Page 35 of Changed Plan

I know I was fortunate to be able to get a hotel room. It was a convenience I could afford, and I acted quickly before they were sold out. So many people who were stranded here had a much worse go of it, but I can’t help feeling like life just kicked me in the teeth, regardless.

Darby should be in the middle of her interview right about now. I wish I was wandering around the terminal, looking for another present I could surprise her with.

We lift off into clear blue skies, and the pilot says she expects a smooth flight to Palm Beach. She tells us to get ready to forget what snow even looks like, and everyone laughs. The temperature when we land should be seventy-six degrees. There are some hoots and cheers over that number.

I’m looking forward to the warm weather, too, but I never want to forget what snow looks like.

Dad picks me up from the airport. He updates me on Mom’s condition, but other than that, the ride home is quiet. Neither of us has much to say. There’s no animosity between us. There’s just nothing else to talk about.

Izzie tears down the stairs as soon as we walk through the front door. “Finally!”

I almost give her a hard time about not coming to the airport to greet me, but then I remember. Someone had to be here with Mom. She’s weak after treatments.

As soon as I see Mom, nothing else matters. She’s sitting up in bed, and her face beams when I walk into the room. She says she’s still bouncing back, and reminds me it just takes a few days.

She looks good, all things considered. I’ve seen her look worse.

I try to be inconspicuous about checking my phone, but she’s never been one to miss anything. Or to keep a question to herself.

“Who is she?” she asks.

My face breaks into a smile because I’ve also never been able to keep anything from her.

“Her name’s Darby.”

“Oh, I like that. How long have you been seeing her?”

Shaking my head, knowing how crazy this is going to sound, I take a breath and say, “I met her two days ago. In the airport.”

“Hmm, that sounds like fate, if you ask me.”

“Really, Mom? You think the universe threw a blizzard our way so we could meet?” I laugh because that’s exactly what I told Darby.

Our snow-blind date.

“Sometimes, the longest lasting relationships start in the strangest ways.”

“Like you and Dad meeting because you accidentally set his car on fire?”

“I had to throw that cigarette quick. Your grandmother was coming, and she’d have told my father if she’d caught me smoking, and then he would’ve taken my car, and I couldn’t stand the thought of going back to school without my car. But I also couldn’t spend a whole day with my mother without having a cigarette, so . . .”

She loves to tell this story. I’ve heard it a hundred times, and I’d give the whole world for the chance to hear it a hundred more.

I wait for a while after Mom dozes off before I leave the room.

As soon as I step into the hall, I check my phone again. Darby made it to her hotel. And both companies have now offered her a job. The one she interviewed with this morning offered on the spot. The other one sent an offer while she was in the air. I’m happy for her.

It’s an unsettling state to be so sad but still able to feel happiness. More confusion than guilt, but there is some guilt involved.

Part of me wants to be nothing but sad, to feel every ounce of the ache of knowing the doctors are probably right. But another part of me wants to celebrate with Darby.

Izzie finds me staring at my phone. “Hey, loser. Since you’re not doing anything, you want to take me to the beach?”

“Give me five minutes to change.”

We talk about Mom on the drive. She understands a lot more than Dad thinks she does. He wants to protect her. She’s forever baby Isabella to him, but she’s not. I want to protect her, too, but she needs someone who will let her talk about it.

I have no qualms about allowing Izzie to vent and rage whenever she needs me to listen, and I’m not going to sugarcoat this for her because that’s not at all what she needs.

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