, his family and al the fear she understood too clearly. She cried for his father’s suffering as he fought for his life. And she cried for herself.
She let the floodgates open and mourned the loss of her mom and her sister. She cried because she would never get ready for a party with them. Her mom would never meet Peter and never see her graduate high school. She cried because of what her life had once been and would never be again. She released tears of frustration at being dumped at her aunt’s, lonely, loveless house.
She missed her dad so much, but felt angry that he abandoned her.
She cried for her lack of friends and freedom. She put on a brave front for so long, but now the façade crumbled. Finaly, she cried for her and Peter, both robbed of a normal childhood, for very different reasons. Tonight was to be their time, their turn, just a simple evening together.
Never in her life had she felt so alone.
# # #
The days folowing Peter’s dad’s heart attack flew by. In an attempt to force his dad to rest, his Mom rented a house on Venice Beach. The heart specialists took great care of his father in the hospital and assured the family that his dad was out of danger. Life fel back into a normal pattern of concerts, interviews and regular cals to Libby. Peter stil felt awful about standing her up at Homecoming, but she told him to stop apologizing, family should always come first.
If there was an upside to the