Page 5 of Grounded (May Hollow Trilogy #1)

Across the street from where Annie sat, a small balcony was lined with pots of different shapes and sizes.

An elderly woman sat next to one of the containers and worked the dirt with her wrinkled hands.

Annie watched as she dropped seeds into the pot and then covered them with the dirt.

With a tin can, she poured a small stream of water over the seeds.

Then she pushed the pot to a corner of the balcony where a glint of sunlight shone.

Something about the woman reminded Annie of her grandmother. This universal need to grow something, even when surrounded by the bustle of the city, was a common thread binding man and woman since the beginning of time.

After an hour of enjoying the scene, Annie decided to take her turn at the fountain’s edge. Fishing a coin out of her purse, she turned her back to the fountain as legend required, made a wish and tossed the coin over her shoulder.

Tuesday morning’s flight made Annie wonder how an airline could teeter on the brink of bankruptcy with full flights. Every trip she had worked in the last few months had been either full or near full. Today, the flight from Rome to New York was no different.

“Good afternoon. May I take your coat?” Annie asked the first man who entered the business class cabin on her side.

He handed her his sport jacket. A father, mother and two young children entered Janice’s side of the cabin together, and Annie stopped on her way to the closet to take the man’s leather jacket while Janice situated the children.

She hung the coats in order of passenger seats for later reuniting with their owners.

After everyone was seated, Annie offered the passengers orange juice or champagne. She was halfway down the aisle when a heavyset, middle-aged woman stumbled into the cabin with a bulging shopping bag.

Janice intervened. “Can I help you?”

The woman’s face was flushed and the dash to the plane had obviously winded her. She handed Janice her boarding pass, too out of breath to talk.

“You’re right here in front, the aisle seat,” Janice said. The woman managed a breathless thank you and moved to the front, bumping passengers with her bag as she went.

Several minutes later, they were in the air and waiting for the pilot to indicate they were at cruising altitude.

Facing the cabin, Annie watched the late arrival talk nonstop to her seatmate, hearing bits and pieces of the conversation.

The man kept looking down at his book and, when that didn’t work, he plugged in the headphones and hung them around his neck, but the woman didn’t get it.

As soon as they could move around the cabin, she would try to divert the woman long enough for the poor man to put on his headphones or feign sleep.

It worked nearly every time. Once she had a man so happy to be relieved of the talking that he tried to give her a hundred dollars when he exited the plane.

She didn’t take it, but it was a nice gesture.

When the tone sounded, Annie unbuckled her seat belt and went over to the woman.

“Did I hear you say you’re from Illinois?” Annie asked her.

“That’s right. Peoria! Are you from Illinois?” The woman’s face was wide and smiling. The man next to her shot Annie a grateful look and slid the earphones over his head.

Peoria was Stuart’s hometown. It was a good excuse to divert her for a moment. “I’m not, but I know someone who is. I’m sure it’s a big place.”

“Not that big. Who do you know?”

“His name is Stuart Henderson.”

“Stuart Henderson? Curly blond hair? You’ve got to be kidding. My niece dated him. How do you know Stuart?”

Later, looking back on that moment, Annie could not explain why she said what she did. Before the words could be formed in her mouth, something held her back and kept her from revealing their relationship.

“We met at a charity event.”

“He’s a piece of work. Good looking, but a character.”

“Really? Why do you say that?” Out of the corner of her eye she saw Janice motion for her, needing her help in the galley. She held up her index finger, asking for another minute. Annie was mesmerized by this woman and repelled by her at the same time. Was she talking about her Stuart?

“He and Sandy lived together for four years, dated two before that. Never could make a commitment. Last year, when she turned thirty-eight, she finally got tired of it. Wasted six years of her life with him.” The woman leaned in as if telling a secret.

“I don’t know how Sandy expected anything different.

He did the same thing with another girl before he moved to New York. I guess she thought she was different.”

Annie held her breath. She must be wrong. Stuart said he had never lived with another woman. Yet the ages matched up. Stuart would turn thirty-nine this year. Her legs went weak, and she crouched next to the woman, unable to move.

“I like Stuart. Charming as they come, successful, a real looker, but he’s got some kind of commitment issue.

Sandy tried to get him to go to counseling, thought it had to do with his mother leaving when he was little.

I don’t know. I was glad when she finally broke it off.

He would have lived with her forever if she could have agreed to it. You know how some women are.”

The woman laughed and her shrill voice bounced around inside Annie’s head like a ricocheting bullet.

Annie tried to stand, to say something intelligent. “It’s the cat she really misses now, not Stuart.”

“Cat?” Annie managed to form the simple word.

“Yeah, a big orange tabby Sandy named Chester. A dog was too much for Stuart, so he agreed to a cat. Her new apartment building didn’t allow pets, so she had to leave him with Stuart.”