“Okay,” she told her mom. “I’ll probably call him tomorrow.”
***
Hilton always enjoyed her family’s summer vacations. They were so relaxing, and she and her mom and aunt got in lots of good shopping time. They went someplace different every year, and she was excited to go back to the Bahamas, where she’d only been once, when she was six. But as she waited to board the plane in Chicago, where they’d had a layover after flying out of Logan, she almost wished she weren’t going. She felt like she was leaving all the fun behind, and she’d been looking forward to spending more time with Landon. He’d told her he was probably having a party next Saturday too, for his and Brady’s birthdays, so it sucked she’d have to miss that. He had seemed bummed when she told him she’d be gone though, so that was good. She smiled a little as she moved her head in time with the music she was listening to on her portable CD player. Leave him wanting more...he hadn’t gotten any yet, and she was pretty confident he’d keep waiting. But she was going to miss him and Jill.
She hoped Jill and Todd would hang out while she was gone. It’d be the perfect opportunity for them to hang out alone. It’d suck not being able to talk to Jill the whole time to find out what was going on at home.
“Attention, passengers. Delta Flight 118 to Nassau will continue boarding Medallion members and business class, as well as any passengers with young children or children traveling alone, or any other passengers needing assistance. At this time we would also like to invite our passengers seated in zones one through three to board through Gate G7. Zones one through three.”
Hilton’s mom tapped her arm to make sure she’d heard, and Hilton gathered her carry-on bag and followed her parents and aunt and uncle to the boarding line. At least she’d be on the beach in a few hours.
***
“Hey...Todd?” Jill said when he answered the phone Monday afternoon.
“Yeah?”
“Hey, it’s Jill.”
“Oh, hey, Jill.”
“Hey, what’s up? Um, what are you up to right now?”
“Um...nothin’ really. Why?”
“I was just gonna see if you wanted to come over and swim or something. Hilton left for vacation yesterday, so I’m like, completely bored.”
“Yeah, sure, that’d be cool.”
Jill’s stomach had been turning over nervously, and now it settled in surprise. She hadn’t expected it to be so easy. “Really? Okay, then...um, come over whenever you want, I guess. Or do you need a ride?”
“No, my mom can bring me when she goes back to work. She’s home on her lunch break.”
“All right, cool. See you soon, then.”
“See ya.” He hung up.
Jill stared at the phone in her hand for a minute, then dropped it in her chair and ran out of her room. “Mom, he’s coming! He’s coming!”
***
“So...what have you been up to?” Jill asked awkwardly as she leaned against the shallow end of the pool with her arms outstretched on the cement deck. Now that he was here, she wasn’t really sure what to talk about, and she didn’t want him to get bored.
“Oh, not much. I’ve been going to open gym for basketball, and we have summer league baseball. You should come to a game.”
“Oh, yeah, that’d be fun! I will. Maybe Hillary and Lorylyn will wanna come see Dirk and Brady.”
“Yeah, we’ve been doing pretty good. I think our team’s gonna be pretty strong next season, ‘cause we really only lost like three seniors who were any good, and we have a lot of juniors.”
“Do you think you’ll play varsity next year?” Todd was a pitcher, and he had only played on the freshman team this year. He had been their best pitcher though, and he’d said the coaches had told him he wasn’t being moved up to JV only because they needed someone really good on the freshman team and he’d get more innings than he would on JV.
“I don’t know. I have a chance, probably, ‘cause we did lose two pitchers. But we’ll see. I’m gonna try to lift a lot more, you know, and get in better shape. That’s why I’m going to basketball open gym, just to stay in shape and lift. ‘Cause I doubt I’ll play basketball this year.”
“Oh, really? Why not?”
Todd shrugged. “I don’t know. I just don’t think I’ll really ever be a starter, you know, and I’d rather focus on baseball. And I won’t be able to go pitch in the winter if I’m tied up with basketball.”
“Oh, yeah. Well that’s cool.”
