Friday Night Flights

by Susan X Meagher

  “Unless she tells me different, yes. Her name’s Lisbet.”

  “Lisbet?” A big grin lit up her face. “A beautiful name for a beautiful baby.”

  “We’re pretty fond of her,” Avery said, feeling like she was getting her feet under herself again. “Want to walk us back home? Lisbet could be out all day, but I’m toast.”

  “My truck’s right here. Let me give you a lift.”

  “That’s yours?” she asked, gazing at the massive blue vehicle that seemed large enough for its own zip code. “Do you do the deliveries for the brewery? Man, if I ever need a grand piano moved…”

  “It’s big,” she admitted, smiling. Then she flinched, looking like she’d been hit with a brick. “I don’t have a car seat.”

  “It’ll be fine. I wouldn’t normally get into a car without one, but she’s tethered to me so securely she’ll be safe for a quick trip. Besides feeling like I might be developing a fever, I’m desperate to find a bathroom.”

  “We can go into the restaurant…”

  “I’d rather go home. You can just drop me off—” She looked into Casey’s eyes, so filled with longing it was impossible to ignore. “Actually, I’d love help extricating myself from this carrier. Are you up for it?”

  Her expression changed to match that of a fighter pilot about to jump into the cockpit to soar over enemy territory. “I’ll get you home safe and sound.”

  ***

  Casey acted like assassins were on every corner, waiting to take them out with a kill-shot. They only had to travel a mile, but she took the least-traveled side streets, pulling over every time she spotted another car approaching from either direction. Avery was about to wet her pants, but it was clear Casey wasn’t going to be rushed.

  “So…” Avery said. “You aren’t giving me that ‘what in the hell were you thinking’ thing that everyone else has tried to hide.”

  “No way,” she said, staring straight ahead. “If I’d found a willing woman, I’d have a house full of kids by now.”

  Avery flinched a little at that, certain Casey wasn’t intentionally acting like a very willing baby-maker wasn’t sitting right next to her, but it still stung. “Mmm. My mom mentioned you were in the market for a baby mama. No luck?”

  Her cheeks colored slightly, which was a good sign. If she’d continued on blithely, she was probably a self-involved jerk. “I wouldn’t say I was just looking for someone to hand over a baby, but no, I’m not dating anyone right now. I’ve had some promising dates, but…” She cleared her throat and quietly said, “I really am jealous.”

  “No nieces or nephews to spoil?”

  “I’ve got two teenaged nephews, but they’re out in Nevada. I see them once a year, and I can hardly get them to have a conversation with me.”

  “That will happen with Lisbet,” Avery admitted. “But I’m sure I’ll have her attention for quite a few years.”

  “Oh, you will. I have a good friend who has a kid, and he’s still very much into his parents. It seems like Benji was smaller than Lisbet just a few weeks ago, but he’s eight now.” Another split second of eye contact. “Since Benji, Lisbet is the first baby any of my friends have had.”

  A little surprised at being called a friend, Avery said, “We come up every two or three weeks. Not often enough for my parents, but it’s an undertaking to get Lisbet up here. I have to bring a lot.”

  “You don’t live here?”

  “Here?” She let out a laugh. “I’ve been back at work for four and a half months already. If I’d had to add a two-hour commute to my day, I’d see her so little that you’d be able to drop a different baby into this carrier and I wouldn’t notice the difference.” Avery dipped her head again, speaking slowly and tenderly, delighting Lisbet, who loved to be close enough to count Avery’s eyelashes. No one had ever found her as fascinating as her child did. “I’m so glad no one switched you out for another baby. I’d choose you over every other munchkin in the world.”

  “It must be awesome to have her,” Casey said, sounding like she was referring to a mystical experience. “You’re going to get sick of hearing this, but I’m so jealous I’m ashamed of myself. I’d babysit every day if you lived close.”

  “Isn’t that always the way? My dearest friends are happy to see her once every month or so, while you sound like you’re thinking of how to swipe her when my back’s turned. My friends clearly don’t think Lisbet’s birth was one of the most momentous events in world history.”

