Oceans Apart (3 page)

By the time she and Max arrived at Ramey’s apartment, Kiahna’s strange feeling had set in. She didn’t want to waste time making idle talk with her old friend. Instead she stepped out of the car and met Max near the front bumper. “Have a great day, sport.” He squinted into the sun. “Do you have to go?”

“Yes.” She pecked him on the cheek. “We’ll play Scrabble tomorrow night, okay?”

“It’s too sunny for Scrabble.”

“Okay, then basketball? Give and go, all right?” Kiahna rested her hands on her knees and kept her face at his level.

“Really?” Max’s eyes held a hint of doubt. “Give and go?” She winked at him. “As long as it’s light out.” Max bit his lip. “Japan’s a long way from here.”

“Yes.” Kiahna angled her face. Why was he talking like this?

She’d flown since before he was born. “But not so bad when you go all the time.”

“Yeah.” He lifted one shoulder and let his gaze fall to the ground. “Sorry about this morning.”

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– Karen Kingsbury –

“For what?” She fell back on her heels.

“The husband stuff.” He lifted his eyes to hers. “I just get sad when you’re so far away all day.” A few seconds passed. “What if I break my arm? Who’ll help me?”

“Ramey, silly.”

“She’s my ’mergency contact.” He pushed the toe of his tennis shoe against her leather loafers. “But I mean the hug part and the singing part. Who’d do that?”

Kiahna hesitated only a moment. This was the part of being a single mom that always made her throat swell—the idea that she couldn’t be all things to Max, not while she had a full-time job.

“Well”—she framed his small face with her fingers—“
I
would.”

“You’d be somewhere over the ocean.” He wasn’t arguing with her, only making a point. Sharing a fear she hadn’t known he’d had until now.

“Even if we’re oceans apart I’ll always be right here.” She lowered one hand and let her fingers rest on the spot just above his heart. “You know that, right, sport? Remember our song?” A breath that was more sad than frustrated slipped from him. In a rush of arms and hands and fingers he threw himself into her embrace.

Her voice was a whisper, and she breathed it against his face as she stroked the back of his head. “Come on, sport, right?”

“Right.” The word was a defeated huff, but it would have to do.

“Taco Bell tomorrow?”

“Sure.”

“You can do better than that.” She straightened and made a silly face, hoping she could coax a smile from him before she left. She did an exaggerated pout and mimicked him. “
Sure . . .”
The hint of a grin broke Max’s expression, and before he could stop himself, a giggle followed. “Okay, fine. Taco Bell!” He burst out the word and laughed at his own humor. “Better?” 21

– Oceans Apart –

“Much.” She stooped down and kissed his cheek again. “Keep your chin up.” When her face was still at his level, she looked straight through to his soul. “I love you, Max. See you tomorrow.”

<

A faint whistling sound was coming from outside the airplane, and it snapped Kiahna from her memories. They were headed straight for the Pacific Ocean, the pilots unable to pull out of the dive. They had half a minute at best, and Kiahna was using all her strength to keep from tumbling down the aisle and slamming into the cockpit doors.

The news would have to come from Ramey . . . the news and the details that would follow. She’d written out her last wishes seven years ago, days after Max’s birth. And there was the letter, of course. A different one every year on Max’s birthday. But even with all her preparations, she never thought it would come to this.

Don’t forget what I told you, sport . . . I’m with you . . . always with
you . . . as close as your heart.

For an instant she turned her thoughts toward God. She had loved the Lord all her life, loved Him even when she didn’t always understand Him. If this was the end, then she would be with Him in a matter of minutes.
God . . . give us a miracle . . . or give one to
Max. Please, God.

The screaming and crying around her grew louder, then in the final moments it faded. Kiahna made a desperate attempt to right herself, to stand up so she could calm the craziness in the cabin.

They could still make it, couldn’t they? The aircraft could straighten out before impact and settle safely on the surface of the ocean. The Coast Guard would be called out and they’d inflate the emergency slides and rafts. Everything would be okay and she’d tell Max all about it that night. Each seat cushion was a flotation device, right? Wasn’t that what they told people every day on this flight?

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– Karen Kingsbury –

I love you, Max . . . don’t forget me
.

Her mind jumbled, and then cleared just as quickly, until finally two thoughts remained. As the plane made impact with the water, as the fuselage splintered apart and ocean water gushed into the cabin, it was those two thoughts that became her last.

The thought of Max, and what would become of him after today.

23

TWO

The frantic race of another busy weekend was on from the moment Connor Evans woke up.

It was the first Saturday in April, and the girls had two birthday parties to attend. Michele put him in charge of wrapping presents and dropping their daughters off at the first party. The second was immediately after, and a neighbor would ferry the girls across town, after which Connor would pick them up.

Michele was redoing the kitchen, and sometime between drop-offs and pickups, Connor wanted to stop by Home Depot and find a riding mower for the backyard. His fall fertilizing had paid off, but now the acre of grass out back was halfway to his knee, typical of what was happening throughout Florida.

His neighbor liked to pause and hold his hand to his ear.

“Hear that, Evans?”

“What?”

“That whooshing sound.” He’d point to his yard. “That’s the sound of our Florida grass growing.”

It seemed almost true. After West Palm Beach’s record-breaking March rain, the grass was growing even faster than usual. Connor could pay someone to cut it; lots of pilots did. But what fun was that? Besides, he liked spending time in the yard. Easy, monoto-nous downtime. Quiet enough to give his mind the rest it needed after a week of flying commercial aircrafts.

It was 10:50 when he climbed into his silver Tundra and tapped the horn. He leaned his head out the window. “Come on, girls”—

his fingers tapped out a rhythm on the steering wheel—“party starts in five minutes.”

