Page 18 of Holiday Romance
“We should book onto something in the morning,” he says, still scrolling. “The storm will have passed by then. We can…” He trails off as his screen goes blank before a call comes through.
“It’s Mam,” he says, staring at it. “She usually stays awake until I’m on the plane.”
We both wait until it stops ringing, only for it to immediately start again. Andrew’s chest moves up and down with a heavy sigh before he clicks accept, moving a few paces away.
“Hiya!” he answers with false cheer. “Yeah, I’m… Yeah, it’s not looking good, I’m afraid. No, we’ll figure something out. With Molly, yeah.”
I put my glass down, starting to feel ill as I gather my coat and purse. I need to join one of these lines and I’m halfway to doing just that when my own phone rings.
Relief trickles through me when I see the name on the screen.
Zoe. My sister will know what to do. My sister always knows what to do.
“Your flight’s canceled.”
“You don’t say,” I huff, remaining by the relative safety of the bar. All around me people are moving, ushering children and friends toward anyone who looks in charge. “Why are you even awake?”
“Oh, I don’t know, Molly, maybe because it’s because I have a human being growing inside me and I have to pee every thirty minutes. What are you going to do?”
“About the flight or the peeing?”
“You’re not funny. I’m the funny one.”
“Debatable,” I mutter. “And I don’t know yet. It’s a nightmare here.”
“The BBC says seventy percent of planes due to fly over the north Atlantic tonight are grounded and the other thirty percent will probably follow.”
“And you’re calling me with a solution, right?”
“I’m calling to remind you that if you don’t get your ass back here, I’ll kill you. You can’t leave me alone with Mam and Dad. This is the one time of the year all the pressure is off me because everyone’s fawning over you and you arenottaking that away from me. Surely, they have connecting flights from Canada or something.”
“We’ll still have to cross the ocean.” I glance over my shoulder to find Andrew rubbing a slow circle into his forehead. He’s told me a lot about his mother, an energetic, well-meaning force of a woman who’s always struggled with him being so far from home. I can only imagine the conversation he’s having. “I think we’re just going to have to wait for the storm to pass.”
“They’re saying it’s going to be another day or two at least.”
“Who’s they?”
“The weather guy,” she says defensively. “The one with the tie.”
“They all wear ties!”
“Molly?”
Andrew walks toward me, his hair sticking up at various angles where he’s been pulling it. “We’ll figure something out,” I say to Zoe. “Break the news to Mam when she wakes, will you?”
“Oh sure, leave it to me to ruin Christmas.”
“Would you just—”
“Love you!”
I focus on Andrew as she hangs up. “Everything okay?”
“Mam’s panicking,” he says, grabbing his coat. “I’m going to go get in line and see what our options are. You okay to mind our stuff?”
“Of course.”
“And maybe you could look up some—”