  “You need better friends,” Casey said, her voice betraying not a shred of levity.

  ***

  The carrier was just about as complex as Avery had said it was, and Casey was almost certain she’d wet her pants in the vestibule. Casey stood directly in front of her, ready to catch the baby when Avery finally unbuckled the straps and ran for the bathroom.

  The baby, a warm, soft bundle of humanness, slid into Casey’s hands, still entangled in her carrier. She was as quiet as a mouse, looking around curiously while Casey gently placed her in the corner of the sofa. Dropping to her knees, she squatted down so they were on the same plane, and carefully pulled the carrier from her sweaty body.

  “Your mom doesn’t know this yet,” she said, whispering, “but you and I are going to be buddies. Do you have any other friends? Or am I your first?”

  Lisbet was giving her a very curious look, really studying her. She clearly knew Casey wasn’t someone in her circle, but she wasn’t frightened—which was fantastic. Benji had gone through a phase where he didn’t trust anyone on earth besides his mom and dad, and that had truly sucked.

  A few beads of sweat slid down Lisbet’s face, and Casey took a peek into the nearby diaper bag to find a clean spit-up cloth. She removed the sunhat, smiling when she saw Lisbet’s white-blonde fuzz. “You’ve got some work to do on the dome there, little one. At this rate, you won’t need a haircut for ten years.” She blotted her face dry, then pulled up her T-shirt to whisk away the sweat that covered her little belly. “I guess walking around in the heat while strapped to another human isn’t very cooling, huh?”

  Avery appeared at her side, and Lisbet immediately swiveled her head to lock onto her, smiling when they connected. “Did you miss me?” Avery asked, speaking to her in a voice just slightly higher-pitched and more musical than her normal speaking voice.

  Casey turned to say something, seeing that the front of Avery’s bright blue knit top was covered in sweat. The house wasn’t air conditioned, so she wouldn’t be chilled, but it couldn’t have been comfortable. “Do you want to go change?” she asked, trying to be diplomatic.

  “I want to go nap,” she said, turning to sneeze so loudly it hurt Casey’s ears. “Sorry,” she said, sniffling as she went across the room to get a tissue. “I’m feeling worse by the minute, but Lisbet has already had her afternoon nap. She’s usually very active at this time of day.”

  “When will your parents be home?”

  “Mmm… My dad didn’t tee off until one, so he won’t be home until dinner. Probably the same for my mom. Why?”

  “Because you need to rest. Looks like you’ve got two options. I can sit on the floor and play with Lisbet while you sleep, or I can take her to my house to play in the pool.”

  “You have a pool?” she asked, acting as though Casey had said she owned the Hope Diamond.

  “Uh-huh. A nice one that no one uses. My pal Benji and I spent tons of hours in the pool when he was tiny, so I know the drill.”

  Avery was staring at her like she was an angel sent to earth to magically fix the problems of the world.

  Casey wanted to press her advantage, grab the baby and take off, but her conscience wouldn’t let her. “Would you like to come, too? You could sleep in my room for a few hours, then come out and play with us.”

  “But…” She clearly wanted to say yes, but something was stopping her. “She’s too young for sunblock. And she doesn’t have a suit. The water temperature has to be really warm…”

 
“We keep a cover on the pool to prevent evaporation, so it’s almost always too warm for me. I’m certain it’s at least 85, which, if my memory’s correct, is the target number, right?”

  “That sounds about right. But I can’t have her get sunburned, Casey. That’s just not going to happen.”

  “Well, she’s got a floppy hat that will cover her face, her ears and her neck. Does she have a long sleeved shirt?”

  “Sure. A couple.”

  “Does she have any long pants?”

  “Uh-huh. She has leggings.”

  “Socks?”

  Avery rolled her eyes. “Yes, she has socks.”

  “So she’ll be covered except for her hands. By two, the west end of the pool’s in full shade. If I keep her back to the sun, which I will, she’ll be fine.”

  Avery still looked a little blank, but she cocked her head slightly and said, “Why will you keep her back to the sun?”

