horrible reality. And Cassie’s feeling that she might somehow have caused the accident still persisted.
She felt a slight bump as the plane touched down. She tightened her grip on the armrests as the engines reversed, fighting the ground winds, and the plane slowed to a stop. A few minutes later it was parked at the gate and the jetway was swinging slowly around to link up with the door. Beyond that door, waiting for her, was the man who had abandoned her when she was only a baby, and eventually even stopped visiting her.
Why couldn’t she have stayed in Los Angeles? At least there she would have had her friends around her.
As the other passengers streamed up the aisle past her, Cassie stayed in her seat putting off as long as she could the moment when she would have to get off the plane and face her father.
What if he didn’t even recognize her? Would she have to go up to him and say, “I’m Cassie?” No, that wouldn’t happen. There wouldn’t be anyone else left on the plane, so he would
have
to know who she was. Finally, when the last person had disappeared from the aisle in front of her, she released the seat belt, pulled her coat down from the overhead compartment, and picked up her tote bag. She passed the stewardess at the door, saying nothing when the woman wished her a nice day, then moved slowly down the jetway. A few seconds later she stepped into the terminal and looked around.
The last of the passengers was drifting away, and a few people sat in chairs, baggage at their feet, waiting for the next leg of the flight.
But no one at all was waiting for her.
Her first instinct was to turn around and hurry back intothe airplane, but she knew she couldn’t do that. Suddenly she felt embarrassed, as if everyone in the airport were watching her. What should she do?
Maybe she had misunderstood, and her father was going to meet her at the baggage area. But no, she distinctly remembered his telling her that he would meet her at the gate and she needed only to pack enough for a few days. Everything else would be shipped, and what she didn’t have room to pack in a bag small enough to carry on, they could buy. She wasn’t to worry about checking luggage. That, in fact, was the other reason she had chosen her mother’s tote bag. It was big enough to carry a lot of things, but had a shoulder strap.
She looked around once more. He had to be there. He
had
to! He couldn’t make her fly all the way across the country and then just not show up. Or could he?
She remembered how her mother used to talk about her father: “I could never trust him. Every time I turned around, he was gone, and I could never be sure he’d ever come home again. And then one day he didn’t. There wasn’t any warning, any sign that anything was wrong. He just didn’t come home one day, and the next thing I knew, he was divorcing me! And he did the same thing to you, Cassie! Just stopped coming to see you, and stopped writing to you! Just like that. In a way, it’s lucky for you you’re finding out what kind of man he is now, before he can hurt you any more.”
But he wouldn’t do that, Cassie told herself. I just talked to him last night. He promised he’d be here.
But he wasn’t.
A few yards away a bank of telephones lined one wall of the terminal area. Cassie started toward it, fishing at the bottom of the tote bag for some loose change. She would call him and find out what had gone wrong.
When she’d let the phone ring twenty times, she hung up. She slumped down on the floor, staring up at the phone, her eyes flooding with tears. What if the same thing had happened to him that had happened to her mother? What if he was on his way to Boston, and there had been another accident?
What if he was dead?
Then, as if from a great distance, she heard her namebeing called. She looked up, and there he was, hurrying toward her.
“Cassie? Cass!”
She stood up and started to take a step toward him, but then he was there, his
She felt a slight bump as the plane touched down. She tightened her grip on the armrests as the engines reversed, fighting the ground winds, and the plane slowed to a stop. A few minutes later it was parked at the gate and the jetway was swinging slowly around to link up with the door. Beyond that door, waiting for her, was the man who had abandoned her when she was only a baby, and eventually even stopped visiting her.
Why couldn’t she have stayed in Los Angeles? At least there she would have had her friends around her.
As the other passengers streamed up the aisle past her, Cassie stayed in her seat putting off as long as she could the moment when she would have to get off the plane and face her father.
What if he didn’t even recognize her? Would she have to go up to him and say, “I’m Cassie?” No, that wouldn’t happen. There wouldn’t be anyone else left on the plane, so he would
have
to know who she was. Finally, when the last person had disappeared from the aisle in front of her, she released the seat belt, pulled her coat down from the overhead compartment, and picked up her tote bag. She passed the stewardess at the door, saying nothing when the woman wished her a nice day, then moved slowly down the jetway. A few seconds later she stepped into the terminal and looked around.
The last of the passengers was drifting away, and a few people sat in chairs, baggage at their feet, waiting for the next leg of the flight.
But no one at all was waiting for her.
Her first instinct was to turn around and hurry back intothe airplane, but she knew she couldn’t do that. Suddenly she felt embarrassed, as if everyone in the airport were watching her. What should she do?
Maybe she had misunderstood, and her father was going to meet her at the baggage area. But no, she distinctly remembered his telling her that he would meet her at the gate and she needed only to pack enough for a few days. Everything else would be shipped, and what she didn’t have room to pack in a bag small enough to carry on, they could buy. She wasn’t to worry about checking luggage. That, in fact, was the other reason she had chosen her mother’s tote bag. It was big enough to carry a lot of things, but had a shoulder strap.
She looked around once more. He had to be there. He
had
to! He couldn’t make her fly all the way across the country and then just not show up. Or could he?
She remembered how her mother used to talk about her father: “I could never trust him. Every time I turned around, he was gone, and I could never be sure he’d ever come home again. And then one day he didn’t. There wasn’t any warning, any sign that anything was wrong. He just didn’t come home one day, and the next thing I knew, he was divorcing me! And he did the same thing to you, Cassie! Just stopped coming to see you, and stopped writing to you! Just like that. In a way, it’s lucky for you you’re finding out what kind of man he is now, before he can hurt you any more.”
But he wouldn’t do that, Cassie told herself. I just talked to him last night. He promised he’d be here.
But he wasn’t.
A few yards away a bank of telephones lined one wall of the terminal area. Cassie started toward it, fishing at the bottom of the tote bag for some loose change. She would call him and find out what had gone wrong.
When she’d let the phone ring twenty times, she hung up. She slumped down on the floor, staring up at the phone, her eyes flooding with tears. What if the same thing had happened to him that had happened to her mother? What if he was on his way to Boston, and there had been another accident?
What if he was dead?
Then, as if from a great distance, she heard her namebeing called. She looked up, and there he was, hurrying toward her.
“Cassie? Cass!”
She stood up and started to take a step toward him, but then he was there, his
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