Chapter 1

Lucy Andrews was in a bind. She had been given an assignment to go to a conference up in Sacramento to try and get the state government to release some money for a project her company was working on.

Ordinarily should wouldn’t have minded the hour and a half flight, she’d been up there before for other matters, but this trip came at a most inopportune time. Lucy’s daughter Christy was coming home from college for the summer and this trip meant she wouldn’t be there to greet her plane or for the first couple days of her summer break.

Since she couldn’t out of going on the trip, she had to come up with another plan. As soon as she got home that afternoon, she went across the street to her neighbor’s house.

“Hi Bill, listen I am in a little bit of a mess and I was hoping you could help me,” she said as she was greeted at the door.

“Sure Lucy, Come on in and tell me about it. Want a cup of coffee or something?” he asked.

“No, but thank you. I have a lot of things I need to do. Anyway, my problem is this: Today, my boss sprang a last-minute trip to Sacramento on me. Our company is trying to get the State to release some funding for a project we are working on.

“The girl who was supposed to go to on this trip can’t because she has to fly to Atlanta for a funeral. So it falls to me to go to Sacramento! It’s all a big mess, but the end result is that I will be gone for three to four days while all this is going on – you know our government never moves very fast!

“The problem, though, lies in the fact that Christy is due to come home from college for the summer and will be arriving just after my plane leaves. Her flight is due in around 1:00 in the afternoon on Monday and I leave for Sacramento at 9:00 that morning. Hell, if we were any closer, I could wave to her as our planes passed each other!” she said.

“I see. Sure, I’ll be glad to help. What do you need me to do?” he said.

“Not much really, I mean Christy is in college and pretty much takes care of things herself. I just would feel more comfortable if I had you looking out for things. You know, in case there’s some kind of emergency.

“You are pretty handy around the house and if something was to break, I would feel a lot better knowing she could come to you for help. You have been so wonderful to us since Mike passed away,” Lucy said.

“Oh, sweetheart, you and Christy are the closest thing to family I have anymore. I would be happy to look after Christy and things for you. It will be good to see our little girl again!” he said.

“Thank you, Bill. I will go to the store and get the groceries and everything this weekend and then stop by with the key before I leave. I don’t think Christy will need the car for anything, I’ll only be gone a few days, so I will put it in the garage. But I’ll leave you the key for it too, just in case,” she said.

“Sounds good, Lucy. I’m sure Christy and I will be just fine for a few days. It’ll give us a chance to catch up – I’m sure she will have lots of stories of college life to tell me!” he said, chuckling.

He remembered how excited she would get at times when she was younger, and how she would race over to his house with the latest news. He would patiently sit there and listen as her words came out faster than her mouth could make them sometimes, ending up in garbled, one-word sentences.

“Yes, sometimes she would be so worked up she would forget to breathe until she flat ran out of air!” Lucy laughed. “Thank you again, Bill. But now I have to run, I have a million things to do before I leave ... and only two days to get them done! Geesh!”

That Sunday evening, Lucy went back over to Bill’s house. “Here are the keys to the house and to the car. I have a spare key to lock the house up when I leave tomorrow. I’m bringing them over tonight because I didn’t want to wake you up tomorrow. I will take a cab to the airport in the morning’” she said, handing him the keys.

“Now the fridge and cupboards are full, all the dishes and laundry is done and the house is clean. So everything should be set for you and Christy. Here are her flight and arrival time. She is due in around 1:00 pm on American Airlines Flight 1031”

“Okay, Lucy, have a good trip and I hope things go the way you need them in Sacramento,” he said. The next morning just before he headed to the airport to pick up Christy, he went over to check out the house.

As she had said Lucy had filled the refrigerator and cupboards with plenty of food and everything seemed to be in order. He went to the garage and the car was safely inside. He checked and it had a full tank of fuel.

It looks like Lucy has thought of everything! he thought to himself. And after securing the garage door and giving the house door another check, he headed off in his truck to LAX to pick up Christy

Bill got to the airport and parked at the closest point he could find to the terminal building. He didn’t know how many bags Christy would be bringing and didn’t want to walk any further than he had to. He went inside and read on the overhead monitors that American Airlines Flight 1031 would be arriving at Terminal 4, Gate 46A.

