Page 12 of Harman

It was much too cold for them to walk around the town after dinner. They got into their car, telling the driver to go where there were lots of Christmas lights they could see. For the next hour or so, that’s just what they did. Enjoying the beauty surrounding them as well as the companionship of one another.

Going to the hotel, they had decided that they were too excited to wait for tomorrow’s flight at home and wanted to get there on time tomorrow afternoon. They were going to pick them up a few things to tide them over so that when they got there, they wouldn’t be smelling like well-worn travelers.

The hardest decision he had to make while shopping was the brown hat or the green. After considering it a few minutes more, he got them both. Still laughing, he found his wife looking at bathing suits. It had been so long since either of them had new clothing that it occurred to him that he had no idea what sort of things were in style anymore. For all he knew about fashion, he could have fit it in one of his new hats. Hannah showed him the one-piece bathing suit? Costume? He didn’t even know what they were called anymore, and that made him laugh again.

“I’ve also brought us a few snacks for the plane trip. I know that they’ll serve us dinner, but I’d like to start this new life on a fun note. Jimmy, I’m about to bust, I’m so excited. And being with you only? Well, I can’t make you understand how that is exciting for me as well.” He told her that he was, too, and laughed again. “I don’t know that I’ve heard you laugh as much as you have lately. It’s wonderful to hear that sound coming from you again, I tell you.”

“You’ve no idea how lifting it is for me to laugh like this. I feel free. More so than I have in a long time. And I don’t want to get us thinking about Jimmy, but I’m so glad that he’s in jail while we’re doing this. He’d find some way to screw this up for us.” Hannah nodded and leaned her head on his chest while he continued. “I love him, honey, but I don’t think I’ve liked him in a very long time. If we’re being honest with each other, I feel too like a burden has been lifted from my shoulders in not having to deal with his crap anymore.”

“I feel the same way. I don’t care if anyone thinks that I’m cruel, either. If they knew half the stuff that he’s been up to since he’d been a child, they would actually feel sorry for us.” Jimmy told her to buy both the bathing suits—she corrected him on what they were called nowadays. “All right. I think I will, and for good measure, I’m going to get the matching robe to go with it. In case I just want to run into town for a moment.”

They purchased their luggage, just a couple of carry-ons to put their new things in. He wondered what people would say when they inspected their luggage and found that everything they had packed still had price tags on it. After the two of them had a nice cup of tea, Hannah said she was too tired, and Jimmy joined her in the big bed.

He couldn’t sleep and slid out of the bed. With his wife still sleeping, he made his way to the computer to look once more at the house that Katie had found for them to buy. It would be just one more thing she’d have to take care of when they were gone, but this was something that he thought Hannah would enjoy as well. A lovely beach house with the ocean as their front lawn.

By the time Hannah was up and around, he’d found some things they could do while they were on layover. Not too much, they’d established that they weren’t young anymore last night, and he found them things that they’d be able to see without too much walking around. When his cell phone rang, he took it, knowing that whatever news Katie had would be welcome.

“All right, the deed to your new home will be couriered to your new place the day after tomorrow. The keys have been given to the cook you now have. Ms. Lanton has passed her background check and is ready to start her employment with you two soon.” He asked if he could put her on speakerphone, and she said that was fine. Repeating everything that she’d said to him, Jimmy laughed at the expression on Hannah’s face.

“We’ve been saying this a lot today and yesterday, but we should have done this earlier in life. However, when I think on that, you wouldn’t have been born yet when we were looking at retirement. Thank you so much, Katie. I hope you know how much we both love you.” Jimmy could almost taste Katie’s embarrassment but let it go. After that, Katie changed the subject and they were both fine with that. “The hearing is today. I’ll be heading over there in short order. Oh. I nearly forgot again. The couple that are moving into your house soon wants to know if any of the furniture will stay. They believe that you’ve had a decorator come in, and they were that good.”

“You’ve been in the house several times over the years. Is there anything in the house that you’d like to have?” He glanced at his wife, and she shook her head. “I’ve spoken to Hannah, and we want nothing from the house but our personal things. The rest of it can—They will be paying more for the house, and they’re aware of that, correct?”

“Yes, sir, they are aware. I’ll need for you to approve on the contents sales. I thought, after making a quick rundown on the household goods, I’m thinking that everything in the house should be about three hundred thousand. You’ve both been collectors for years, and it shows throughout the house. And since you’ve asked me. I would love to have your desk. Actually, your entire office suite. I don’t have a set up at home just yet, and I would love to be able to sit at yours after all that you’ve done for me.” Jimmy started to cry a little, and Hannah said that she’d be back. It was the kindness of this woman that made them feel better all the time. “I’ll pay you whatever you think it’s worth.”

