Heat shimmered over the tarmac. The taxiing planes appeared to float on a quicksilver sea. Shep's mind wandered from the audiobook droning in his ears to preparations for his upcoming move. He had clothes to pack, the maid service would need to be canceled, the pool would need covering, the powder room still needed new wallpaper...
"He seems pretty great, by the way," she'd said as they lingered on the edge of the stage. She jerked her head toward Robin, who was still mired in the flock of distant cousins.
"He is," Shep answered. "A little too handsome, though, right?"
She laughed and so did he, perhaps a little longer than necessary, their bodies already angling away from one another.
He looked at her suspiciously.
"Why is this so easy?"
She squinted at him.
"Is it, for you?" she asked. When he did not reply right away, she leaned in and kissed him lightly on the cheek.
"Thanks for the dance, Shep."
"Bye, Claire."
In the airport, he realized he did not know where she had flown from or where she was going, even whether she would depart from the domestic or international terminal now that this was all over. Through the wall of glass, across the sea of pavement, he watched planes inch along invisible tracks, round slow corners, then streak down the straightaways, angle upward, and be gone.
"Remember our flight from LA to Auckland?" Robin said beside him. "13 hours, wasn't it?"
"I'm surprised you remember it," Shep snorted. Robin's Ambien-enhanced, First Class cocktail had knocked him out good.
"Remember that wallaby that kicked you in the shin, and the view off Knights Point?" Robin continued. "Remember that steak that was so good we almost cried?"
"I do. Of course I do."
YOU ARE READING
Clary Sage
Short StoryLife has been good to Shepard Delaney: he's got his dream job, a rich husband, and a seaside mansion in the Hamptons. But when his sister, Rachel, wants him to officiate her whirlwind wedding, a face from his past causes him to question his seemingl...
