Flight to Paradise (Flight Trilogy, Book 1) (3 page)

* * *

Ryan heard the door to her house close. He sat alone, his mind grasping for answers while the sounds of the summer night engulfed him: cicadas and tree crickets. Her words rang in his mind:
I
need
to
date
other
people
. It didn’t make sense. Yesterday, everything was fine as they dreamed about their future together—now this.

He started the car, backed out of the driveway, and drove away. The neighborhood streets were quiet. The night’s events replayed in his mind much like a television network might broadcast a shocking clip of a disaster on the evening news.

The
note
!

He pulled the car to the curb, snapped on the overhead light, and pulled the folded note from his pocket.

June
23
,
1974

Dear
Ryan
,

I
believe
if
we
are
meant
to
be
,
nothing
can
keep
us
apart
.
As
long
as
I
live
,
I
will
patiently
wait
on
each
sunrise
and
follow
each
sunset
into
tomorrow
,
for
I
believe
it
is
the
path
of
the
sun
that
will
lead
us
to
our
hopes
and
dreams
.
Promise
me
that
you
will
never
lose
hope
in
tomorrow
.

I
love
you
,

Keri

CHAPTER 4

The
next
morning
—
Sunday

Ryan’s senses stirred to life with the smell of bacon frying. With each waking moment came the ugly realization of last night. Keri dumped him. Her stupid idea of wanting to date other people made no sense at all. Only yesterday, she said she could never be with anyone else.

“Breakfast is ready!” his mother called out, her voice easily heard through the thin walls of the small two-bedroom house.

“Coming,” he said, as though he were talking to someone in the same room.

He flung the covers back, willed his muscular six-two frame to its feet, and headed for the bathroom. Half-naked, standing sleepily over the toilet, he relieved himself, flushed, and stepped to the sink. The blemished mirror reflected a confused and abandoned face.

Why'd
she
do
it
?

Exclusive for the last two years, everyone viewed them as the perfect couple; hardly ever referring to one without the other.

“Ryan! I don’t want your breakfast to get cold.”

“Coming!”

He pulled-on a pair of faded jeans and headed down the hall to the kitchen.

His mother kissed him on the cheek. “Good morning, Sweetie.” She placed a plate on the small wooden table—scrambled eggs, cheese grits, and three slices of bacon.

“Morning,” he growled.

The squeak of the oven door produced the smell of homemade biscuits. A jar of his favorite Mayhaw jelly waited in the center of the table.

“You sleep well?”

“I guess.”

“Sounds like you need one of your momma’s hot biscuits and some Mayhaw jelly,” she said, placing a plate of steaming biscuits on the table. “That ought to fix you right up.” She poured a cup of coffee, took a seat, and watched him spread butter and jelly on a biscuit while she fiddled with a tiny cross hanging from a thin silver chain around her neck.

“So, how did your date go last night? I’ll bet it was hard for you to say good-bye to my sweet little Keri.”

“She dumped me.”

“What do you mean, ‘dumped you’?”

“Some crap about wanting me to be free and her needing to see if she loves me. If you ask me, it sounds like some of her mother’s brainwashing. That woman has the evil eyes for me.”

“Now, that doesn’t sound like
my
Keri.”

“Ever since Dad died, and we left Buckhead, Mrs. Hart has treated me like ghetto trash.”

“Don’t you worry about Barbara Ann. She’s even given
me
the cold shoulder a time or two. I don’t let her bother me. When it comes to people like that…all you can do is love ‘em. I know for certain Keri loves you more than her own skin. Not only does she tell me, she practically glows when she’s around you.”

“Yeah? Well, it looks like her mom controls that light switch now. It’s just hard to understand how her mother can have such a strong hold on her.”

She took a sip of coffee. “Give her some time. If it’s meant to be, it’ll work out. You’ll see. Not even Barbara Ann can stop it.” She handed him a napkin from the stack in the plastic holder on the table.

