Chapter 217 Chatty Karen
Sitting on Case’s private jet, flying from LA to Wisconsin, was so much different than the frantic trip they’d made to her parents’ house the Christmas before. Not only were they flying int a full week before Christmas, the weather was cooperating. There was no snowstorm to dodge, no airports to emergency land at, and no need to worry about having to rent a car and drive across country.
And… Andrea’s mother was with them.
She was sitting across from Andrea and chatted nearly the entire time about a whole lot of random things Andrea didn’t really care to much about. She did hear that her sister wasn’t coming in until Christmas Eve and that Grandpa Jack was trying to be more independent, which worried her mother, but that was about all…. So she said, “Oh, yeah? That’s nice,” about a hundred times.
She really just wanted to sit there and hold Case’s hand and think about how far they’d this year. She’d won a major award, made friends with a sworn enemy, survived at least two, maybe three, attempts to kill her, had a man die in front of her, gotten engaged, and started planning a wedding to the man she loved who had won a championship. It was an incredible amount to have crammed into one year, and she couldn’t imagine what the next year might bring.
At least she knew for sure that Case would be there with her—no matter what. He was sitting next to her, holding her hand, seeming to listen to her mother, but she had a feeling he was more engaged in his own thoughts than what Karen had to say.
“Guess who I saw at the grocery store last week,” Andrea’s mom said.
“I don’t know. Who?” she asked, having a million guesses and none at the same time.
“Steph Bloom,” she said with a smile. “It’s been so long since I’d spoken to her.”
“Oh, how is she?” Andrea didn’t really care. Steph was the mother of a guy she’d dated in high school, which seemed like ages ago now. He’d been more of a friend than a boyfriend, but they’d had a good time together at the prom her senior year. Malcolm Bloom. It had been forever since she’d even thought about him.
“She’s doing good. She said she couldn’t wait for Christmas. She thinks all of her kids are coming home for the holidays. Of course, she said she’s so proud of you, that she tells everyone she meets that she’s known you since you were in high school. I told her we’re awfully proud of both of you—Leslie, too.”
Her mom went off on a tangent, talking about all of the things he tells everyone who doesn’t know she’s the mother of an award winning actress and a singer well on her way to winning plenty of awards as well. Andrea kept nodding but was afraid she might fall asleep. She did wonder what Malcom was up to. Had his mom even gotten a chance to tell Karen what he was up to?
She wasn’t about to ask. It wasn’t as if she cared that much. But he had been a good friend at one point in time, so it would be nice to know—but asking might raise more questions than answers.
As her mom moved on to another topic, Andrea let her mind wander to how nice it would be to explore the woods around the house. She’d found a lot of peace walking through the snow there last year. She also wanted to go out to Grandpa Jack’s farm, even though he still wasn’t living there. He’d stayed on at her parents’ house, which was probably a good idea since he wasn’t stable enough to be by himself, and she didn’t know if he ever would be again, which made her sad.
“We’re descending into the airport now,” Case said when her mother took a deep breath. Andrea was glad. She needed a break from her mom already, even though she’d just flown into LA for the dress fitting a couple of days ago. Andrea hoped her mom would be so busy with Christmas plans she wouldn’t be able to chat quite so much, though she did love her very much and was happy to get to spend some time with her.
Even though there was no snow on the runway, and little chance of the plane sliding, Andrea still remembered last year and braced herself in case it was a bumpy landing. If there was one thing she’d learned in the last year, it was that you could never tell when an obstacle might suddenly show up in your way.
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