Page 39 of I Blame the Alcohol

Cody grunts and folds himself back into his seat, choosing to accept defeat in sullen silence.

The last bar of the song rings out, but Mo and I don’t take a breath before launching into the next party anthem streaming from my phone. We keep the sibling car karaoke going all the way to Lethbridge, finally calling it quits when we arrive at our intermediate destination.

“Man, I’ve missed this.” Mo gives me a smile that says more than I can explain, “It’s good to have you back, Stel.”

“It’s good to be back.” We grin at each other, but the bonding moment is cut short when a throat clears behind me.

“Did I miss something? Why are we at the Lethbridge airport?”

Mo turns to face our backseat passenger, “You didn’t miss anything, we’re just cutting our drive short. Stella isn’t one for road trips.”

I shudder in agreement. Motion medicine works to keep my nausea down, but it knocks me out harder than a horse tranquilizer.

Popping the trunk, Mo grabs two of my suitcases and I climb out to grab the last one, shooting Cody a glare when he tries to grab it for me. We head towards the check-in desk, bypassing the small terminals until we arrive at the private sector.

Mo pulls out his security clearance and a quick check of our IDs has the receptionist greeting us like long lost friends, “Mr. and Miss O’Brien, it is so nice to have you flying with us again.”

“It’s our pleasure, Stephanie.”

Stephanie beams as if Mo’s name tag reading was worthy of a Grammy. Cody snorts and I hold back a gag. I can’t take this dog anywhere.

“If there’s anything I can be of assistance with, please let me know.” Giving Mo an obvious once-over, Stephanie hands each of us a clearance pass and waves us through.

I shoot my brother a look as we head to our designated hanger.

He smirks, "It’s called exchanging pleasantries, Stella. You should look into it sometime.”

“More like exchanging numbers. Tell me she slipped something with your clearance pass.”

Mo doesn't even bother glancing at the piece of paper in his hand, “As if lovely Stephanie was going to be the one to break my streak. We’re practically the same age.”

I roll my eyes, “One octogenarian, Mo. One. That does not make you irresistible to women of all ages.”

“Did or didn’t I get that sweet little old timer’s number?”

Cody’s eyes go wide, “No way. You hit on a grandma?”

“Bethany was closer to my great grandma’s age, but yes, we got along well.”

Mo lifts his shoulder casually as if this was an everyday occurrence, “She was taking her first international cruise and wanted a way for me to keep in touch afterwards.”

I laugh, “He got the number to some old folk’s home down in New Jersey.”

“Hey, Beth was thrilled to hear from me once they finally patched me through. Good thing she’d left me her room number as well.”

I cackle at the memory, Cody’s shock swiftly turning into suspicion.

“You’re playing with me, aren’t you?”

Mo grins, “If you don’t believe me, just ask Stella.”

Cody’s eyes narrow as I wipe away tears, “Hey, don’t look at me. I wasn’t Bethany’s shuffleboard partner for six weeks straight.”

Cody opens his mouth to respond, but no words leave his lips as we step into the hanger.

Cody

Holy shit. I feel like Tom Cruise.

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