The conversation trailed off into silence. Come on, Jill, think of something to say! she begged herself.
Suddenly her mom swung open the door to the sunroom and stepped out onto the patio. “Hey, Jill, can you come here for a minute?”
“Sure,” Jill said, quickly pushing herself up out of the pool. As she walked toward the house, she hoped Todd was looking at her in her swimsuit. She knew she had an all right body, even though she wished she were a little taller than 5’4. Last year she’d hated being so skinny because she thought it made her look like a boy, but now she kind of liked it. She still wished her chest were a little bigger though.
She stepped into the sunroom. Her mom had gone into the kitchen, and Jill followed. As soon as she walked into the room, she could tell something was wrong. Her dad should be at work; he hadn’t been home when Todd arrived, but he was sitting at the kitchen table, and Aaron and Winnie, Jill’s younger brother and sister, were there too. Winnie had her head buried in their mom’s shirt.
“What is it?” Jill asked, a feeling of dread gripping her. She was scared to hear the answer. Had something happened to one of her grandparents? Had Todd’s parents called with bad news? Oh my gosh...what if Hilton’s plane had crashed?!
“It’s Aunt Marcy,” her mom finally said. “Grandma’s sister? She died today, Jill.”
Jill was silent as the news sank in. It was a flood of feelings, the first being relief that it wasn’t her grandparents or Hilton, the second being guilt at feeling that way, and the third being the scary shock that always came when she heard someone she knew had died. Aunt Marcy? It must’ve been a horrible accident...
“She had Alzheimer’s,” her mom continued. “She died in a nursing home today. It was peaceful, they said. She probably wasn’t in any pain. None of us even knew...she never told us. Grandma didn’t even know she was in a nursing home.”
Jill stared, numb. Aunt Marcy had Alzheimer’s? How could they not have known? Why wouldn’t she have told them? Marcy was someone Jill hadn’t seen for years, but when she was a little girl, she’d loved Marcy, who was seven years younger than her grandma. Marcy had lived in California since way before Jill was born, but every Thanksgiving and every summer she came to Schaumburg, Illinois, where Jill’s grandparents lived, to visit. Jill’s family always went to Schaumburg at the same time as Marcy, and Marcy had constantly spoiled Jill as a little girl, playing with her, reading to her, taking her shopping and buying her whatever she wanted.
When Jill was nine, her grandma and Marcy had had a huge falling out of some sort that Jill hadn’t ever known the reason for, and Marcy had stopped coming to visit. For the first year or so, Jill had begged to go to California to visit her, but her mom seemed angry with Marcy too and wouldn’t even consider going. Then Jill had sort of forgotten about it. But now it was such a shock...Marcy had always seemed so healthy and young...and it had only been six years...did Alzheimer’s really progress that fast?
“The funeral’s on Friday, so we’re going to head up to Schaumburg tonight, and Grandma and Grandpa are booking a flight out to LA for tomorrow morning, okay?”
“Okay...” Suddenly Jill sank into a chair. “I can’t believe she’s dead!” She burst into sobs and buried her head in her arms. “It’s so not fair! I loved her so much! And I haven’t even talked to her in so long...I feel so bad...” Her voice was muffled.
“Ssshhh, honey, it’s okay.” Her mom had stood up and moved over to her and was stroking her hair now. “We all feel bad. We wish she wou
ld’ve told us. Or that we would’ve contacted her.”
“Why did Grandma get so mad at her? Why did you guys stop talking to her?” Jill’s tone was bitter and accusatory now.
“Ssshhh...that’s up to Grandma to tell you if she wants. It was really more between them. You can ask her if you want.”
Just then Jill heard the door open behind her.
“Oh...I’m sorry...” Todd said.
“No, Todd, it’s okay. Come in. Hi, I’m Maria, Jill’s mom.”
“Hi...” Todd said uncomfortably, glancing quickly at Jill, who was still sobbing, then around the room at the rest of the family.
