“I had a plan, don’t you see?”
His voice was as ice-cold as the snow falling outside now. “You’re going to delay the flight even more. Please hand me your bag and move along.”
Anna felt anxiety stirring like a flock of birds in her chest, ready to take flight along with the plane. She lifted the case into her arms and held it as if it were a small child. “I’ll keep it on my lap.”
“It is against safety protocols to keep a case of that size on your lap, and there isno more room on the plane for a carry-on. Unless you’d like to take a different flight—which I do not recommend, because there’s already a lot of snow out there and the flight crew has let me know we need to get moving immediately—please give me your suitcasenow, and I will check it for you”—he said this as if he was doing her some sort of favor—“and you will see it when you arrive in Toronto in about five hours, if we’re lucky.”
“Ifwe’re lucky? What’s that supposed to mean?!” Anna was a nervous flier already and his grim words had not instilled much confidence. But there was no way she was forgoing this flight because of fear. She needed to get to her seat and pop the Dramamine tablet she had determined would make her drowsy enough that her in-flight nerves wouldn’t be an issue, but not so sleepy that she’d be bleary-eyed for the Vandergreys’ cocktail party. “Fine,” she said under her breath, handing over her case. She stepped forward to board, reflexively lifting her hand to touch the plane’s smooth white door exterior for luck.
The little ritual calmed her somewhat. She settled into her aisle seat on the cramped plane. Her seatmate hadn’t arrived yet, so she still had an unobstructed view of the feather-like snowflakes falling outside. As she watched them, she felt her anxious thoughts and feelings begin to retreat. The world looked like a Christmas movie set: a world where, despite a few hiccups, everything was going to work out and a happy ending was guaranteed.
And, Anna told herself, determined to remain positive, she now had a few hours of uninterrupted time to indulge in a favorite pastime: reading magazines about home decor and movie stars, people with perfect lives that were nothing at all like hers. The ideal escape from worrying about the delay and the blizzard. She riffled through her handbag, in which she had packed all the magazines she hadn’t had time to read this month, everything fromPeopletoArchitectural Digest.
As she flipped throughPeople, her roving gaze landed on a small piece with the headline “Happily Ever After.” The accompanying photo showed two actors—the gorgeous and talented Hollywood “It girl” Tenisha Barlowe and a handsome actor Anna hadn’t heard of, Chase Taylor. The two were locked in an embrace in a romantic-looking, snowy, small-town setting.
Tenisha Barlowegets cozy with
rumored boyfriendChase Taylor
on the set ofTwo Nights at Christmas, the big-budget sequel to cult favoriteOne Night at Christmas. Hollywood and the rest of the world are completely abuzz overTwo Nights—and rightly so! Never before has a story that started on the Heartline Channel ended with Nora Ephron penning the sequel for Universal Studios.
“We’re trying to keep the spirit of the original movie, while of course putting our own spin on the story and the cinematography,” sources close to the famed screenwriter said recently, speaking from the undisclosed location (rumored to be in Canada) where the movie is now being shot. Production in upstate New York had to be shut down last month when the set was overrun by fans and paparazzi, causing extensive delays and disruptions. While the shoot is now rumored to be woefully behind schedule, things are said to be back on track for a Christmas 2001 release.
Anna sighed happily as she read. Even though she knew it couldn’t possibly be anything other than a film set, just looking at the stills forTwo Nights at Christmas, she couldn’t help but wish it was a town she could visit. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to celebrate Christmas in Toronto with Nick and his family. But it all just felt like somuch. Plus, there was that engagement ring sparkling in her mind’s eye to consider. She looked down at the happy couple on the magazine page.You love Nick, she reminded herself.You’re just having cold feet.
Anna’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a throat clearing beside her.
“Excuse me? I think you’re in my seat.”
Anna looked up to see the young woman she had met in the airport earlier, the one with the intense, wide-set brown eyes framed by thick, dark lashes. A soft-looking navy blue cotton scarf completely covered her hair. Her small Cupid’s bow mouth was turned down in a frown.
“Maryam! Hi!” Anna knew she hadn’t been at her best with Maryam earlier, when she’d just finished having a tense conversation with Nick. She felt guilty about this and hoped she could make up for it now. “What a lucky coincidence, we’re seatmates!”
“Yeah. Lucky,” Maryam said, but Anna got the sense she didn’t really feel that way at all. “So... my seat?”
Anna put away her magazine and fumbled in her handbag for her plane ticket. When she double-checked, she realized that she was indeed in the wrong spot.
“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I hate it when people do that. You’d think I’d know the difference between A and B. I’d much rather have the window, wouldn’t you? Sure you want to switch?”
“Completely sure.”
Anna smiled at Maryam as she settled into the correct seat, but Maryam’s smile didn’t reach her captivating eyes. Back inside the airport, she had seemed to be the one at the center of her cheerful, chaotic family. In charge of everyone—and unflappable as she somehow managed it all with ease. In fact, Anna had felt a pang when she observed Maryam and wondered what it would be like to be surrounded by so many loved ones.
Maryam took a book out of her bag—The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell—and buried her nose in it. Anna thought about trying to start a conversation but decided to wait a bit. For now, she’d go back to her reading. This time, she choseHouse Beautiful—and was caught by surprise when an envelope addressed to her fell out of it.
She retrieved the envelope from the small square of floor at her feet. She knew that handwriting well. The letter was from her stepmother, Beth, and it must have gotten stuck among her unread magazines.
Ex-stepmother, Anna reminded herself, frowning down at the envelope. She knew what was inside: it was a “Happy Holiday Missive,” the annual letter Beth and Anna used to love compiling together. Sending out the letter had been Beth and Anna’s way of beginning to feel like a real family—and this had been so meaningful for Anna. Her mother had died of preeclampsia when she was an infant and, until Beth, Anna had always felt like her family life was missing a wheel. Back then, Beth had made it a point to make Anna feel loved, secure—the center of a family, albeit a small one.
She lifted the envelope and tested its weight. It was thicker than usual, and this was upsetting. Was Beth’s life even more full and rewarding now that Anna’s dad was gone? The yearly letter, sent out to family and friends, had always included a few color-copied photos of the highlights of the year (their adventurous family road trips to Salt Lake City, Wyoming, Montana; Anna’s school photos; funny snapshots of their twin cats, Brenda and Brandon). It also always included sunny little slivers of news (Beth’s decision to leave the interior design firm she worked at and go freelance; Anna’s youthful fascinationwith design and decor, inspired by Beth’s career, on display in images of the two of them working on home projects together; Beth’s dad’s move from corporate to family law; Anna’s school photos; celebrations of graduations throughout the years).
Now Anna clocked the new return address in Highlands Ranch. “Unbelievable,” she muttered. It was bad enough that Beth had remarried a few months ago, so quickly after Anna’s father’s sudden death from a heart attack two years ago—but now she was sending out her own Happy Holiday Missive from her new life. As if her old life had never existed. As if a person could just step gracefully into a new existence and forget about the past altogether.
Anna shoved the letter into the seat pocket in front of her, behind the airsickness bag—where she intended for it to stay, unopened, until a flight attendant threw it out after Anna was long gone, off to her happy holiday ending with Nick in Toronto. There would be no looking back—and definitely not at Beth, who had hurt her deeply.
She flipped openArchitectural Digestinstead. But while she had previously been excited about poring over what were projected to be 2001’s hottest home design trends, she could no longer concentrate.
“It’s coming down pretty hard out there, isn’t it?” she ventured.
