Read Online Into Thin Air by Caroline Leavitt - Free Book Online Page B

face. “No more trips,” he said.
    She peeled away the stiff paper. Inside, a small white box read “Studley’s Gift Shop.” She lifted the lid; inside sparkled a small, silvery locket. She dangled it from two fingers, delighted.
    â€œI’m getting remarried,” Frank said. “Her name is Janet Cooper and she’s flying in from Dallas tomorrow.”
    Gate 707. Ten at night. Lee, dazed, stood away from her father. The whole drive over they had fought, stretching out the same arguments from the night before, He could have told her, She kept asking him questions: Where had he met her? When had they met? How was it possible that he was really in love? He parried her questions. “An eligible bachelor like me,” he finally joked lamely, but Lee was unmoved. “Come on, it’s for us ,” he said.
    The plane was delayed ten minutes due to fog. Lee zipped and unzipped her leather jacket. She imagined swollen gray mist swallowing the plane whole, disorienting the pilot into a crash landing.
    â€œFlight 707 now arriving,” an amplified voice sputtered.
    Frank, expectant, moved forward. “Ah,” he said, sniffing the air as if it were delicious. People trickled from the gate, heads aloft, eyes drifting from face to face. Frank listed to the left, and then he suddenly sprang forward, pushing past a woman with a baby strapped against her heartbeat, sidestepping a couple and an old man. There, standing perfectly still, her face alive with her smile, was a young woman in a blue silk dress. Her blond hair was cropped close like a boy’s, and in each ear she had diamond studs, twin chips of light. Frank blended into her with a kiss so passionate, it startled Lee.
    Janet Cooper slowly pulled away from Frank, human honey, and then her blue eyes followed his pointed finger to Lee.
    Lee braced herself against the railing, holding on. Janet glided forward, stretching her hands toward Lee, keeping her body at a safe distance. “Call me Janet,” she said politely.
    The car waited directly outside the door. Lee crunched up in back with the one piece of luggage Janet had brought, “Here we go,” Frank said.
    Janet talked nonstop. She was faintly southern, drawling out her words, keeping one hand tapping lightly on the back of Frank’s neck. Her things would be shipped next week; she’d buy what she needed. Life was just starting. “This man,” she said, sighing, turning to Lee. “Let me tell you, he saved my life. There I was working the gift shop in the dead of winter. The heat’s on the fritz, I’m wearing three expensive sweaters, one right over the other, and mittens to boot. Not one customer all day.” Affectionately she walked her fingers through Frank’s hair. “And in this one troops.”
    â€œWinter?” Lee said. She remembered Claire solemnly watching a snowy hail bombard the window. “God’s bullets,” she had pronounced, laughing when the window rattled, “Missed me this time,” she had said. Lee looked at Janet quizzically. “But it’s winter now,” Lee said.
    â€œAlmost an anniversary.” Janet nodded, “Dear heart,” she said fondly to Frank.
    Something began to freeze inside Lee. Pushing through the ice, a memory bloomed.
    â€œYou carried stationery at your store?” Lee said. “With flowers?”
    â€œSure we did,” Janet said. “Best selection in town.”
    In the rearview mirror, Frank’s eyes avoided Lee’s.
    â€œIn fact, we carried that heart you’re wearing, I told Frank all the girls were wearing them, so it’s really a gift from me, too.”
    Lee felt herself shutting down. The locket, inside her shirt, weighted her back against the vinyl seat.
    â€œThat’s some hair you have,” Janet said. “Isn’t it hard to take care of? Especially when they really have so many cute cuts these