  “She doesn’t have sunglasses, right?”

  “No. I haven’t…”

  “It’s okay,” Casey soothed, really itching to get out of there before Avery shut down the whole plan. “I’m just letting you know that I’ll be very careful with her. I’ll keep the sun off her body, and her pretty eyes.”

  Avery opened her mouth again, but Casey interrupted before she got another word in. “I know reflection’s a big issue. I’ll make sure not a single ray of sun is reflected off any bare part of her.” She stopped her sales pitch for a moment to gaze into Avery’s eyes, which were a pretty blue-gray, just like Lisbet’s. “I swear I know what I’m doing.”

  “But… It’s a beautiful Saturday afternoon. I can’t ask you to give up your day for—”

  “You didn’t ask. You’d be doing me a favor to let me play with her. And you,” she added, although she fervently hoped to have time alone with the baby.

  “You’re sure?” She was right on the edge, and Casey knew how to push her over.

  “We live out in the country, where’s it super quiet. You can sleep for as long as you like, and when you wake up my mom will have freshly baked cookies and cheesecake to snack on.”

  “What the fuck?” She was staring now, clearly stunned.

  “Trust me. Freshly baked lemon knots, better than anything you can buy at a bakery.”

  “I don’t think I have a swimsuit here,” she said, with a puzzled expression on her virus-ravaged face.

  “Do you have shorts and a T-shirt?”

  “Always,” she said, finally smiling. “That’s my summer uniform when I’m dressing up. I usually wear boxer shorts, but for formal occasions I have some khaki shorts.” Her head tilted slightly when she added, “You’ll be able to see what a post-baby body looks like. That’ll cement your decision not to give birth.”

  Casey didn’t reply. If she could have made the deal, she’d have given up a couple of fingers or a few toes to have a baby. And she fully understood how important all of your digits were.

  ***

  Avery watched as Casey loaded the truck with all of Lisbet’s gear, including the only bottle of breast milk in the fridge. Casey had insisted she didn’t need another thing, but that remained to be seen. When they were out for the day in Brooklyn, she carried enough in the stroller to keep the baby alive for a week.

  Lisbet was securely snuggled in her car seat, with Avery next to her in the back of the cab. Casey had been driving—carefully—for about fifteen minutes. They’d been on a county road for a while, but now they were definitely in the country. Gently rolling hills were planted nearly to the road with tall, mid-green corn, silky tassels fluttering in the wind. “My dad says the corn’s not in yet, but this stuff looks ready to go,” Avery said, studying it.

  “Oh, this is feed corn. But we’ve got three farms nearby that grow sweet corn, and one had a sign out this morning saying it was in. I’m not sure it’s good yet, but it’s probably good enough.”

  “Mmm. Nothing better than fresh sweet corn. I go to the big farmer’s market in Brooklyn every Saturday I’m in town. It always makes me laugh to see farms from around here selling their wares. I pay three times what my parents pay for stuff that’s at least two days older.”

  “I’m sure there’s something fantastic that keeps you in Brooklyn, but I can’t imagine what that might be. I wouldn’t live there if it was free, and I know it’s not.”

  “No, it’s definitely not free,” Avery said, paying close attention when Casey slowed down at a stop sign and turned right. An apple orchard was on their left, the short trees groaning with fruit, all of it still bright green. She was about to comment on that when Casey turned to the right. “I didn’t know there was a botanical garden up here.”

  “This is the Chris Van Dyke botanical garden,” Casey said. “My dad’s a gardening nut.”

  There were plants of all kinds behind the randomly spaced spruce trees that shielded the property from view. Roses, some other plants with pink flowers, then another bunch of rose bushes. Gardening clearly wasn’t her thing, since Avery wasn’t able to name a single other plant, but everything was pretty, covering the whole palette of greens, going from near-yellow to deep forest, along with bursts of pastels from the flowers.

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  “Not even a little. We’ve got two acres in front, two in back, and two on each side of the house. Custom built. Obviously,” she added, even though it wasn’t obvious at all to Avery.

