Part 21 (1/2)
”I count my blessings every day. And I love that h.e.l.lcat streak of yours.”
He reached over and took her hand in his; then he leaned back against the probably germ-infested seat back, smiled, and closed his eyes. Olivia looked over at him, and in the brutally unforgiving early morning light of New Jersey, she saw all the wrinkles around his eyes and she loved every single one of them. Every single one.
They arrived at Teterboro and Maritza was standing by the check-in counter talking to a woman at the desk. When she saw Olivia and Nick, she stopped and hurried to greet them.
”Oh, hey! I'm so glad y'all made it!” She hugged Olivia and gave her two air kisses.
Muah! Muah!
”Good morning!” Olivia said, hugging her back.
”Wow! Somebody sure forgot their gosh darn sunscreen!” She said to Nick.
”Yes, thank you. Someone certainly did,” Nick replied.
He was smiling, but inside he was slightly annoyed. These kinds of remarks irritated Nick, and especially that morning, when Nick was clearly feeling the effects of too much sun. It wasn't that Maritza was the kind of woman who took some schadenfreude in the suffering of others. She wasn't like that at all. But there appeared to be no filter between her brain and tongue. Nick had a dull headache and felt slightly nauseated.
”Do we have any aspirin?” Nick asked.
”Of course!” Maritza said. ”In one of the galley drawers on the plane.”
”Great,” Nick said. ”Thank you.”
”Darling? Are you feeling ill?” Olivia said.
”I'm okay,” Nick said. ”Two aspirins and a nap and I'm sure I'll be fine.”
”Well, the pilots are already on board if y'all are ready?” Maritza said.
And as they had when they went to Necker Island, they boarded Bob's gorgeous G650 and left the normal world behind.
There were two large vases of peonies on the end tables, and the plane smelled wonderful.
”Oh! What beautiful flowers!” Olivia said.
”Thank you! I just decided that when I'm not flying with Bob, I'd order flowers. Flowers make me happy,” Maritza said.
”They make me happy too!” Olivia said, wondering if they'd go flying through the air when the plane took off.
Nick took the aspirin from Maritza and headed for the back of the plane with a bottle of water.
”I'm just going to shut my eyes for twenty minutes,” Nick said. He settled himself in his seat, reclined the chair, and checked out.
”I love how men say I'm going to go to sleep now and ten seconds later they're asleep. How does that work?” Maritza said, sitting in Bob's designated seat.
”I don't know, but it's another one of those truisms about men that seem a little unfair to our gender,” Olivia said, taking the seat to Maritza's left. ”I can't fall asleep until I've ticked off a mental checklist for what I need to do the next day.”
”Please! I haven't slept through the night since Gladdie was born!”
”I'll bet,” Olivia said.
They were quiet for a moment because bringing up Gladdie dredged up thoughts of Ellen, which naturally led to thoughts about Bob's infidelity. As a result, a small dark cloud seeped in through the oval-shaped windows and throughout the cabin.
”I am very excited to see the house,” Olivia said to lighten the mood.
It worked. Maritza perked right up and became the epitome of the happy housewife, leaving Olivia to wonder about the contents of Maritza's medicine cabinet.
”Oh!” she said brightly. ”I think you'll love it. The question is, will it be too much work to bring it back to its glory days?”
”I love old houses. What year was it built?”
”1900. Would you like coffee? After takeoff I can make us cappuccinos. We finally got the coffee maker installed.”
”Sure! I'd love to see how it works.”
Olivia thought, Wait a minute. Bob spent sixty-four and a half million dollars on his plane and his coffeepot was on back order? Priceless!
One of the pilots came out of the c.o.c.kpit to move the flowers to a secure spot and to make sure they were buckled up. He said, ”Flying time is about an hour and five minutes. There's a squall around the Boston area, so we'll divert easterly and take her up to forty-three thousand feet. You shouldn't feel a thing.”
”Great!” Maritza said casually as though she'd been flying on private jets her entire life.
In minutes they were airborne. Olivia looked back at Nick. He was sawing logs. As soon as they reached cruising alt.i.tude she got up and went to the back of the plane. She carefully covered him with a light blanket because she knew sunstroke caused chills. She kissed his forehead and he didn't flinch.
”Oh, dear! Is Nick's snoring going to bother you? I can tell him to roll over on his side.” Olivia said.
”Heavens no! Let the man be! Bob snores so G.o.d-awful bad I make him sleep in another bedroom.” She was quiet for a moment. ”That probably wasn't the smartest idea I ever had.”
”Well? Who's to say?” Olivia wasn't picking up the thread on that topic. ”All men snore, especially if they drink wine and eat red meat.”
”Well, now you're talking about Bob's religion!”
”Exactly! Tell me some more about the house,” Olivia said.
”I saw it with the broker and Bob last week. It's pretty fabulous. There are eight bedrooms and eight full baths. I think it's about ten thousand square feet. And there's a guest cottage. But no swimming pool.”
”Really? No pool? How odd. When's the last time it was renovated?”
”Not since 1991. So the kitchen is a disaster and the bathrooms aren't great. But here's the thing. It's the view! It's right on the harbor and it has a dock. That's why Bob wants it.”
”He'd have a place to park his submarine!” Olivia said, knowing that this absurd conversation could start a civil war in some cultures.
”Right? And the location is perfect. It's right at Brant Point. You'll see.”
”Location is always the most important factor to consider. How big is the property?”
”Oh, heck. I don't know. Maybe an acre or so.”
”So it's manageable.”
”Yeah. If everything goes to h.e.l.l in a handbasket, Bob could cut the gra.s.s.”