Chapter 13 #2
“You’ve thought of everything.” Mary relented. There was no way she was hauling all this food to Wisconsin. She hoped her subletter liked Bolognese.
Her parents walked into the kitchen with open arms.
“Hi, Pop,” she said, folding herself into his embrace.
“Hi, baby girl.” He kissed her head.
“I can’t believe you’re leaving me,” Mary’s mom, Christine, said.
“I’m not leaving you. I’m going on a short-term adventure. I’ll be back before you know it.”
Mary kept a positive attitude the entire night as it went on like that.
“Welcome to the Last Supper,” her brother Frankie said as he passed the bruschetta.
“I’m not dying,” she said.
“Why do you assume you’re Jesus in this scenario? You might be one of the other guys.”
“Yeah, like a tax collector. The old-fashioned lawyers,” Joey, her closest brother in age, said.
“Could you weigh in here?” she implored Gabe, the priest, to back her up.
“I’m the peacemaker, Mary.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Do you think you’ll meet any lumberjacks out there?” her sister-in-law Donna asked, biting into a roasted pepper.
“I can hope,” she said, imagining bringing a burly man back to Sunday supper and showing him off to her family.
After dessert, her dad raised his glass of Sambuca.
“To Mary,” he said. “You’re our best girl.” Emotional, he wiped away a tear.
“To Mary,” everyone repeated in unison.
“Salute!” And they drank up.
Before she left, Mary spent extra time with Nonna.
“I love you; you know that, right?” she said.
“Yes, yes. You know you’re my favorite?” Nonna replied.
“You don’t tell all of us that?”
“I do. But with you, I mean it.”
“You’re my favorite, too.” She kissed her grandmother’s cheek and said goodbye. “I’ll FaceTime you tomorrow. I’ll be back before you know it.”
Nonna wiped away a tear and said, “Go. And know we’re proud of you, Mary.”
“Thanks, Nonna. That means everything.”
THE NIGHT BEFORE they left, Dot sent one more text to the group.
“Everyone all set? Got your rides to the airport planned?”
“Yes, Mom,” Mary texted from her bed.
“Car coming at 10 a.m. Meet you at the gate,” Harper said. “Don’t get cold feet!”
“Remember, you never know who you might meet on the plane,” Dot said.
“That never happens.” Mary was a skeptic.
“It does happen! Lots of couples have met on planes. It’s where you can sit and talk and just be yourself. It’s a great way to fall in love.”
“Like love at first sight?”
“No. Love at first flight,” Harper chimed in.
“I don’t have a great track record. Last time I flew, I sat next to a guy who drank six screwdrivers on the way to Las Vegas. And it was six in the morning,” Mary said.
“Maybe he saw you and thought he needed liquid courage to start a conversation,” Dot replied.
“I watched five hours of Housewives instead.”
“Harsh blow to his ego.”
“And to my brain cells.”
“Good night, Crew. And . . . thanks.” Dot was ready for bed, though she didn’t know if she’d be able to sleep.
“Sweet dreams.” Harper added a sleeping emoji.
“Hoping for dreams a little more stimulating than sweet.” Mary was having fun now.
“Go to bed, you nut.” Dot set her phone down, then picked it up one more time to check she’d set her alarm. She could hardly wait for the morning to come.
AT THE AIRPORT the morning of their departure, Harper was pacing.
“What’s wrong?” Mary asked. “Sit down.”
“I can’t. I gotta get the wiggles out.”
“Well, you’re making me nervous.”
“Maybe that’s the triple espresso you had after we cleared security.”
“Fair.”
Dot was checking her bag, making sure she had everything.
“Why do you always do that?” Harper asked.
“Do what?”
“Check everything multiple times. You never forget anything.”
“I guess I’m afraid if I don’t check, something will go wrong.”
“Maybe it’s time to start letting go, Dot,” Mary said. “Isn’t that what this is all about?”
“Okay. Fine. I just want to make sure I have my charger and then . . .”
“Stop! Your charger is right there.” Harper pointed to the white cord sticking out of the zippered pouch.
“You’re right.” Dot kept looking through her bag.
“Dot,” Mary said. “Dot, look at me.”
Dot looked up and met her friend’s eyes.
Mary reached for Dot’s hand and then grabbed on to Harper’s, too. She looked at them both.
“This is going to be so fun. It’s an adventure.
It won’t be perfect. Let’s just roll with it, okay?
We may never get the chance to be this spontaneous again.
Harper, you’ll be a bestselling author and traveling the world.
Dot, you’ll be the CEO of some major company or running the White House.
And I’ll be billing hours and going home for Sunday supper for the rest of my life.
This is it. This is our chance for one more roll of the dice before permanent life sets in. Okay?” She squeezed their hands.
“Okay.” Dot visibly relaxed.
“Okay,” Harper agreed.
“Can I come for Sunday supper even after I’m a bestselling author?” Harper asked.
“If you play your cards right, I’ll set you up with one of my cousins.”
“Now that’s something to look forward to!”
AS THEY BOARDED, they made their way to their seats. Each of them had a window seat on the small jet bound for Milwaukee.
Mary sent a text to their group chat.
“Wow, Dot. You were right. Sitting next to a handsome man!”
“Nice!” Dot typed.
“But he’s already committed.”
“Married?”
“Yes.”
Then Mary sent a selfie of her and her seatmate. She looked gorgeous in her black Alo leisurewear, her hair tossed into a messy bun on top of her head. And he looked handsome in his priest’s collar.
“To God.”
Dot typed back a series of crying emojis and heard Harper burst out laughing three rows behind her.
She put her phone away in her backpack and settled into her seat. To her left, she could see the skyscrapers of the city in the bright blue winter sun.
The plane rumbled down the runway, and the nose tipped into the air. As the pilot climbed out of LaGuardia and banked left, Dot rested her forehead against the window and took in the city.
She gently waved and whispered, “Be right back.”
They were off.