Chapter 53

Through the airplane window, I watched the verdant of the Smoky Mountains far below me slip by. At this altitude, trees blended into a mosaic, creating rolling hues of green, occasionally broken by a small patch of brown or gray, like maybe a house or small field.

Martha and Elizabeth were seated across the aisle from me. Of course, Martha had her eyes glued to the window. Occasionally, I could see the two of them talking quietly, but I was too far away to hear anything. Besides, the hum of the engines would have drowned out any sound, even if I were closer.

From where I sat, Elizabeth appeared somewhat lost in her own thoughts. I could tell by her facial expressions she was probably trying to put the events of the past week into perspective. I chuckled to myself, thinking it had been quite a wild ride for her.

She’d been hit with a lot, and her decision would be a hard one to come to grips with. She hadn’t said much, at least not to me. If she had talked to Martha, I certainly hadn’t heard about it. No doubt, the next week would be hard on her, but that’s part of life. Making decisions and then having to live with them could be difficult for anybody.

I sat back in my seat, and, ignoring the overweight person in the middle seat next to me, went over my own experiences in Charleston.

I readily admitted I’d thoroughly enjoyed the trip. Meeting Henry, Elizabeth’s father, had been more than a stroke of luck; I found I enjoyed his company a great deal. I never was much for forming real friendships with others, Martha being a big exception. But in Henry, I seemed to find a kindred spirit. He had mentioned he would be retiring in a few years. If I lasted that long, maybe the distance between us wouldn’t be that great a factor. When you’re retired, time doesn’t have the same meaning, and maybe he and I could spend some more time together. I smiled, thinking of how different Henry and I were. But I also realized that at the core, we were very similar. I particularly enjoyed his passion for history; we shared a common bond of understanding and commitment.

My thoughts eventually drifted back to Elizabeth’s predicament. Unlike Martha, I felt Elizabeth would stay in Otis. I hadn’t voiced my opinion to Martha, not wanting to get her hopes up, just in case I was wrong. I couldn’t pin down why I felt this way. Logically, she had every reason to accept the position in Charleston, but deep down, I didn’t feel like she would. Maybe it was because I just couldn’t see her being a caretaker of tradition. I didn’t see Elizabeth in that light. She was a scrapper and a fighter, not exactly requirements for success in a conservative private school. No, I was fairly confident that she would stay in Otis. Of course, I had no intention of telling Elizabeth this. I agreed with Martha; she’d have to come to this decision on her own.

I must have dozed off. I awoke with a start as the sound of the jet engines changed, and our plane started to descend for landing at Stapleton Field in Denver. The city was in the process of building a new airport, further east of Denver, but for now, the old airfield was still in service.

“Change,” I thought to myself. “It goes on, like it or not.” From what I had read in the Rocky Mountain News, the new airport would be “state of the art,” whatever that meant.