Page 55 of Something Like Summer
“Oh, yes,” Jace repliedwith an exasperated look. “There isn’t a day of the year that theairlines don’t serve.”
“That mustsuck.”
“It can, but this year Ifinagled it so I have Christmas off.” Jace paused and lookedwistfully out of the window. “It’ll be nice to be homeagain.”
“So you live inHouston?”
“Yeah. You?”
Ben shook his head.“Chicago.”
“Too bad.” Jace said thiscasually enough, but the words hit Ben like a lightningbolt.
“I’ll probably be in towna few weeks,” Ben amended hurriedly.
Jace raised an eyebrow andsmiled. He didn’t reply. Instead he looked expectant. “You know,”he said eventually, “there is a strict company policy againstasking passengers out on dates.”
“Oh.”
“That’s not to say thatyou can’t ask me.”
Jace’s grin matched Ben’sown.
* * * * *
Christmas came and went,but Ben barely noticed. The entire day was spent trying to consoleAllison, who was now alone in the world except for an aunt and afew cousins who had decided not to leave Colorado for thefuneral.
Details of what hadhappened unfolded during the lulls of Allison’s crying spells. Aneighbor had seen Mr. Cross collapse in the driveway and had calledthe police instead of an ambulance. Allison’s father had been foundpassed out in the street a month before, so the neighbor thought hewas simply drunk again. By the time the police arrived, Mr. Crosswas in critical condition from a heart attack. He died on the wayto the hospital.
“He never really gotbetter,” Allison confided as they sat together in the living roomof her childhood home. “He always drank too much, and it only gotworse once I went to college.”
“At least his tempermellowed with you,” Ben said.
Allison shook her headonce.
Ben sat up on the couch.“You mean it didn’t?”
“No,” Allison confirmed.“Well, it did, obviously, in that I was able to date and hang outwith you again, but he still went into his rages and acted reallyparanoid, especially when drunk. He even claimed once that you wereblackmailing him.”
“I kind of was,” Benadmitted. “I threatened to tell people that he was molesting me ifhe ever hit you again. He didn’t, did he?”
Allison shook her head, butlooked away as she did so. Ben wondered if she was being honest,but knew that he would probably never know, not now. People had afunny way of forgiving the dead.
The following day Bentackled the long list of affairs to be set in order, starting withthe funeral home. Allison decided to have the body cremated and nothold a memorial service. Allison and Ben were the only ones likelyto attend anyway, since they had so few relatives and Mr. Crossnever socialized.
Next they dug through pilesof paperwork in Mr. Cross’s office, searching for a will. Theyfound a house mortgage that was almost paid off, and a lifeinsurance policy that would cover the rest while leaving Allisonwith money to spare. They still weren’t sure how much money was inthe bank or if he left any credit card debt, but Ben planned onsearching the computer for this information the next day. Whatlittle they had accomplished had already taken them well into theevening. The process was especially tiring for Allison.
Ben waited until she wasasleep before pulling Jace’s number from his wallet. He feltslightly guilty about dating in the midst of Allison’s loss, butthose feelings were soon replaced by nervousness as he punched inthe number. A woman answered the phone.
“Hello?”
“Uh, hi. Is Jacethere?”
The woman paused beforesternly asking, “Who’s this?”
Not another married guy!Ben came close to hanging up when a rustling sound preceded thewoman’s laughter.
“Idiot!” Jace’s voice saidthrough a hand on the receiver. “Sorry, this is Jace,” he said in amuch clearer tone.
