Chapter 107
Her cellular vibrated. She’d put the wretched thing down again, as she’d come into Andrew’s room, but—ah, there it was. She picked it up. Charles was always telling her she’d forget her head if it wasn’t attached, and sometimes his reminders came with a sharp grip on her forearm. She rubbed the spots where his fingers left bruises sometimes; he truly did not know his own strength.
Ah, yes. The phone. She turned the screen over.
The letters swam in front of her and she held the cellular out, trying to focus. The reminder pinged. She struggled to remember how to turn it off before the sound drove her absolutely wild. Right, right. She’d set an alarm; Andrew would be getting off a plane in two hours. She’d told her driver—Charles was always so concerned for her health, and he disapproved of women driving—to fetch her son and his bride-to-be from the airport.
Eleanor should remind the driver. If he left now, he would be awaiting Andrew before the plane landed. Eleanor considered: was she well enough to go with him? No, no, the airport was a dirty and crowded place. Too many pick-abouts and tourists. Greeting her son like a common traveler would be undignified, and her grace and charm was what Charles loved in her.
She would remain here and greet him as befitted the matron of a soon-to-grow family.
Her son was getting married. How delightful. He’d sent her a cellular message to that effect when he’d let her know that he would come visit. She navigated slowly to the messages screen to look at it again, the first communication from her son in so many years.
coming wednesdy, wire $$ for tix, btw bringing my fiance
Andrew’s spelling was horrible. The cellular messages were particularly unpleasant that way. Young people, shortening down words and typing in abominable code. She’d sent the money immediately, of course, enough for two first class tickets, and had the housekeeping staff open up the goldenrod guest suite. The conservatory was right off that bedroom, and perhaps the young lady would like to hear Andrew’s performance on the piano. She hoped he’d managed to keep up with his practice.
Eleanor had never met the young lady, but of course her Andrew would select a wonderful girl. Eleanor could barely contain her excitement. Perhaps, perhaps, one day there would even be grandbabies. And of course they should have the wedding here, in the city, where Eleanor could be in charge of the planning. She was a delightful event planner.
Oh! The driver, of course! She’d almost forgotten. She took one last look at Andrew’s room. She would see him soon!
She pulled the door shut carefully behind her.
* * * *
Andy was definitely nervous, not that Scooter could blame him. He’d been bouncing back and forth between uncertain silence and random babbling since the moment they’d set foot in the airport back in Virginia. Now, as they made their way through the terminal in New York—Christ, it was crowded, worse than the beaches on the Fourth of July—Andy was all but vibrating, moving his backpack from one hand to the other, slinging it over a shoulder only to drop it back to his hand a few steps later.
Andy veered sharply around a corner and led Scooter toward an escalator. “—someone to meet us,” he was saying. “But if she forgot, we’ll just grab a cab. I’m not going to subject you to the subway until we’ve been in the city for at least twenty-four hours.” He threw Scooter a shaky grin.
Sure. How the fuck were they gonna spot someone sent to meet them? There were so damn many people, Scooter could feel them invading his brainwaves. Not like they were paying any particular attention to him, but the press of humanity was just…Terrifying, really. Scooter’d practically memorized the clothes Andy was wearing, just so he could spot the man if they got separated in the crush.
Scooter still wasn’t too sure how he felt about flying, though the seats had been comfortable enough and the flight attendants solicitous. Andy had pointed out that they were flying first class (thanks to his mom) and that the general experience of travelers was not nearly so pleasant. The kind of money that went into their tickets was…a little boggling, really, and then she wasn’t even going to meet them herself? Scooter shook his head; Andy didn’t talk much about his family, and Scooter didn’t push, but he was starting to feel that Andy had left out even more than Scooter had suggested.
Scooter had only ever seen airports in movies, and the one time he’d dropped Jason and Kat off for a vacation. This…this was nothing like Norfolk, and Scooter wasn’t sure how Andy had any goddamn idea where he was going, but since he obviously did, Scooter kept as close as possible without actually putting a hand on Andy’s wrist like a toddler.