Chapter 40
40
T ime had flown by and there was no turning back. Fleur and Lucy were at the airport waiting at the desk at the entrance to a very fancy looking lounge. Fleur handed over their boarding passes to an immaculately dressed woman in a red suit with a gorgeous silk scarf and a neat bumped bun hairstyle. The woman beamed. ‘Just checking your details here. Off anywhere nice?’
Fleur nodded. 'Yes, really nice, actually. We’re going to Hawaii and Maui.’
‘Ooh, lovely. For anything special? I've always wanted to go there. It’s meant to be beautiful and very relaxing.’
'Actually, yes, I’m getting married,' Fleur said, not quite believing herself that she was, in fact, going to Maui to get married.
Lucy giggled. 'Yes, and I'm the bridesmaid. We’re so excited!'
The woman handed the boarding cards back over. 'Oh, ladies, that is absolutely wonderful! Congratulations. Have a fabulous time. Okay, do go and make yourselves comfortable. Get yourselves a drink, you need to check the board because this is a quiet lounge, and we do not call passengers to flights, so keep an eye on the board.'
'Thank you so much.’
'If I were you, I’d head right past the buffet, go all the way along to your right and there's a really nice sectioned-off area that looks out over the planes. Most people don't get that far along so it’s much less busy. You can make yourselves comfortable and have a few drinks and a bite to eat. You've got plenty of time before your flight.'
'We’ll look out for it. Thanks for the tip.’
A few minutes later, Fleur and Lucy were walking through the lounge heading in the direction of the area the woman had told them about. Lucy giggled. 'Mum, this is so cool. I can't believe we are in a lounge at the airport on our way to Los Angeles. Like it’s a dream!'
'I know.' Fleur nodded and laughed.
'Are you nervous?'
'Not really, just a little bit, sort of excited and a bit jittery. I'm not really happy about being on a plane for that long.' Fleur swallowed as she told the white lie. She was actually a tad scared about the plane but Lucy didn’t need to know that. No need for the pair of them to be wondering if the plane would go down and they’d end up on the bottom of the sea.
Lucy agreed. 'I know, but it will be amazing when we get there, won't it? One of the girls at ballet school did a year in LA, she said it's fabulous, and the weather is amazing.'
Fleur pointed in the direction of the window, where the sky was a mixture of different competing greys and it had been drizzling since they’d left Lovely Bay. 'Well, it's got to be better than here at the moment. I think it's been raining for weeks, hasn't it?'
'Feels like it. Months more like.’
About ten minutes later, Fleur and Lucy were settled into a cosy spot near the windows overlooking the tarmac. They’d helped themselves to drinks and snacks from the buffet and were chatting away about what the hotel was going to be like once they’d got to Maui.
After lots of chatting, a quick call to Valerie and checking in on Wendy and Patrick, Fleur glanced at the departure board and noticed their flight had been delayed by two hours. Fleur groaned. ‘Ahh! The last thing we need.’
'What do you think the reason is? It’s worrying.’
Fleur attempted to keep her voice calm. 'I’m sure it will be fine.'
Lucy bit her lip. 'I hope so. I hope it’s not an engine problem or anything like that.’
‘I don’t think we get to know that.’
‘The idea of flying on a faulty plane is a bit scary.’
'I know, but they wouldn't let us fly if it wasn't safe. Let's try not to worry too much.' Fleur tutted to herself as she walked over to get another glass of champagne and wondered why it always felt in her life as things never went to plan.
F leur and Lucy spent the next couple of hours trying to distract themselves, but the delay was not a great start to what was meant to be a holiday and celebration of a lifetime. Once they were finally at the gate, a crew member told them that the delay was because of an engine problem. Fleur had never travelled very far and the idea of mechanical failure was not one that made her happy. Trailing her cabin bag behind her, she smiled at the crew member as she stepped onto the plane, followed the instructions to turn left, and got settled in her seat. A few minutes later, a glass of bubbles was in her hand, and Lucy, sitting alongside her across the aisle, also had a glass and raised it up in a toast.
‘Wow, this is so nice. Thanks, Mum. Cheers.’
