Chapter 22 #3
"You know what happened already?" The tone of her voice edged up. "You should have called to let me know you were okay. Where are you?"
Nate could hear the hurt in her words. "I'm in Sanford. I decided to stay the night here when things ran long at the garage."
"I’ve been going out of my mind with worry. Why didn't you call me?"
"I'm sorry, Crys. I'm dealing with some stuff here in Sanford, too. I didn't realize what was going on in Collingsworth until the sheriff called a little bit ago."
A couple of beats of silence passed. "I'm just glad you're okay."
"Me, too." Nate rubbed his forehead with his fingertips.
"Listen, I'll give you a call when I'm back in Collingsworth.
Should be sometime tomorrow." He could tell she didn't want to end the conversation, but he couldn't deal with her right then.
Their relationship was one more struggle for him.
She wanted so much more than he could give.
It wasn't fair to allow things to continue when he knew there was no future for them. Though sweet and cute, Crystal just wasn’t what his heart longed for.
But he’d deal with that problem another day. Right then, he needed to focus on the problems at hand. After that, he would try to figure out how to pick up the pieces of his life for the third time.
~*~*~
The plane came to a stop with a jerk. Immediately, people began to stand and reach for the overhead bins.
Lily Collingsworth remained in her seat, her gaze on the view beyond the window next to her.
There wasn't anything really worth looking at—just the huge buildings that made up the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport—but she didn't want some kind soul to stop to let her out.
She was seated in first class and could presumably have exited rather quickly, but the fourteen-hour trip had been exhausting for her, and she didn't trust her legs to have to work too quickly.
The last thing she wanted was to stumble or fall in front of an audience.
The door didn't open right away, so it took almost fifteen minutes for the noise in the aisle to subside.
Lily glanced over to see that the remaining line was made up of just a few stragglers now.
She reached for her purse under the seat in front of her and slowly stood.
One of the flight attendants approached her.
"Is this your bag?" he asked as he reached into the overhead compartment.
"Yes." Lily gave him a smile as he handed it down to her. He pulled up the handle and then stepped back to allow her to step into the aisle. She took the handle from him. "Thank you for your help."
"You're welcome."
Moving carefully between the few rows of seats that stood between her and the exit of the plane, Lily prayed she could make it up the long walkway to the main terminal.
Once there, hopefully the help she'd requested would be waiting to take her to where she could claim the remainder of her luggage. Thankfully, she’d cleared customs in Chicago on a layover so there would be no delay for that.
And then it would be the final three-hour ride to Collingsworth.
With slow measured steps, Lily made her way up the walkway and entered the terminal. Crowds of people milled around, and she took a minute to survey the area and orient herself. She approached the airline desk.
"My name is Lily Collingsworth, and I had requested transport from here to the baggage claim," she told the woman behind the counter.
She saw the woman's gaze drop as if to see why she needed the transport, but the large counter blocked her view.
It wouldn't have mattered anyway. Lily knew most people looked at her and didn't see why she needed aid.
And most of the time, if she was careful, she didn't require it, but today, after such a long trip, Lily knew enough about her body to not push it any further.
Though the woman didn't seem overly sympathetic, she did pick up the phone and make the request. Within a few minutes, a cart with room for four people pulled up.
Lily settled into the back of it with her carry-on and purse and told the driver where she needed to go.
She looked straight forward so as not to meet the wondering glances of the people they passed.
With the end of her journey so close now, Lily just wanted it to be over.
As they left the secured area and approached the baggage carousel, Lily looked around for the person who was to drive her to Collingsworth.
Because she knew the length of the trip would tire her, she hadn't bothered with trying to rent a car to drive herself.
Instead, she'd paid handsomely for someone to chauffeur her home. One of the benefits of having money.
After the driver of the cart let her off with her bags, Lily looked around at the people gathered there. It didn't take long to spot the person holding the placard that read "Lily C."
She approached the woman dressed in a chauffeur's uniform and smiled. "Hi. I'm Lily."
The woman lowered the placard and held out her hand. "I'm Melissa. I'll be driving you to Collingsworth today."
"I'm very glad to see you," Lily told her. "Would you be able to help me with my bags?"
Lily had specified when she'd made the arrangements that she wanted a woman driver and also that the person be willing to help her with the luggage. Melissa nodded and immediately went to get a cart on which to load the bags as they came off the carousel.
Forty-five minutes later, the luggage was stowed in the trunk of the car and they were on their way.
It wasn't long into the trip when Lily began to feel the exhaustion pulling at her.
The tiredness didn't come as any surprise, and it had, in fact, been the reason she'd requested a female driver.
She figured she'd likely fall asleep at some point during the drive and felt more secure having a woman present with her in the car than she would have a man.
She leaned forward and spoke to Melissa. "I've had a long day, so I'm going to try to sleep a little. Please wake me when we get to Collingsworth, and I'll direct you to where I need to go."
"I understand, Miss Collingsworth." Melissa met her gaze in the rearview mirror and smiled.
Letting out a sigh, Lily settled back against the seat and closed her eyes.
She didn't immediately fall asleep though.
Too many thoughts swirled through her mind.
While she was relieved to be coming home to Collingsworth, Lily knew the days ahead were not going to be easy.
Her family still didn't know the reasons why she'd left almost three years earlier.
No doubt they would have plenty of questions for her.
They were questions she hadn't wanted to deal with before, but now she would.
At least she had more informed answers now than she'd had back then.
And she'd done a lot of maturing over the past three years.
Leaving had forced her to take responsibility for herself, among other things.
And she planned to continue to do so even though she was returning to the manor and her family there.
And Nate. She had no idea how he'd been over the past three years.
It had been important to her that she sever their bond completely when she left.
Her best friend—the one person she'd kept in regular contact with—had rarely mentioned him, and during her sporadic conversations with her older sister, Jessa, over the years, Lily had never asked anything about him.
And she was returning home with no expectation that they would pick up where they'd left off.
In fact, she knew it wouldn't be possible.