“Okay. I better go so we can get to the airport.”

“I love you, T.J.”

“I love you too, Dad.”

I dressed in the T-shirt and shorts we bought in the gift shop. Anna wore the blue dress. I fished the business card for the seaplane charter out of the pocket of my shorts and threw our filthy old clothes in the trash. We stuffed everything else into two plastic bags we found in the room.

After checking out, we took the hotel shuttle to the airport. Anna could barely sit still. I laughed and wrapped my arms around her.

“You’re wired.”

“I know. I’m excited and I drank a lot of coffee.”

The shuttle slowed to a stop at the airport entrance and Anna and I stood.

“You ready to get out of here?” I asked, taking her hand.

She smiled and said, “Absolutely.”

The flight crew – pilot, co-pilot, and one flight attendant – cheered and clapped when Anna and I ducked our heads and walked through the door of the plane. They shook our hands and we smiled and introduced ourselves.

I checked out the cabin. There were seven seats; five single seats separated by a narrow aisle and two attached seats. A narrow couch stretched along the wall. I couldn’t imagine what this must have cost my dad.

“What kind of plane is this?” I asked.

“It’s a Lear 55,” the pilot said. “It’s a mid-sized jet. We’ll have to stop several times to refuel but we should be in Chicago in about eighteen hours.”

Anna and I put our plastic bags in the overhead compartment and settled into the side-by-side leather reclining seats. A large floor-mounted table sat in front of us.

The flight attendant walked over to us as soon as we buckled our seat belts.

“Hi. My name is Susan. What would you like to drink? I have soft drinks, beer, wine, cocktails, bottled water, juice, and champagne.”

“Go ahead, Anna.”

“I’ll have water, champagne, and juice, please,” she said.

“Would you like me to make that a mimosa? I have fresh orange juice.”

Anna smiled at Susan. “I would love a mimosa. Thank you.”

“I’ll take water, beer, and a coke,” I said. “Thanks.”

“Certainly. I’ll be right back.”

We had zero tolerance for alcohol, and we got kind of hammered. Anna drank two mimosas and I had four beers. She couldn’t stop giggling, and I couldn’t stop kissing her; we were loud, too, and Susan did an awesome job pretending not to notice. She brought over a huge plate of cheese, crackers, and fruit, probably hoping it would sober us up. We inhaled it, but not before I insisted on trying to throw several grapes into Anna’s open mouth. I missed every time, which cracked us up.

When it got dark, Susan brought over blankets and pillows.

“Oh, good,” Anna said, hiccupping. “I’m a little sleepy.”

I spread the blankets over us and slipped my hands under Anna’s dress.

“Stop that,” she said, trying to deflect my hands. “Susan is right over there.”

“Susan won’t care,” I said, pulling the blanket over our heads so we could have some privacy. I was all talk, though, because five minutes later, I passed out.

I woke up with a headache. Anna was still asleep, her head resting on my shoulder. When she woke up, we took turns cleaning up and brushing our teeth in the bathroom. Susan set a plate of turkey and roast beef sandwiches on the table along with potato chips and Cokes. She also handed me two individually wrapped packages of Tylenol and two bottles of water.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” she said, patting me on the shoulder.

We tore open the Tylenol and swallowed the pills with a drink of water.

“What day is it, Anna?”

She thought about it for a minute before she answered. “December twenty-eighth?”

“I want to spend New Year’s Eve together,” I said. “I’ll be missing you a lot by then.”

Anna gave me a quick kiss. “It’s a date.”

We ate our sandwiches and chips and passed the rest of the time talking.

“I’ve thought about this day for so long, T.J. I can picture my mom and dad, Sarah, David, and the kids all standing together as I run toward them with my arms wide open.”

“I’ve thought about this day, too. I worried it might never come.”

“But it did,” Anna said, smiling at me.

The sky lightened, and I gazed out the window at the frozen Midwestern fields. When we descended for our landing in Chicago, Anna pointed and said, “Look T.J., snow.”

We touched down at O’Hare a little before 6:00 a.m. Anna unbuckled her seat belt and stood up before the plane came to a full stop.

We grabbed our plastic bags from the overhead compartment and hurried down the aisle to the front of the plane. The pilot and co-pilot came out.

“It’s been a pleasure bringing you home,” the pilot said. “Good luck to both of you.”

We turned to Susan.

“Thanks for everything,” Anna said.

“You’re welcome,” she said, giving us a hug.

Someone swung the door of the plane open.

“This is it, T.J,” Anna said. “Let’s go.”

OceanofPDF.com

Chapter 43 – Anna

T.J. and I ran through the jet bridge holding hands. When we came out on the other side, the crowd roared. The flash of hundreds of cameras blinded me, and I blinked, trying to focus. Reporters started yelling questions at us immediately. Sarah rushed forward in a blur and gathered me into her arms, crying.

Jane Callahan was nearly hysterical as she engulfed T.J. Tom Callahan and two girls – T.J.’s sisters I assumed – joined in the family hug. David stood beside Sarah, and he reached out to embrace me. I squeezed him tight and then pulled away, scanning the crowd for my parents.

John was standing there.

He hurried forward and I hugged him automatically. I stepped back, wanting him to get out of my way. Confused, my heart began to pound. My eyes darted over the rest of the people standing inside the roped off area, but I didn’t see my mom.

Or my dad.

I searched again, frantically, and then I understood why their phone had been disconnected. My knees buckled. Sarah and David caught me.

“Both of them?”

Sarah nodded, tears running down her face.

“No,” I screamed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Your call caught me off guard, and you sounded so happy. I just couldn’t do it, Anna.”

They led me to a chair. Before I could sit down all the way, T.J. appeared beside me.

He sat and pulled me into his arms, rocking me gently while I sobbed. I lifted my head off his chest.

“They’re both dead.”

“I know. My mom just told me.”

He kissed my forehead and wiped away my tears as the cameras captured it all. I didn’t know it then, but less than twenty-four hours later, the pictures of T.J. holding and kissing me would appear on the front pages of newspapers across the country.

I rested my head on his chest and closed my eyes. Sarah rubbed my back. Finally, I took a deep breath and sat up.

“I’m so sorry,” T.J. said, smoothing my hair back from my forehead.

I nodded. “I know.”

It was silent except for the clicking and flashing of the cameras. I turned to Sarah and said, “I want to go home.”

Sarah wrote down her cell phone number so I could give it to T.J. I handed it to him and he shoved it in the pocket of his shorts.

“I’ll call you in a little while.” He wrapped his arms around me and whispered in my ear. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” I whispered back.

We stood up as Tom and Jane Callahan walked toward us, T.J.’s sisters trailing behind. “I’m so sorry, Anna,” Jane said. “Sarah told us about your parents. I felt horrible knowing the news you were coming home to.” She hugged me and when she pulled away she held my hands for a minute. “We’ll call you in a few days. We have some things to discuss.” She smiled and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.