‘You can thank Patrick. He’s the one who booked these flights. Cheers.’
Lucy smiled. ‘I can’t believe we’re on our way and you’re getting married.’
‘I know. You and me both.’
Lucy frowned. ‘I've just had a thought. What about our bags? I hope they’ve not messed them up with the change of plane and everything.’
‘I’m sure it will be fine. They do stuff like this all the time. We’re in good hands.’
‘Yes, true. They know what they're doing.’ Lucy smiled as she took out the little utility bag in front of her and rifled through it. She held up a travel size lavender face spray and spritzed some on her cheeks.
Just as Fleur was putting her lap belt on, her phone pinged. She looked down and inhaled. Here we go, she thought. There was never a dull moment when Valerie was around.
‘Who’s that?’ Lucy asked across the aisle.
‘It’s Grandma.’
Fleur read through the text and frowned.
‘What?’ Lucy questioned.
Fleur shook her head. ‘That’s weird. Grandma said that she’s coming on her own now and that Marvin’s not coming.’
‘What? I thought they were leaving the van and having a holiday in America?’
‘Yes, I know. That was the plan. They drove to Istanbul specifically for that reason, to that place where they could leave the van. Wendy sorted it out.’
Lucy shook her head. ‘Marvin’s not coming now? What? That’s weird.’
‘Grandma said she’s had a bit of a change of plan. Marvin’s coming later.’
‘I hope she’s okay.’ Lucy whipped her phone out. ‘I’ll send her a message, too. So, Marvin’s coming at a different time now?’
‘Yes, it seems like it.’
Fleur’s phone pinged again, and she read another message from Valerie. ‘Alright, that makes more sense. Marvin is sorting out the van there and making sure it’s fixed before he leaves, which is why Grandma’s coming on her own.’
‘Seems a bit last minute, doesn’t it?’ Lucy noted.
Little red flags waved in front of Fleur’s face. Something wasn’t right but she didn’t know what. ‘Well, I suppose that’s what happens with vans. You can’t choose when they go wrong.’
‘Yes, true. Oh well, I’m sure she’ll be fine. She’s used to travelling now, isn’t she? She’s been telling me for ages how she spent years locked away just waiting to get out and travel. That it was always in her bones, so I’m sure she’ll be fine on her own.’
Fleur smirked to herself. Never a truer word. Valerie was the one who was always pontificating about how much she loved travelling and how she was now able to do whatever she wanted and go wherever she pleased. How after Bill had died, she’d finally been allowed to let her inner bohemian come out to play. The thing was though that, actually, Valerie hadn’t ever been on her own as far as Fleur could see. She grimaced to herself and crossed her fingers that Valerie was going to be okay. Let the Valerie drama begin.
A pproximately twelve hours later, after quite a few glasses of bubbles, a nice long sleep and a few films, Fleur looked out of the window as the plane taxied and smiled over at Lucy.
Lucy craned her neck to see out the window. ‘Oh wow, Mum, look at all the palm trees. It looks so warm and sunny, and we’re not even there yet.’
‘I know, wow, it’s amazing. Bring on the sunshine.’ Fleur checked her watch. ‘According to this, because of the delay, we should be arriving at around the same time as Wendy. Actually, in fact, I think she’s already here, so I’ll message her.’ Fleur looked at her phone as it beeped about six times, notifying her that she had arrived in America and that her home carrier would charge a daily rate for internet and text messages. Just as she was reading through the message, one came in from Wendy.
Wendy: Hi, I’m already here! I worked out that you’ll be coming in at the same place that I did, so I’ll be waiting for you. So exciting!
Fleur quickly messaged back.
Fleur: We’ve just landed. We had a long delay. We’re approaching the gate now, so we shouldn’t be too long, depending on how immigration stuff goes. The weather looks great! See you soon!
Lucy looked over from her phone. ‘Yep, Auntie Wendy is already here. Seems she got here before us because of our delay.’
‘Yep, I just got the same text. How funny; we’ve come from London, and she’s come from Australia.’
‘Yes, I know. Ooh, this is so fab! I can’t wait to see her.’
Fleur nodded. So far, so good.