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– Karen Kingsbury –

Elizabeth and Susan were ten and eight that spring, as different from each other as he and Michele had been when they first met.

Elizabeth, their firstborn, was sweet-spoken and demure, a child whose favorite activities included playing tea party with her three baby dolls. Elizabeth lived in dresses and ribbons and lace, and wanted her hair curled even on play days.

Susan was supposed to be a boy from the beginning. The ultra-sound technician told them so halfway through Michele’s pregnancy. “Yes sir”—the man grinned across the room at Connor—

“looks like you got yourself a healthy little boy.” The boy part turned out to be Susan’s umbilical cord. She was born with a lusty scream and hadn’t quieted down since. Keeping Susan’s hair brushed and her clothes clean was a full-time job, and with Michele already busy running a home hair salon, she had long since stopped trying.

Connor was secretly glad. If he couldn’t have the son he’d always dreamed of—and Michele was adamant about not having more children—at least he had Susan. Pigtailed Susan to toss a ball with or play Ping-Pong with or take to spring training games when the major league baseball teams flocked to Florida.

Connor had been an only boy growing up. He had sisters who were younger than him, but his days were spent playing football and basketball, hanging with his teammates, and surrounding himself with guy things. College had been more of the same. Guy games and guy talk and guy silliness on evenings and weekends—

right up until graduation, when he met Michele.

He cupped his hands around his mouth. “Girls! I’m
leaving.”
He sat back and released a burst of air. Nice threat, but it meant nothing. He couldn’t go to the party without the girls, and he’d never been able to keep them from running late. They were Michele’s daughters, after all.

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– Oceans Apart –

Then, in a sudden blur, they flew out the door. Susan led the way, leggy and grinning, a present tucked under her arm.
Crazy
girl.
Connor grinned.
She looks like a pee-wee running back, bent for
the end zone.

Elizabeth was behind her, skipping with dainty steps, a present clutched to her chest. Her hair was curled, and she smiled at him, mouthing a quick apology as they made their way to the truck.

First one, then the other piled into the backseat, and the air filled with breathless giggles.

“Sorry, Daddy.”

“Yeah, sorry.” Susan followed Elizabeth’s lead. “It’s okay if we’re a few minutes late.”

“Let me guess.” Connor stifled another smile. “Mom told you that.”

“She said something else.” Elizabeth dropped her chin. Her voice had that sing-song sound girls could turn on at will, and her eyes grew big—clear warning that some serious teasing was at hand.

“Yeah.” Susan let loose another giggle. She covered her face with both hands. “She said to tell you she has a
crush
on you.” More laughter, and the girls began talking at the same time.

Who would be at the party? What games would they play? What presents did the birthday girl really want?

Connor let his mind drift.

Michele had a crush on him, huh? A slow smile lifted the corners of his mouth and traveled up his cheeks. His heart filled with thoughts of her, his precious Michele. Her shoulder-length dark hair piled loose on top of her head, work smock smudged and smeared, a paintbrush in her hand, telling their girls she had a crush on him.

The picture took his breath away.

He backed out of the drive and headed down Oak Street toward the parkway. At the first light he gazed at the sky, the place where he spent so much of his time. Just God and him taking one planeload 26

– Karen Kingsbury –

of people after another into the vast open sky, and bringing them safely down. Over and over and over again.

Life on earth and life above it, everything was good. No, it was better than good. These days it was more than he’d dreamed. He had a family that played together and laughed together—a family where they actually liked each other—and a relationship with his wife that made other men openly jealous.

He turned again and pulled into the left lane.

Michele wasn’t rail thin the way a lot of pilots’ wives were. She wasn’t heavy, either. Medium, she liked to say, with enough extra to give her a few curves. Once in a while she’d go on a diet or exer-cise kick, determined to lose twenty pounds. But she’d been the same size since Elizabeth was born. Most of the time she seemed content to stay that way.

Connor didn’t care. He wouldn’t change a thing about her. Besides, overly thin women didn’t age well. Michele was vibrant and full of life, with a beauty that went beyond her pretty looks. Without question she was the brightest spot in his life.

Six years ago he’d paid a contractor to build an addition on the back of their house, a place where Michele could work magic on the hairstyles of church friends and neighbor women. The idea had paid off in every way. She was home each day for the girls and had enough energy and desire to love him long after the girls were in bed.

“We’re almost there, Daddy!” Susan clapped her hands.

“Yep, two blocks.” Connor glanced over his shoulder and smiled at her.

Though more rough-and-tumble than her sister, Susan was the mirror image of Michele. Michele, the woman who had made him forget his plan to not fall in love until he was twenty-five, the woman who walked into his life and in two weeks showed him more about love than he’d understood in a lifetime.

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– Oceans Apart –

She was bright and witty, charming and sensuous. A woman who cared for him and the girls ahead of any part of her career. And running her in-house salon was definitely a career. A quiet chuckle made its way up and past his lips. He shook his head as he saw a driveway ahead anchored by pink balloons. Michele would debate anyone who thought hairstyling less than a career.

She was feisty that way. Feisty and funny and his best friend.

The past few years she’d made a decent income, as well. Enough to pay for twice-a-year vacations: exotic Disney cruises with the girls or visits to exclusive dude ranches, and intimate vacations for just the two of them to places like Bora Bora and Tahiti and the South of France.

Yes, he had a crush on Michele, too. He’d have to tell her so later that evening.

“Okay, girls. Mrs. Reed will take you to the next party.”

“And you’ll get us after that.” Elizabeth gave him a coy smile.

“Right?”

“Right.”

Connor pulled into a familiar driveway, the house where the party girl lived. A cluster of little girls poured from the front door of the house, jumping and waving and squealing. Elizabeth and Susan blew Connor kisses and scrambled out of the car.