Eleven Days: An Unexpected Love (4 page)

Lana
took it.

*****

The back of the plane must have been the working area. There were many men in their William Fioravanti, Milan's Caraceni, and Polo Ralph Lauren suits. They held their laptops and their Android phones were buzzing.
O
bvious
ly the men
flew many times because their belongings were organized in their small, tight space. The last few minutes they were hurriedly talking
with
their wives and offices, planning supper and making deals. One of the men even talked about giving one hundred thousand dollars to the Heart Association, and considering what happened
with
James,
that
made
Lana
feel elated.
She
got out
her
small HP laptop, granted it's not as fancy as theirs, but it suited the purpose. After all
she
is in the business section and
she
needed to look busy.
She
even put
her
glasses on to look important.

Once the plane climbed
in the air
her
heart lightened. In just a few short hours
she
would
be strolling along the beach and walking through
her
little quaint beach house.
She
might even sit for awhile and watch the
Gurnet
lighthouse
that
sits across the cove.

Tennessee's weather
was
warm and
she
looked forward to the cool fall weather, and a blazing fire to keep
her
warm at night.
She
wished
she
could remember if the fireplace
was
wood burning or gas. Deep down
she
'd hoped it
would
be
wood burning because
she
liked the crackling of the fire. Either way, it's a fresh start for
her
to apportion
her
feelings. Ye
s, an absolute yes, getting away had been
the best thing
she
could have ever done.

*****

She
noticed Peter near the front of the plane. Even though he's a nice guy,
she
truly hoped he didn't come to the back. Since
her
flight
would
last three hours,
she
wanted to catch a couple of hours of sleep.
She
pulled out
her
Ipod and decided to listen to soft rock, the Carpenters. Actually it's the cool down music
she
listened to when
she
finished
with
her
workout.
The softness of the music
helped
put
her
to sleep, and
she
needed
that
desperately.

Just as
she
started to doze,
she
felt a
tap on
her
shoulder. It
was
Peter.
She
pulled out an earplug.

"Hi
Lana
I'm on my way to the bathroom and I saw you sitting here, and I didn't want to be rude, so hi."

"Hi Peter."

"Do you mind if I sit for awhile?" he asked almost sitting down
with
out an invitation.

"Pe
ter, if you don't mind I really want
to sit alone right now." There were a lot of things on
her
mind, and
she
just needed to be alone right then. "But thanks for the chitchat earlier."

She
could tell
her
reaction didn't make him
happy, and he reluctantly nodded, then he walked off
angry
.
She
guessed he already went to the bathroom.

*****

The line
was
long
at Enterprise rental car. The attendant
nearly
pull
ed
her
hair out when
she
surveyed
the long
line.
Lana
happened to be the tenth person back, and
that
aggravated
her
.
Children were anxious and running around and their parents were trying to corral them.
She
knew exactly why the kids were
frustrated and tired. At the counter an
upset
couple yelled at the attendant because the
car they made reservations for
had been
rented out
to someone else
. The attendant offered another car, an upgrade free of charge, but they
would
n't hear of it.

Tired of waiting in l
ine,
Lana
thought about
relaxing on the back porch and listening to the waves and wind. Some people think going on vacation to a sunny place
would
be more cheerful, but not for
her
. Fall being
her
favorite season,
she
knew the north
would
be the best destination.
Today
happen to be
a drab dreary day, just the way
she
liked it.
She
didn't even mind some rain, as long as it didn't rain the
entire vacation
.

Knowing
she
would
be in line for a
while
she
guessed
she
should call Mike Ramsey, the beach house owner, and let him know
she
would
be running late. T
his
part
she
dreaded the most, because every time
she
called him he acted like
she
annoyed him. He picked up the phone on the third ring.

"Hello," he answered in
his
husky deep voice.

"Hi Mike, t
his
is
Lana
and I wanted to let you know the plane
was
late because of bad weather, and there is a long line at the car rental. How do you want to handle t
his
? How do you want me to pick up the keys?"
She
scrunched
her
face dreading the answer. He never said anything
to reassure
her
.

Of course
his
answer
was
quick and to the point, and
that
's what
she
expected. "I'll meet you at the house. What time do you think you will get there?"

Lana
tried to balance everything in
her
hands while trying to look at time on
her
cell phone. "About two maybe three hours, do you want to hide the key for me?"

"No I'll just meet you at the house."

"T
hanks for
meeting me, I really do appreciate it,
"
she
replied
with
all sincerity.

"You're welcome, and I'll see you then." Then he hung up, abruptly. Well, at least he said you're welcome, and
that
's a good start.

*****

When
she
finally got
her
li
ttle gas saver, Ford Focus,
she
headed on
her
journey
.
She
noticed the overcast sky had darkened, b
ut at least
she
was
on
her
way to Plymouth.
She
noticed, unlike the south, all the
colorless
leaves had fallen
and the trees were baron.

The leaves re
minded
her
as a kid and how they
rake
d
the leaves in a pile, and jump in them.
She
tried
her
hardiest to get James to do all the raking so
she
could do the jumping, but he
would
n't hear of it. They
spent
hours raking and then jumping. It seemed no matter how many scratches they got from the roughness of the dry leaves and twigs, they jumped over and over
in the pile
. When they were about ten, they piled the leaves almost as tall as the house, and
then go out on the roof and jump
.
It was a miracle they didn't break their
necks.

*****

Thank the stars for GPS or
Lana
would
n't have ever found the beach house. It
was
a beautiful drive. The sunset glowed leaving remnants of orange and purple lingering in the sky. The ocean
roared
to
her
left and
she
cracked the window so
she
could smell the salt in the air.

As
she
turned into the cul-de-sac
she
could see fire coming from the chimney. It
was
a wood burning fireplace,
she
smiled. As
she
drove closer to the house
she
couldn't believe what an amazing
view.
Talk about a Thomas Kincaid setting. The house sat at the end of a cul-de-sac and behind the house
was
vastness of the Atlantic Ocean. The anvil clouds allowed the deep setting sun to peek through just a little bit. And the flickers of orange bounced off the waves as they capped. The orange made the ocean look like a dream.

L
ights illuminated
through the windows
at t
his
quaint little beach house
causing a faint glow
. The hint of fog in the air made the glowing look like Heaven, or at least how
she
imagined Heaven. Just the sweet look of the house made
her
feel propitious.

Next
to the house which fits perfect sat
an old white 1982 Dodge pickup.
She
knew it
was
Mike's truck and although
she
never met Mike.
She
knew he looked like a ship's captain, a gruff looking man who
was
short
,
chubby
and grumpy
.
She
imaged he had a
l
ong white beard
with
a pipe. He had a short
temperament
with
a get to the
point
personality.
She
also knew he
'd
be
annoyed
with
her
for being so late.
And now
that
she
sees
his
truck
,
she
thinks
her
initial description of him
would
be right.

As
she
got out of the car
she
sensed the cool salt air hit
her
face and it felt good, it stung, but felt good. For the first time in weeks
she
felt peace in
her
heart. But
that
peace turned to nervousness when the front door opened and Mike walked out
to the front porch
.
She
knew he
would
fuss at
her
. But instead
she
heard
his
warm words say in
his
incredible deep voice.