“You take it. Don’t tell the couple buying the house that you’re getting it. They might feel like you’re overstepping your bounds. But Hannah and I would be so proud to have you honor us by using my old desk.”

After making arrangements to have the desk picked up, Katie said that she’d call him back with what the Connors wanted to do. After ringing off, he asked Hannah if she was all right.

“Yes. I so wish we could have had a daughter like her. I’m sure that she’d tell us that we were better off without her as a snot-nosed kid and that she’s not nearly as perfect as we think she is. But I think that she is absolutely wonderfully perfect.” Jimmy agreed with her. They were leaving the hotel soon to head to the airport and was glad that they had picked up some luggage to put a few things in. It made them not stick out like a banged-up thumb walking through the airport without even a purse for Hannah.

Getting on the plane, the two of them being sat in front of the plane in first class, had been a great idea, he told Hannah. They had room to stretch out as well as headroom that didn’t have them bumping into the underside of the compartments that held luggage. Once he was finished stuffing their almost empty bags overhead, they settled down for the long trip across the country.

Jimmy must have dozed off at one point. He’d not gotten any sleep the night before, so he thought that a good nap would do him good. Hannah was doing a crossword puzzle, and he leaned back his head to relax while talking to her. Just then, the plane seemed to hit something, and he asked Hannah if she knew what was going on.

“I think that’s what woke you up. It’s turbulence, they keep telling us. Nothing to worry about.” She raised her eyes from the book she was working in and looked at him. He could see the fear in her eyes and the way her face just seemed to be tense. “Jimmy, honey, I don’t think we’re going to make it to our destination. I have a feeling that all our planning to enjoy some time together is going to be these final moments that we’re having right now.”

Just as she said that, the plane nose-dived for a few long, tense moments before he felt it rise back up to cruising level. Instead of laughing off what Hannah had said to him, he reached for her hand and told her that he loved her. The lights flickered on and off several times before she told him that she loved him as well. They were both going to die, but they were together, so he was all right with that.

“We had a good life, didn’t we, Jimmy?” He assured her that there wasn’t anyone that could say differently. “Thank you. For all you did for me over the years. I’m excited to be able to spend all of eternity with you again.”

The plane dropped, this time starting a downward position that told him that they were going to crash nose-first into the water below them. A jarring stop after a few minutes had him sitting closer to Hannah. The seat belt light came on and the oxygen masks fell in front of them and the other passengers. Screaming started then. Everyone behind them was coming to the same conclusion that he and Hannah had already known. They were all going to die.

Items began to make their way through the air toward them. A pair of shoes hit him in the face. There were two books that landed on the wall between them. The next item, he thought it was a reader of some sort, it Hannah in the forehead, rendering her unconscious. He was happy for that. The less she would suffer, the better.

Holding her tightly again, Jimmy hoped for something to hit him as well. The waiting to die was long, it felt like. More items began to hit them as the plane made a slight adjustment, and now it was completely nose down, and he was straining then to even hold himself in his seat.

The plane just dropped quickly. While not too quickly in his mind, he knew it was fast approaching the ocean. He knew after a few seconds that they weren’t going to come out of this one. Pulling Hannah so close to him that it tightened the seatbelt too snugly against his belly. But he didn’t care. His only hope now was that they died quickly, that they’d not have to suffer overly much while doing so.

There was a brief hope that the plane might come out of it, but it was just his heart hoping. The reality of it was that they were too far from cruising altitude to recover. The impact on the water hurt him so much that he cried out once. Jimmy told his wife that he loved her again before something hit him in the back of the head.

Chapter 6

Carrie picked up the phone at home and said her name. She didn’t know who would be calling her at this ungodly hour, but almost as soon as she was going to yell at the person for waking her up, she heard Katie sobbing.

“They’re gone. Dead. Their plane went down over the ocean a few hours ago, and everyone on board was killed from the impact.” Her first thought was that it was someone in Harman’s family, and then she asked her who had died. “The Barnhart couple that I was telling you about the other day. They were going to live on a nice island and live out their lives happily. Now, I have to wait to find out if they find their bodies so that I can make the arrangements for their funeral. I’m so heartbroken, Carrie, I just don’t know what to do.”

“Did they leave you in charge of their estate?” Katie said that they had and asked her what that had to do with this. “Plenty. I want you to pull out your files and begin working on what they wanted. Has anyone told that man? The one that beat you to snot?”

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