DELAYED.
DELAYED.
DELAYED.
âCome on,â Julia Radman murmured as she scanned the hard-to-read rows of flights. âDonât beââ
CANCELED.
Of course.
With a sigh, Julia shrugged the strap of her leather bag higher on her shoulder and looked at the line of people queuing in front of the customer-service desk. None of them looked any happier than she did. Julia glanced at her watch, then at the line, and finally outside the terminal windows to the late-afternoon sun shining as golden as honey. The weather in Texas might be hot and dry, but apparently the entire East Coast was being slammed by an ice storm. Newark, JFK, Philadelphiaânobody was getting in or out.
She might as well sit down. She wasnât going anywhere, not for a while, and standing in line wasnât going to make the time pass any faster. She settled into one of the curved plastic chairs close enough to the desk so she could see what was going on and pulled out her iPhone to let her fingers dance over the keys. She pulled up Hobby Airportâs Web site, but there wasnât anything there she didnât already know. They had a nice slideshow of planes landing and taking off, but after those three minutes of her life had gone by, she had nothing to do but check the weather. Fifteen minutes later the line hadnât moved much at all, and the rest of the plastic seats had filled with disgruntled and grumbling passengers.
âYou too, huh?â
The seat next to her had been empty for a few minutes, but now a heavyset man in a long overcoat had taken it. Sheâd already moved over as far as she could, and he huffed a little as, he squirmed into the space between Julia and the woman on his other side.
âWhere you headed?â the man continued as though sheâd answered.
âPhiladelphia.â
âNewark,â he told her. âGot my wife waiting for me. Grandkids, too, prolly.â
âThatâs nice,â Julia said. The only thing waiting for her would be a pile of mail, a cold apartment and a goldfish named Larry.
The man sighed heavily. âI only got a coupla more years before I can retire. Let someone else take over, ya know? Iâm tired of all this traveling.â
âEspecially when itâs like this.â Julia nodded sympathetically.
She loved traveling, actually. Business or pleasure, she spent hours planning her trips to take advantage of local sights. She wasnât going to end up like her parents, who always talked about the vacations they wanted to take but whoâd never gone farther than Niagara Fallsâthe American side! The weather was making this trip inconvenient, but she wasnât going to swear off traveling because of it.
The line had inched forward, people peeling away from it with angry faces. The ticket clerks looked harried, tight-lipped smiles giving the minimum of polite, forced cheer. Julia didnât envy them their jobs at the moment.
âYou been up there yet?â The man jerked his double chin toward the desk.
âNo. You?â
âYeah. Donât look good, ya know? They told me I could sit and wait or I could take a flight out tomorrow. Theyâll put me up in the airport hotel. Hilton, they said. But I tole âem, I wanna get home, ya know?â
Julia shifted in her seat to look at him. âYouâre going to wait?â
He nodded. âSee if Newark opens up. They say I got a coupla hours to wait. Might as well, ya know?â His hearty chuckle sounded forced and his red-rimmed eyes held no hint of humor.
Julia looked at the line and decided it was still too long to wait. âIf they offer me a free night at the Hilton, Iâll take it.â
âYou donât got nobody waiting for you at home?â The man frowned. âPretty girl like you? Thatâs a shame.â
Julia looked down at her hands, folded loosely in her lap. âThanks.â
There didnât seem to be much else to say to that. He was only trying to be nice, and she didnât really want to get into her personal life with a stranger. How she was single by choice, not for lack of offers; how sheâd decided it was better to be alone than settle for something that didnât make her happy.
âMy Maggie, now, if Iâm away from her for more than a few days, I miss her something awful. And I been away for a week this time. We got the grandkids coming to stay with us over Christmas break on account our daughter and her husband are going to Mexico. You ever been to Mexico?â
âYes. Itâs nice.â
âNice, huh?â Her newfound friend looked dubious. âI canât even eat Mexican food. Messes with my stomach. But I canât wait to see the kids, ya know? They been there two days awready.â
âIâm sure theyâll get you home as soon as they can,â Julia assured him.
He didnât look convinced. âYeah. I hope so. Well, Iâm going to head over to get something to eat, I guess. You need anything?â
âNo, thanks. Iâm going to wait here for the line to get smaller and see what I can do about getting out of here.â
He nodded and heaved his bulk off the chair. âYou have a safe flight, then. Hope you get home okay.â