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“There he is! He’s the one with the windswept hair and the glasses.” She gave a wave. She was relieved to see them.
“I see him. And is that your mom? Is she okay, do you think? She looks a little—unsteady on her feet. Oh.” Dan gave an awkward laugh. “I guess she is okay. She’s really into your dad, right? Do they always kiss like that in public? That’s pretty cute. Maybe we should have got that room after all. They could have used it.” Because he was taller than her he had a better view, but as the people in front of her parted she saw her parents locked in a passionate embrace.
Rosie was aghast. What the—?
“They’re not normally like that. I mean, they have a great marriage obviously because they’ve been together forever, but they’re not usually that demonstrative.” She was thoroughly mortified while next to her, Dan was dying with laughter.
“I think it’s cool, and I can promise you that I’ll still be kissing you like that when we’ve been together for thirty years. Maybe your mom is glad to be alive after the flight. Nothing boosts your gratitude levels like a near-death experience, right?”
“Right.” When she’d worried that her family might embarrass her, this wasn’t the scenario she’d had in mind.
She saw her dad unpeel her mother’s arms from his neck.
They were still too far away for her to hear what was being said, but she saw her mother straighten her clothing and slide her arm through her husband’s.
It seemed like a gesture born of necessity rather than affection. Studying her closely, Rosie thought it looked as if her mother was leaning on her father.
Was she sick or something?
Anxious, she let go of Dan’s hand, ran to her parents and hugged them. First her mother, then her father. “I was starting to worry. How was your flight?”
“It went in a flash,” her mother said. “The cheap seats were full by the time we booked, so Dad treated us to business class seats in the middle row. We were able to hold hands and watch movies. It was like dating again. It made us realize how much in love we still are.”
Rosie froze. Was this really her mother? Her sensible, practical, steady mother? “Er, Mum—”
“What sweetie? I love your father, that’s all. I want you to know that. We are so happy together. Happy, happy, happy. Everything is fine, you don’t have to worry about a thing. Did I mention how happy we are?”
What wouldn’t be fine? What shouldn’t she be worrying about?
When someone told you not to worry it generally meant there was something to worry about.
She glanced at her father for clues and he gave a tired smile.
“It’s been a long flight, and you know flying isn’t your mother’s idea of entertainment.”
“Oh but it was entertaining and after the first few glasses of champagne I wasn’t nervous at all!” Her mother sounded joyful. “That lovely man kept topping my glass up—”
“Lovely man?”
“One of the cabin crew. And Dad was talking and flirting outrageously with me. I was laughing so hard I didn’t even realize we’d taken off until the seat belt sign went ping.”
Rosie had seen her father hold a lecture hall in thrall, debate issues vigorously at the dinner table and eviscerate intellectual snobs, but she’d never seen him flirt.
The fact that she couldn’t imagine it was fine with her.
She admired and was grateful for her parents’ steady relationship, but that didn’t mean she wanted to dwell on the details.
“I’m glad the flight was bearable.”
“It was more than bearable. It felt as if we were going on our honeymoon. If it had been a night flight we might even have—”
“Mum!” Was her mother drunk?
Her father patted her shoulder. “Sorry we kept you waiting, Rosie. We’re last out of the door because they’ve lost your mother’s suitcase, including her wedding outfit.”
“Oh no, that’s terrible.” Was that an omen? No, of course it wasn’t an omen. On the other hand if she was going to believe in good omens, she also had to believe in bad ones. Stop it, Rosie! “What do we do?”
“We’ve been told to go to wherever we’re staying and wait for her case to be delivered.”
