The Cherry Blossoms (12 page)

Livid with his behavior, she stomped up the three flights of stairs.  By the time she reached her apartment door, she saw red. Daniella’s answering machine indicated she had messages waiting to be heard.  She looked at the inanimate object, and said to it, “Fuck you.”  She then went into her bedroom.  She didn’t cry this time.  Daniella McPherson would never cry over Michal Bagot again.

She woke to the sound of a ringing telephone.  From her bed she screamed at the phone, “Fuck you and fuck your whore too.”  The phone rang consistently every fifteen minutes driving nails into her brain.  She left her bed to unplug the phone from the wall. 

When she reached the phone, the temptation to hear him groveling was too strong for her to resist.  She hit the play button and nearly fainted when she heard Betty’s voice.  “Danny, you have to come home immediately, your grandfather is dying.”

Daniella tried to dial her grandfather’s number three times before she finally got the number right.  Betty Schaffer worked for her grandfather.  Her official duties were housekeeper and ranch cook.  Her unofficial duty was raising Daniella.  As she waited for someone in Colorado to answer the phone, her childhood flashed in her head.

Betty answered the phone, “McPherson residence, who do you wish to speak to?”

“Nana, it’s Danny, I just listened to your message.”

“Danny, your grandpa is doing his best to wait to see you before he dies.”

“Nana, I need to make one phone call and then I’ll take the first flight I can get out.  Tell him I’m on my way.”

“I will child, just hurry.”

Daniella called Grant.  “Grant
, I must leave for the States immediately.  My grandfather is dying, so I need to catch the first available flight.  I need for you and Samanta to hold things together until I get home.”

“Daniella, of course you need to rush to his side.  Please do not worry about us.  We will be fine.”

While she packed her suitcase, her cell phone rang.  The caller ID indicated that it was Michal.  She looked at the phone and told it, “Fuck you.”

Chapter Four

Franktown, Colorado

The first available flight out of Paris was 4:45 that afternoon.  When she calculated the time difference it was midnight in Franktown.  Daniella dialed the number.  She’d just hung up with Nana, so that meant she was awake.

Nana answered the phone on the first ring, “Danny, did you reserve a flight home.”

Daniella giggled, “How did you know it was me?”

“Child, we have one of those new fangled phones that have that Caller ID thing, plus we just hung up.  Do you have a flight?”

“I do, the only available flight leaves Paris this evening at 4:45, and arrives in Denver at 11:30 pm, with a layover in Atlanta, Georgia.  Since it will be late, I’ll rent a car in Denver and drive to the house.”

“Don’t bother renting a car.  I’ll send Garrett to the airport to pick you up.”

“Who’s Garrett?”

“He’s your grandfather’s foreman on the ranch.”

“Okay, I’ll call you from Atlanta to let you know if the planes are on schedule.”

Daniella looked at the clock; it was 8:45 in the morning, so she needed to find something to do to fill the time until she drove to the airport.  When she’d spoken with Nana, she was in such a rush; she had no idea what she packed.  Daniella unpacked her suitcases and laid the clothes across the bed.  She put three outfits back into her closet along with their matching shoes.  Assessing her selections, Daniella chose a light gray wool suit with matching gray suede heels.  She set the suit to one side of the open suitcase.  If her grandfather passed on, she would need a somber black suit appropriate for a funeral.  When she found what she wanted to wear, she set the suit and its matching shoes where she laid the outfit on the other side of the suitcase.  Two additional suits were added to the black suit along with their matching heels.

Next she needed to think about her casual outfits.  Daniella pulled out three pairs of jeans and four assorted color silk blouses.  Satisfied with her selections, she packed two suitcases for clothing and one specially designed for shoes and accessories.  Once that task was completed, she looked at the clock.
Shit! 
It was now only 9:30.

Once she tidied up her small apartment, the clock told her it was 10:30.  She had four hours to find something to do before she left for her flight.  A walk and lunch would do her good.  After double checking what she’d packed once more, she set her passport on the top of one of the suitcases, and was now hungry for lunch.

When she stepped into the cool air and looked up at the cloudless sky, Daniella congratulated herself on a good decision.  She shrugged off her stress as she walked to one of her favorite cafés about two blocks from her apartment.

She sat at a small outside table, and when her waiter asked what she’d like to drink, she ordered a glass of wine.  It was a bit early in the day for drinking alcohol, but what the hell; she’d found her fiancée in bed with yet another woman, and then learned that her grandfather was gravely ill.  In her mind that entitled her to a glass of wine at 11:00 in the morning.  While she waited for her quiche and salad, she ordered a second glass of wine. 
Daniella, this is your last glass until you board your plane or you will end up drunk and miss the flight.

She watched pedestrians walk in and out of the café as she felt last night’s catastrophe drift away from her mind.   Daniella’s cell phone showed that it was time to walk home to catch her flight to the states.

Her hand was on the apartment house door, when she heard his voice behind her.

“Mon amour, j'ai échoué vous une fois de plus.  Que puis-je faire que vous me pardonner ?”

Without addressing Michal’s question, Daniella entered her apartment house.  When Daniella made her flight reservations, she had requested that one of the airport limousines pick her up from her apartment at 2:30.  She sat anxiously waiting for the car to arrive to take her away.

Someone knocked on her apartment door.  She stood at the locked door to look through the peephole.  Relief washed over her when she saw that it was her driver.  As he gathered up her luggage, Daniella tucked her passport into her carryon bag.  In just a few moments, she would be one her way home.

The driver put her bags into the trunk and just as he opened the door for her, she heard Michal speak again. 
“Daniella, je vous en prie de me pardonner.  Veuillez ne pas laisser Paris sans parler de moi.”

Daniella ignored his plea for forgiveness and climbed into the car.  When it pulled from the curb, she never looked back to acknowledge that he was standing on the sidewalk begging for her forgiveness.

