Mary Kate closed her window shade to block the morning sun from her personal entertainment screen. She had been tracking their progress on the plane’s global positioning system for the past four hours as they approached the east coast of Georgia. She was cramped and cranky, and anxious about what the next few days would bring. One thing was certain, and that was that she couldn’t go back to the way things were. She had reached a decision—probably the most important one in her life—and would set it in motion the moment she stepped off the plane.
Her flight out of Kilimanjaro Airport had been the exclamation point on her trip. When they cleared the cloud cover, the majestic summit came into view once again, riveting her thoughts to the enormity of what she had accomplished. Just as when she first saw the peak below their plane, Mary Kate was awed. But this time, she was not intimidated. This time, she owned that mountain, and had proven to herself that no goal, no matter how difficult, was beyond her reach. She didn’t have to blindly follow Bobby’s dreams, or those of her family. She had stood up to them, and could do it again with confidence.
Ironically, she had given the trek to Uhuru barely a thought since exiting the park at Millennium Gate. It was peculiar that something which had been essential to her sense of self for the past six months had moved so quickly from her consciousness. In her two weeks in Africa, she had conquered the summit, yet it was not what she would remember most about her trip. That distinction belonged to Addison Falk.
She ached to think her first real glimpse of love was over, that the one thing she really wanted was something she couldn’t have. In the first place, women from Mooresville, Georgia, didn’t just up and run off to London, or anywhere else. Her newfound confidence was about asserting herself to be her own woman among her family and friends, not to be someone else entirely.
In the second place—the most important place—Addison would never be accepted by her family as the person she loved and wanted to build a life with. After the initial disappointment and shame, there would be an agreement by all to pretend things weren’t really as they were. Mary Kate would go to Sunday dinner less often, and always alone. Every visit would be a painful reminder that going against the grain in pursuit of her personal happiness had consequences.
Making a life with Addison was impossible without her family’s support. To do so, she needed a single-minded determination that being together was worth the cost. If she was wrong—if she and Addison were to fall apart down the road—she would never fully recover the trust of her family, or the respect of the community.
Addison loved her, and she would always cherish that. She, too, loved Addison, but there was nowhere for that love to go.
Addison had awakened her body, and had taught her things about herself that Bobby would never have known. More important, she had stirred the kind of passion that had always been missing in her life, where fascination and desire came together to yield perfect physical expression. Now that she understood her sexuality, she wanted control of it, and would teach Bobby to give her those sensations.
Bobby had other virtues, even if they were tied to a predictable life that felt suffocating at times. He would be principal when Warner Hughes retired, a job that would take him to retirement. Her family had welcomed him without reservation. Their life was perfectly scripted—a church wedding, three children. Bobby would be a good provider, a family man. Their children would play with Carol Lee’s, and their house would have an in ground pool. Like the generation before them, the women would sit in the kitchen and talk while the men watched football in the other room.
“Ladies and gentlemen, in preparation for landing, please bring seat backs and tray tables to their upright and locked positions. Putaway all…”
She tipped her seat forward and closed her video screen as the big plane lumbered through its descent. A loud vibration signaled the drop of the landing gear, and she willed herself a dose of courage for what she knew she had to do.
This was the crossroads of her life, and only one path would lead to happiness. She would marry Bobby, probably during the Christmas break so they could have a honeymoon.
Addison was right that she would feel proud of herself for working it through. She would never have to look back on her life with regrets about not trying something different. She had, and it wasn’t right for her. This was. She knew because every time she thought of choosing Addison, her anxiety became almost unbearable. Choosing Bobby quieted that.
Numb from her exhausting physical and emotional journeys, she mindlessly followed her fellow passengers through passport control and into the baggage claim area. Balancing her Summit bag and duffel, she walked through the exit marked Nothing to Declare and turned over her form to the customs agent. As she snaked through the hallway toward the arrivals area, she envisioned Bobby’s handsome face lighting up with recognition as she emerged. Would he be able to tell that she had been unfaithful?
“Mary Kate!”
She spun in the direction of his voice and immediately found herself enveloped in his strong arms. The kiss that followed surprised her, and she turned her head at the last second to receive it on the cheek.
“I’m so glad you’re home. I missed you so bad, I’m not ever going to let you out of my sight again.”
She bristled at the possessive inference before accepting it as his way of showing affection. She had intended to accept his proposal in a grand gesture the instant she got off the plane, but this didn’t feel like the time. “I’ve missed you too.”
Bobby picked up both bags. “I got here early and got a parking place right by the elevator so we wouldn’t have to walk far.” All business now, he proceeded toward the elevator. “Everybody’s going to be really glad to see you.”
“I’ll be glad to see them too.” It felt good to stretch her legs, but the long walk through the terminal had sapped her strength. When they finally reached the car, all she wanted was to collapse.