“Oh crap! Wouldn’t you just know it ... the gate Christy is coming in on is the furthest one away!” he said, exasperated. He began the long walk down the main corridor to get to Terminal 4 at the other end of the airport.

He walked down the wide main corridor, slowly passing little tourist trap shops, different places to eat, and other things typically found in a major airport. He tried not to look to the other end of the airport because it still seemed to be miles away.

As he walked he was passed from time to time by little electric golf cart looking vehicles. Some said SECURITY across the sides, and some said COURTESY SHUTTLE on them. Finally one of the courtesy shuttles came by without any passengers, and he flagged it down.

“Where do you need to get to, Sir?” the driver asked.

“Terminal 4, Gate 46A,” Bill said. He climbed into the passenger seat and they headed to his gate. “Oh yeah, this beats walking hands down,” Bill said as he rode along.

“Yep, I wouldn’t want to have to walk this airport too awful much, that’s for sure! So are you picking up someone or leaving yourself?” the driver asked.

“I’m picking someone up ... a friend,” he said.

“I see. Well hopefully your friend’s plane will be on time,” the driver said.

A couple of minutes later the driver stopped. “Okay Sir, here is your gate. When your friend arrives and you are ready to go, just flag down another one of our carts to take you wherever you need to go next!” he said. Bill paid the dollar fee and the driver left. Bill found a seat in the waiting area and waited for Christy’s plane to arrive.

It was about a half-hour before he heard the page over the airport intercom “Attention passengers, American Airlines, Flight 110 is now arriving at gate 46A. American Airlines Flight 1031 at gate 46A.”

Bill stood up as he watched the huge Boeing 747 pull slowly up to the skyway. A couple of minutes later the door opened and people began coming through into the terminal. Bill waited and watched as the passenger filed through the doorway, some hugging and shaking hands with those there to meet them, others just headed off to baggage claim alone.

Then Bill spotted someone. The young woman was facing away from him at first, but the long golden blonde hair was familiar although the woman herself was much taller than he remembered. Suddenly, she turned towards him searching for someone and he knew instantly it was Christy.

“Christy!” he called out waving a hand in the air to get her attention.

“Uncle Bill!” she said, walking quickly up to him. she threw her arms around him giving him a huge hug.

“Hi, Goldilocks! Your mother would have been here to meet your plane but she had to take a sudden trip to Sacramento for work. So she asked me to meet your plane,” he said.

“Goldilocks! You remembered the name you used to call me when I was little!” she said, looking up at him with a big smile, “Yeah, Mom called me Saturday and told me she had to fly up to the capital. She said you would meet me here and look after things until she got back. I’m glad to see you again Uncle Bill!”

While William Henderson wasn’t related to Christy in any way, he had been a fixture in her life for as far back as she could remember. She used to go over to his house and play and the two had had many a tea party over the years.

She and Bill had grown very close and it was him as much as her mother, that got Christy through the trauma of losing her father. Bill had been there for both Christy and Lucy at that terrible time and it had been his strength and his support that had pulled them both through the dark days.

Bill, on the other hand, loved having Christy around. He himself had been divorced for many years and having Christy to spend time with had made the loneliness a lot more tolerable. It had been his suggestion years ago, before Mike’s accident, that Christy call him Uncle Mike instead of Mr. Henderson.

And he started acting more like a favorite uncle instead of the man across the street after that. He had gone to a few of her school plays and had been invited to take the place of her late father at Christy’s high school graduation.

“I’m glad to see you again too, honey. You’ve grown into a very beautiful woman ... college life sure agrees with you!” he said.

“Aww, thank you, Uncle Bill. And you are as handsome as ever! It sure is good to be home again!” she said.

“Let’s go get your bags and we will get out of here and head that way then,” he suggested. He held out his left elbow and she smiled, threading her arm though and wrapping it around his arm.

They used to walk that way when she was younger and she smiled that he remembered that as well. They began the long trek back to the baggage claim area until a courtesy shuttle came by and they caught a ride with it.

Once they had picked up her suitcases at the baggage claim, they headed out to the truck. Bill put her in the passenger seat and put her bags in the back of the truck. Then he got behind the wheel and they turned toward home.

When they got back to the house, Bill helped her bring her suitcases into the house and took them back to her bedroom. Then he waited in the living room until she had unpacked and put away the few things she had brought with her.