Chapter 25
Paul
The sun was off-duty, probably having a drink with the moon somewhere in a bar at the edge of the universe, Paul thought, as Jessica drove him to the airport. She said she really wanted to take him, that she had to see a client in that vicinity anyway. It was one week later, and they’d been texting each other every day, calling each other at night. It was early in their relationship, but things were definitely humming along. The barriers had come down, and Paul had that butterfly feeling fluttering away in the pit of his stomach whenever he thought of her.
“Don’t you dare Uber when I’m going that way,” she’d said.
“Okay, thanks.”
He’d scheduled out a full week to make this happen—at last. Gran didn’t have Covid anymore, and there was no choice but to try as best he could to get them to leave. He had an appointment with The Harbors, too, and with a real estate agent. He had to make them see the common sense of it.
There was no doubt the time had come for them to move. Their house needed a new roof, like, yesterday. Pops had mistakenly put his hearing aid into the glass that held his false teeth. And his grandmother was using a walker now. She nearly set the house on fire while she was cooking pork chops and had difficulty with her vision. He couldn’t hear, she couldn’t see . . . There was no more time to waste.
When they arrived at the terminal, parking at the curb, he retrieved his bag from the backseat.
“I hate flying,” Paul said. “It makes me nervous.”
“I’m sorry. It’s not a long flight. You’ll be fine.” She touched his arm. “Does that mean you’d never want to be a bird?” Jessica asked with a smirk.
“What? What do you mean?” He cocked his head at her.
“Oh, nothing.”
“I’ll FaceTime you while I’m away,” he said.
“Please do. Let’s make it a date.”
He winked at her. “You got it.”
He turned, grabbed his bag, and began to walk away. Then he stopped in his tracks and turned back around. He trotted back to her side and clasped her waist, pulling her to him. He softly planted a kiss on her lips.
“Something to remember me by,” he said, smiling down at her.
“How could I forget?” she said, stroking his chin.
He couldn’t wait to get back with her again.