Ryan took the napkin and crunched it in his hand before closing the biscuit on his plate. “So, I’m supposed to believe, if she goes off and meets somebody else, it was meant to be?” He carefully lifted the jelly-packed biscuit to his mouth with both hands, making sure not to let a drop of the Mayhaw jelly escape.

“You know you
could
give up your appointment to the Naval Academy and go to school with Keri.”

“Impossible! Without a scholarship, I can’t afford college, and I’m definitely not going to be strapped with a bunch of student loans after I graduate.”

After a moment of silence, she said, “I can help.”

He shook his head. “What are you talking about? You barely make enough to pay the bills.”

“I’ve got a little saved up.”

“Forget it…not gonna happen.”

“Just trying to show you that you always have a choice.”

“Well, that’s not one of them.”

She held the cross between her fingers, sliding it back and forth. “Ryan, you’re going to have to trust God with this one. If it’s what He wants for you and Keri, it’ll work out. Have a little faith.”

Managing a mouth full of biscuit, he said, “Yeah…maybe I’ll have more faith after her mother’s dead.”

“I’ll bet once Keri gets out from under her mother and all settled into her new life at college, you two will be back on go.”

“Maybe, but four years is a long time. Need I remind you, Keri is a beautiful girl and about to be dropped into the middle of a public university with thousands of hormone-charged dogs thinking of only
one
thing…you do the math. Oh, I almost forgot; her parents are gazillionaires. I’m sure her mother won’t have any trouble finding her an
acceptable
mate—someone Barbara Ann can use for breeding
acceptable
grandchildren.”

She fingered the cross again. “I’ll tell you what you need to do.”

“What?”

“I think you should just let her go.”

“Do I have a choice?”

“That way you’ll both know if you are truly meant to be together.”

“Now you’re starting to sound like Keri.” It reminded him of Keri's painful words:
Ryan
,
the
only
way
I
can
know
if
we
are
truly
meant
to
be
together
is
to
let
you
go
. He looked at his mother. “So, just like that…I’m supposed to forget about her and see where she lands?”

“I believe when two souls are meant to be together, nothing can keep them separated. Eventually they will find each other. And to be perfectly honest, I believe you and Keri are meant for each other.”

He chuckled. “Glad somebody has it figured out, because from where I’m sitting things don’t look so good. And what did you mean by ‘Eventually’? Is that before or after she’s been married and divorced? I guess I’m supposed to think my Polaroid taped to her dorm-room mirror is going to be enough to keep her hanging on—especially with her mother working overtime to find her a breeding partner. I’m no fool.”

She got up and cleared the dishes from the table. Ryan turned his glass up, finishing the last of his orange juice.

After rinsing the dishes off in the sink, she dried her hands. “Let’s go in the den.”

She took her favorite spot in the worn chair where she spent hours most evenings, reading or creating one of her cross-stitch tapestries. Ryan sat on the sofa.

“Ryan, you’re young, and I know you love Keri, but the time is not right.” She reached beside the chair for a small brown paper bag full of embroidery, fished out her needle, and began working the thread with practiced fingers.

“So, let me get this straight. You’re saying I should just forget about her and move on?” Ryan scooted to the end of the sofa and laid back, propping a pillow under his head. They still had almost a half-hour before they needed to get ready for church.

“Not completely. Keri was your first love. Nothing will ever compare to a first love. In time, you will know if she’s the one.” Head down, her lips moved without sound. After counting her stitching, her fingers went back to work on the canvas.

“How much time?”

“For now, I suggest you focus on your school work. Keri is not going anywhere. She and I are close. I’ll be sure she keeps up with everything you’re doing. You will see each other when you come home on breaks.”

She adjusted the angle of the canvas while she talked. “To be honest, I’m more worried about you than I am Keri. You’re the kind of man
many
women would love to get their hands on—smart, attractive, ambitious.”

“Says who? My
mother
. I don’t think that counts.”