The last available flight just happened to be in the first class cabin, so as soon as Daniella was in her seat, a flight attended offered her a drink.

“J'adorerais un verre de Cabernet, veuillez.”

The first class cabin was located in the front of the aircraft, so she didn’t see the other passengers come aboard the plane. She sipped her wine and flipped through the pages of a magazine.

When the jet charged down the runway, for the first time since she’d arrived to Paris, Daniella was happy to leave it behind her.  Michal’s adulterous behavior soured her stomach for the city she called home.  The jet chased the sun as it flew west.  When she returned to Paris, she would return as a transformed woman.  He had lied to her twice and would not get a third chance.

Daniella dozed while the plane crossed the ocean.  The plane lost its race for the sun, and the sky gave way to dusk. 

The plane landed in Atlanta at 8:10 pm EDT; however, it was 2:00 am for Daniella.  She crawled her way through the Immigration line.  She needed coffee and she needed it bad.  Daniella had a two-hour layover before the flight to Denver.  After she checked the departing schedules, she dragged her tired body to the Delta Pier, where she found a restaurant.

After placing an order for coffee and a slice of apple pie, she called Nana.  “I’m in Atlanta and my flight to Denver is on time.”

“Child, you must be plumb tuckered out.  Garrett helped me figure out the time difference and it’s way past your bed time.”

Daniella managed a giggle.  “I can’t lie; it’s been a long day.  By the time I get into Denver, it’ll be 4:00 in the morning in Paris.”

“I have your bed all made, so as soon as you get here, you’re gonna go straight to bed.”

“How’s Grandpa?”

“He’s hanging in there.  He knows you’re coming as quickly as those aero-planes can fly.”

Daniella couldn’t help, but laugh at Nana’s reference to airplanes as aero-planes.  “I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”

While she ate her piece of pie, she listened to the messages on her cell phone.  The first was from Grant.  “Mademoiselle, we are with you in spirit.” 

The second call was from her ex-fiancée
, “Daniella, j'implore vous retourner Mon appel.” 

Michal can implore her to return his call all he wants, but until pigs can fly, she refused to have him sucker punch her again.

Daniella’s thoughts of getting in a quick nap dissipated, since the flight to Denver was bumpy.  The plane rose and fell to the rhythm of the storm in the clouds.  Rain splattered against the windows.  She nearly spilled her hot coffee into her lap.  The engines roared as the plane fought its way to Denver. 

The pilot told them that the air traffic controllers had requested that he circle in the airspace over the airport until the storm subsided.  As instructed by the flight attendant, Daniella had turned her cell phone off as the plane backed away from the terminal, which meant there was no way for her to contact Nana.  Daniella then thought if the airport was held up due to weather, it was likely that Franktown was also experiencing a storm.

After an hour of circling the airport, the pilot announced that he’d been given clearance to land.  First class would disembark the plane first, so as soon as she entered the airport terminal, Daniella swiftly made her way to the luggage pick up area.  She was in such a hurry; Daniella hadn’t noticed the man holding a sign with her name on it.  She tapped her foot while she waited to retrieve her luggage from the carousel.

Garrett figured the woman impatiently tapping her foot had to be Matt McPherson’s granddaughter.  Here she was in the middle of horse country, looking like a model in one of those fashion magazines.  She was pretty enough, if you liked a woman made up like a clown.  Betty had told him she was some big clothes designer in Paris.  Well, the woman impatiently tapping her foot fit Betty’s description.

The gentleman who she hadn’t noticed approached her.  “Are you Danny McPherson?” 

Oh my God, I just landed and there’s someone already calling me Danny.
Without looking at the man, she answered, “Yes, I’m Daniella McPherson.  Can I help you with something?”  

Judging by the way she had just spoken and the clothes she wore, Garrett figured her for a spoiled brat.  “Ms. McPherson, I’m Garret Ryan, Betty sent me to collect you.”

“Yes, Nana said she would send someone.  My luggage isn’t on the carousel just yet, but when it is, I’ll show you my pieces, so that you can collect them for me.”

Garrett thought to himself,
doesn’t that just chap my hide
.  This little filly was gonna get herself into a heap of trouble thinking she was better than her grandfather’s ranch hands.  So, to get her on the right track, he told her, “Mademoiselle, je récupère le camion et vous rencontrer en face de la zone de bagages.”

Just who the fuck, did this Garrett think he was, telling her to get her luggage, and meet him on the sidewalk? 
Daniella mumbled when he walked out the door.  “Where did a ranch hand learn French?”

She mumbled to herself the entire time she retrieved her luggage and hefted it onto a luggage cart.  Daniella grunted as she moved the luggage laden cart onto the sidewalk.  It was raining cats and dogs with a little hail thrown in for good measure. The imbecile’s pickup truck was parked at the curb.  She deserted the cart and attempted to climb up into the passenger seat.  Her tight skirt didn’t have much climbing room.  Daniella grabbed hold of the far side of the passenger seat and drug her body into the truck.

Garrett pulled the truck away from the curb.

Outraged that her luggage was sitting on the sidewalk in the rain, she screamed at him.  “Excuse me, but my luggage is sitting behind us in the rain.”

“Well, Ms. McPherson, this dumb ranch hand thought you put your luggage into the truck before you belly flopped into your seat.”

Daniella spit bullets at him, “Are you just having a bad day?  I’ve done nothing to you and your acting like a complete asshole.  Go back and get my luggage.”

“I’ll go back and when we get there you can load your own damn luggage into the truck.”

Garrett drove around the airport circle.  He stopped when they arrived in front of the luggage pick up area.  Daniella angrily shoved the truck door open.  Garrett took hold of her left arm, “Hold still while I get the luggage.”