Building on Dreams

Chapter 25 - Sightseeing in Seattle

"Where do we go first?" Susan asked the collective group when they gathered at the Cooper's house the next morning.

It was actually a fairly large group, consisting of  Michael, Rachelle and her two children Josh and Brianna; Matthew and Zackary, Michael and Susan's children; Jessie, Susan and Greg. With four adults and five children, the youngsters had them outnumbered and everyone was looking forward to visiting some of the fun places they'd identified the night before.

"How about doing the Space Needle first?" Michael suggested. "You can see all over the city from there. It might give us some idea where to go next."

"That is a good idea," Rachelle told him. "Greg, Susan, what do you think?"

"Can we Papa?" Jessie asked.

"The Space Needle is way up high in the sky, Jessie," Greg told her. "Is that okay?"

Jessie nodded. "Zack says it's on the ground ... not flying, so it's okay, Papa," Jessie told him.

"I take it she doesn't like heights?" Michael asked curiously.

"She doesn't like flying," Susan shared. "I don't think any of us are too wild about it anymore."

"Understandable," Michael told her.

"The Space Needle is a very tall building, Jessie. Sort of like our Sydney apartment, only higher," Susan told her.

"Okay," Jessie said.

"Kids?" Susan asked the others assembled there.

"Yeah."

"Okay."

"I want to."

"That'd be cool."

It was more or less unanimous amongst the other young people and Susan looked to Greg next.

"Sounds good to me," Greg told her with a reassuring smile.

 Susan returned it. "Okay. It sounds like we have a plan. Shall we follow you?" Susan suggested.

"After you," Michael told them and the Coopers followed the Abernathys out the front door, locking it behind them.

c

For a famous location in Seattle, the Space Needle wasn't all that crowded on the last Saturday of the year. The two families eventually found parking and met in the ticket area, standing in line to purchase their tickets for the elevator ride to the observation deck.

Susan couldn't help it. She found herself going into hyper-aware mode as they waited their turn, watching for people around them that might be watching them. It reminded her of those days in the islands when the terrorists were looking for them, but she was also more than aware that the instinct had been aroused for a very different reason: she was worried about what sort of problem public attention might cause for Greg.

Greg on the other hand came across as relaxed and simply smiled at anyone who paid  more attention to them than the typical random stranger, even going so far as to nod at a couple who was staring in their direction for an extended length of time from twenty feet away. Susan saw it, but she didn't say anything. She simply watched the couple watching them, their family, and Greg. Eventually however the couple who were staring nodded back, looked in another direction and walked away. Greg was right, Susan decided. It wasn't all that intrusive and she did her best to ignore it and relax too as they move up in their place in line. It happened two more times before their group of nine got to the front of the line.

"Your step-dad sure seems to know a lot of people," Brianna commented to Matthew as she noticed the interactions between Greg and a hand full of people she didn't know.