She stopped stitching; her eyes peered over her half-glasses. “Do you know what I pray for the most?”

He waited silently, knowing she would answer her own question.

“I pray you will learn how to listen to your heart; something most men never learn to do. It has taken me a lifetime to learn that the deepest desires of the heart can only be satisfied when love is given; that’s what the heart was made to do.” She paused. “Also, as a man, you must learn the difference between love and lust and not go chasing the first pretty little girl that blows you a kiss.”

“Gross, mom.”

“Ryan, God made men differently than he did women.”

“Mom, where are you going with this?”

“A man is aroused—”

“Please, mom!” He put a pillow over his face.

“Let me finish. A man is aroused by his eyes. Most young men don’t understand women, they only respond to them. Women know how to trap innocent men, simply by their look. I’m sure you remember the story of David and Bathsheba? All it took was one look. Before you know it, he slept with her, got her pregnant, and had her husband murdered. It all started with one simple look.”

“Are we done, yet? I don’t like where this is going.”

“I just don’t want some cute little girl, who is only thinking of herself, to come along and sweep you off your feet, and later, for you to wake up and realize you’ve made the biggest mistake of your life.” Her eyes lowered back to the canvas, putting the needle in motion.” That’s my greatest fear for you.”

“What makes you think I’d be so stupid?”

“You’re a man, aren’t you?”

“No woman, I don’t care how hot she is, will ever sucker me into her trap.”

“I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Did you forget? In a matter of days I’ll be locked up with a bunch of men for the next four years? I don’t think I’ll be doing a lot of serious dating at the Academy. I’ll be lucky to even see a woman.” He sighed. “I’m tired of talking about this. I don’t need girls.”

“Okay, we have a few more minutes. So, what else is on your mind?”

He looked around the small den with its modest furnishings. Compared with their Buckhead house, it was a miserable hovel. “I know one thing for sure; when I’m on my own, I’m going to have nice things. I don’t care what it takes. I want to be rich, like Keri's dad.”

“Ryan, you know money and the things it buys—alone—will never make you happy. Trust me, I’ve seen both sides.”

“You trying to tell me you’re happy living in this dump?”

“When your father was alive, we had plenty of money. We lived in the best homes money could buy, but I couldn’t say I was happier then, than I am now.”

He opened his arms wide. “How can
this
make you happy?

“Ryan, what you give your love to has a way of becoming your most valued treasure. Always remember your momma told you this: money and the things it buys can't love you back. You’ll never be happy, and you’ll never have enough.”

He sat up on the sofa. “How can you say that?”

“It’s basic human nature. You’ll always be in
pursuit
of happiness instead of enjoying it.”

“So, I shouldn't try to make anything of my life…just give up and plan to live in a dump?
That’s
supposed to make me happy?”

Her voice calm, her stitching steady. “No. I think you know what I’m talking about. Of course you should use all your gifts and abilities to do the best you can in life. Always keep learning and pushing yourself to do better. You need to keep your dreams alive. What I'm saying is simple. You will find your treasure where your heart is. Know your heart, and you will be happy.”

“What can make me happier than money? I know for sure it’s not women.”

“Most people spend their lives wanting more because they think they have too little. In so doing, they end up overlooking what's most important in life.”

“And that is?”

“People. Your heart was made to love people, and once your heart is satisfied, everything else will work itself out. By the time most people figure it out—if they ever do—it's often too late.” She tugged on the edges of the canvas and turned it toward Ryan. “What do you think?”

Almost complete, it was a late-afternoon beach scene, the sun three-quarters below the horizon, and the silhouette of a bird in flight headed toward the setting sun. Two empty Adirondack chairs, side-by-side, faced the ocean. Three phrases were stitched into the fabric—one below the horizon: LEARN FROM THE PAST; one on the horizon, next to the sliver of orange sun: EMBRACE THE PRESENT; the third above the horizon against a canvas of purple-blue sky: HOPE IN THE FUTURE.