Page 12 of One Year Ago in Spain
“I love you, Mom. I love you, Dad,” Claire said.
“Not as much as we love you,” Dad said, which was the same retort he gave every time she said that. And it made her smile every time.
“So,” Mom said, “how about a celebration dinner at Applebee’s?”
“That sounds perfect,” Claire said. Most of the kids in her class would be out at fancy steakhouses or upscale Italian restaurants tonight. But Applebee’s felt like home to Claire, who’d grown up in a house full of love but not much money. Applebee’s with her parents was exactly where she wanted to be.
Over boneless wings and pub pretzels with cheese dip, Mom talked about the rest of the RV trip they’d planned. They’d driven up from the little town in Florida where Claire had grown up to New York to be at her graduation, but then they were veering west to go see the Grand Canyon and a few other notable stops—like Carhenge, a “Stonehenge” made of cars—along the way.
“Wish you could come with us, sweetheart,” Dad said.
Mom swatted him affectionately. “Oh, stop it, Jim. Don’t guilt the girl. She’s got dreams bigger than Carhenge. Claire’s going to be a Big Apple lawyer someday, aren’t you, honey? Just like those shows on TV.”
Claire grinned from behind fingers covered in honey-garlic sauce from the wings. “Yep, just like TV, except maybe with less romantic drama.”
Mom laughed. “I hope so. Those TV lawyers are always sleeping with each otherandall their clients. Pretty sure that’s a conflict of interest.”
Dad winced. “Sorry. Can’t think about my sweet little girl grown up and, uh, having relations with anyone.”
Claire leaned across the table and gave him a sticky, sauce-covered kiss on the cheek. “Don’t worry, Daddy. No matter what, I’ll always be your little girl.”
—
Two hours later,Claire’s phone rang. Her parents had wanted to take her to a movie after dinner, but she’d planned to go to a graduation party with her friends, so her mom and dad had decided to hit the road to get some mileage in before the sun set.
She stepped out of the party, onto the lawn. “Hello?” She noticed that she’d missed four previous calls from the same unknown number.
“Claire Walker?”
“Yes?”
“This is Officer Grether from the Maryland State Police. I’m afraid I have bad news…There was a crash on I-95 involving an eighteen-wheeler and your parents’ RV.”
“What?” Claire bolted into the middle of the street, as if somehow she’d be able to see all the way down to the highway in Maryland from there and prove him wrong. “A-are they all right? I can drive down right away. No, shit, I’ve had a few drinks…Are Mom and Dad okay?”
“The big rig jackknifed on the highway and your parents’ RV was crushed. I’m very sorry, Claire…Jim and Sarah Walker are dead.”
Claire
Claire jolted awakefrom the half-flashback, half-dream, face wet with tears.
Mom…Dad…
She should have asked them to stay longer after her graduation. Then they wouldn’t have been on the road when that trucker lost control. They would still be alive today.
If she’d gone with them to a movie like they wanted, their plans would have changed just enough. They’d invited her, just like Matías had asked her to come with him to Spain. And both times when she’d declined…
Oh god.A violent sob racked Claire’s body. The teenager next to her frowned and asked, “Are you okay?”
Claire shook her head. She’d been alone in the world when her biological parents died, and Jim and Sarah had swooped in like angels and made her part of a family. But then they’d died, too, and Claire had been left all alone again. She’d found some sense of belonging in law school and at her work, but it wasn’t until she met Matías that she finally felt that she had found a safe haven again. And now she might lose him, too.
She sobbed again. The teenager rooted around his backpack and found a travel pack of tissues. “Here, ma’am.”
“Thank you,” she whispered as she accepted the proffered mercy.
“Hello from the flight deck,” Captain Cheasequah said. “We’re making our final approach into Madrid-Barajas Airport and will have you on the ground in about thirty minutes, so I’m going to go ahead and turn on that fasten-seatbelt sign. Please remain in your seats for the remainder of the flight, and thank you for flying the global skies with us.”
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