Bobby tossed the bags into the trunk while she got into the passenger seat.
“Was it as hard as you thought it would be?”
“Yeah, some parts were a lot tougher than I expected, but I was ready. There were three people in our group who didn’t train enough and they had to turn back.” That was her way of telling him he might not have made it. “But it was so incredible to be up on top of it all.”
“Well, that’s what you went for. Did you see lions and stuff?”
“We saw everything. I bet I saw twenty or thirty lions, just out in the wild. And a cheetah with two—”
“We had a little incident with wild animals too.” Bobby chuckled as he remembered the tale. “The State Patrol called out to the school on Wednesday morning and told Warner that his fence was down, and he had three bulls running up and down Wilson Mill Road. So me and him jumped in his truck and drove out there. You should have seen us, Mary Kate, waving our arms to get those bulls to go back into the pasture. It was a sight, I tell you.”
Stung by his interruption, she leaned back against the headrest and closed her eyes. It didn’t surprise her that, where Bobby was concerned, a mother cheetah and her cubs were nothing compared to bulls running loose on the highway. In fact, he was probably no more interested in her trip now than he was before she left.
He drove through the parking garage, winding down several levels until he got into the long line to pay. “I always manage to pick the line that moves the slowest,” he grumbled. They were gridlocked in the middle of the garage.
“So what did Mom and Dad say when you told them I made it to the top?” After sitting upright for so long, it felt good to lie back with her feet stretched out.
“You know, I’m not sure I told them about that part. All anybody cared about was you getting down off that mountain okay.” He fumbled in the glove compartment for his cell phone. “You ought to call and tell them your plane got here.”
“You didn’t even tell them I made it to the top?”
“Why don’t you tell them, Mary Kate? They’ll like hearing that from you.”
Bobby just didn’t get it. He was a good guy, but he would never get it.
Now overwhelmed with the horror that she had almost made the biggest mistake of her life, Mary Kate had the sudden urge to jump out of the car. She wanted to leave Bobby right here in the garage and run back inside the airport, get on the next plane to Miami, and be there to meet the woman she loved when she walked out of customs. Daring herself to do something so bold, Mary Kate fidgeted with both her seat belt release and the door handle.
“I can’t believe it’s taking so long,” Bobby said as he eased the car forward.
Mary Kate tuned out his irritation and concentrated on relaxing her grip. “I’m going to close my eyes for a little while. I didn’t sleep much on the plane.”
“That’s all right, Mary Kate. I’ll wake you up when we get to Mooresville. Oh, before I forget, I went ahead and got us a room for a week at the Days Inn in Myrtle Beach starting next Saturday. It’s not on the ocean, but we can always drive over every day.”
A whole week at the Days Inn in Myrtle Beach. Be still my heart.
Mary Kate flung her door open, causing the annoying chime to sound in warning. “Pop the trunk. I have to get something.”
Bobby complied and stretched his neck to watch her as she hoisted the green duffel over her shoulder.
“Thanks for coming to get me, but I’m not coming home just yet.”
“Mary Kate!”
“Look, I’ll be back in a couple of weeks. Go on to Myrtle Beach without me, or take your brother or something. I promise I’ll come talk to you as soon as I get home.” She couldn’t say anymore. No matter what, she wasn’t going home with him.
Recklessly, she picked her way between the cars that were stacked up at the toll booth, and crossed a stream of oncoming traffic to re-enter the terminal. The line for Hartsfield’s major carrier held hundreds of passengers, which meant there was no hope of getting to the ticket counter before Bobby paid his fare, returned to the parking garage and caught up with her. A quick glance at the board revealed another option, and she hurried along the entryway to an agent at the far end.
“I need to get to Miami,” she said, slapping her credit card and passport on the counter.
“How many bags?” he asked, not even making eye contact.
“Just these. I’ll carry them.” She looked over her shoulder nervously for signs of Bobby.
“I can put you on the two thirty that gets in at four, but if you’ll go straight to the gate, they might let you on the one that’s leaving in twenty minutes.”
“Perfect.” She fidgeted while he ran her card. She signed the slip quickly and collected her boarding pass. Through the throng of passengers at the main counter, she caught a glimpse of someone who looked like Bobby, and her stomach tightened. “Is that the only line to get through security?”
He shook his head and pointed in the opposite direction. “You can go in down there, and there won’t be as many people.”
“Thanks.” Without looking back, she lowered her head and walked briskly to the back of the line. As others came behind her, she jockeyed for a position that would keep her out of view. Finally, she presented her ID and boarding pass, and when she collected her things at the far end of the conveyor, she breathed a sigh of relief. Without a ticket, Bobby couldn’t follow her in here.