  The sides of the lot were forested, with tall, spindly trees planted closely together, providing lots of shade. But the center of the front yard sported a deep green lawn that looked like someone had cut it by hand—with scissors. Not a single dandelion or weed had the temerity to sprout up, and if the local golfers knew about this place they’d be out there practicing their putting.

  “Is gardening a passion for you, too?” Avery asked.

  “No, although I’d like a garden in my own home. My dad likes to do just about everything his own way, so I stay out of it.”

  The house was set at a forty-five degree angle to the street, with wings on each side of a single-story ranch. The drive was gravel, which was attractively neutral against the pale gray wooden home, set off with dark gray shutters on the big windows.

  “Which of the wings is yours?”

  “The one on the left. I replaced the barn-style doors with ones that were insulated and had windows. It’s pretty nice,” she said, giving Avery a proud smile.

  “The whole place is nice. It honestly looks like it should be in a magazine.”

  “Oh, it’s definitely a passion project. My parents have been here forty years, and they’ve never stopped improving it.”

  “It’s a showplace. I’ve never seen a home garden like this.”

  “If you’d like to meet the gardener, my dad’s probably around the side. He’s got a stand of climbing hydrangea he treats like a patient in the ICU.” She parked the truck, jumped out and walked around to the passenger side to open the door for Avery.

  “Your dad’s a contractor, right?”

  She had a cute, kind of sly grin on her face when she said, “He’s the Michelangelo of Columbia County. He charges more than anyone around here, but he’s still much busier than he can keep up with.”

  Casey took the car seat out, and started to talk to Lisbet as they crossed the ridiculously lush lawn to walk around to a spot hidden behind the right wing.

  Standing in front of a tall, manmade stone wall at the edge of the lawn was a slightly taller, older, much more masculine Casey. Same slight wave to his thick hair, same strong planes to his face, same broad shoulders and long legs. But his skin tone was much darker, with a tan that made him look like a lifeguard. His muscular arms were displayed by his salmon colored tank top, and his green cargo shorts showed that his legs had been in the sun all summer.

  “Hey, Dad,” Casey said, making him turn around quickly.

  “I didn’t hear you coming,” he said, flashing a smile that showed teeth that had a little bit of th
e gap that Casey’s used to have.

  “I don’t think you’ve met my friend Avery Nichols, and I’m sure you haven’t met her daughter, Lisbet.”

  He stuck his hand out to shake. “Are you Kathy Nichols’ girl?”

  “I am,” Avery said. “How do you know my mom?”

  “She and my wife went to school together.” He slipped his hands into his pants pockets and shrugged. “You know how it is. You see people around forever, and you forget how you know them.” His eyes brightened when he said, “I forgot that she used to be my go-to girl at the DMV. Only one there who knew what the hell she was doing.”

  “Ahh, yeah. She was good at her job.”

  “She left?”

  “Uh-huh. She retired about two years ago. Left the minute she was able, and hasn’t looked back.”

  “Boy, I’d love to be able to do that. I could work on my lawn every day.”

  “You’re clearly bent on creating the Columbia County Botanical Garden right on your property. I can’t imagine what else you need to do.”

  “That’s what my wife says. But she doesn’t say it with a smile like you’re giving me. She thinks I’m friggin’ insane.”

  “Who wouldn’t want something so pretty?”

  “My wife, for one.” He gave Casey a surprisingly dismissive glance. “My daughter, for another.”

  “I like it just fine,” Casey said, more laconic in her father’s presence than she’d been before. She was leaning against that rough hewn wall, which was covered from top to bottom with a climbing plant that was just starting to reveal small white flowers. Casey was swinging the baby gently in her carrier, and her intent gaze was fixated on the plants. “I’ve offered to help, but…”

  “She’s got her own ideas,” he said, like that was a fatal flaw.

  “Well, your ideas are excellent, Mr. Van Dyke. I’m glad I got to see your masterpiece.”

  “Chris,” he said, his big grin making him seem accessible and engaging. She could just see him snagging much of the home remodeling work in the county, able to charge more because of his good looks and ready smile. “Congratulations on the baby, by the way.”