“Hi, Todd, I’m Russ.” Jill’s dad stuck out his hand.
Todd reached across the table and shook it. Jill had managed to sit up now. She wiped at her puffy eyes.
“Sorry you had to be here for this,” Jill’s dad said kindly. “My aunt just passed away today. My mom’s sister.”
“Oh,” Todd said, surprised. “I’m sorry.” He looked back at Jill again. She didn’t meet his eyes. “I should probably go.”
“No, Todd! Don’t,” Jill said quickly, standing up and grabbing his arm. “Just stay and talk to me for a minute.”
“Um...all right.” Todd looked unsure. He glanced at her parents for approval.
“Why don’t you guys go back outside for a while?” Jill’s mom said. “We have a lot to take care of in here.”
Jill led Todd outside and sat on the edge of the pool, her feet dangling in the water. Todd sat beside her hesitantly.
“Sorry, Todd. You can go if you want. I just had to get out of there. Ugh, it’s so weird. I haven’t even seen her for like six years. She lives in California. My Aunt Marcy. She and my grandma had some kind of huge fight. But I used to love her so much when I was little...” She burst into tears again. “And...I just feel like I...forgot about her. And she had Alzheimer’s. And we didn’t even know. She didn’t tell us!”
Todd put his arm around her shoulders and drew her close. It felt good, like he was protecting her.
“I know what it’s like,” he said softly. “I mean, to think everything’s okay, and then to find out something’s been wrong all along, and no one told you.”
Jill realized he was talking about his parents. She looked up at him. He was staring off into space.
“Oh, Todd, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think about that...”
“It’s okay.” He pulled her closer, and for just a second, Jill thought he was about to cry too. “I’m sorry too, Jilly.”
Jill wiped at her eyes. She heard the door swing open behind her and turned to look. Todd dropped his arm from her shoulders. It was her mom.
“Sorry to interrupt, but Jill, Dad and I were wondering if you might like to bring a friend. Because I know this might be hard for you, plus Dad and I will be busy helping with funeral arrangements, and you won’t really know anyone...we just thought it might help to have a friend there. We’d pay for the ticket, of course.”
“Hilton’s on vacation,” Jill wailed, feeling helpless. It would’ve been great to have Hilton along, and it made her feel even worse now that she couldn’t ask her.
“Well, what about Hillary or Lorylyn? Hillary knows Aunt Marcy.”
“I could ask her, I guess...”
“I’ll go,” Todd said suddenly. “I mean, if that’s okay. Sorry, I didn’t mean to just butt in.”
Jill’s head whipped around, and she stared at Todd in surprise. Then she looked at her mom, who appeared startled as well.
“I mean, it’s just not that great at my house right now...I wouldn’t mind getting away,” Todd finished, then looked down sheepishly.
Jill broke her shocked silence. “Of course I want you to go! Mom?” She turned back to her mom and pleaded with her eyes.
“Okay. That’s fine. Would you like me to call your mom, Todd?”
“Nah, I can do it. I might need a ride home to like, get my stuff though. My mom’s at work.”
“Okay...well, thank you so much for offering, Todd. It means a lot to us that you care that much about Jill.” Jill’s mom smiled at him, then turned to go back inside.
Jill and Todd sat in silence.
“Sorry, if you didn’t want me to go,” Todd said finally.
Jill looked up. “No, of course I want you to go! I was just surprised you wanted to.”
“Well, like I said, it’s not so great around my house right now; my parents still ignore each other and shit. I’d love to get away. And you’ve been there for me through this whole thing, so...”
“I never did anything like this!” Jill said.
“Well, nothing like this ever came up. But you did a lot just by listening to me, Jill.” He met her eyes, and his look broke Jill’s heart. But it also pulled the two of them closer together, and she knew he felt it too.
“Thank you, Todd. Thank you so much. It means a lot.”
“I know.” He reached out and hugged her. “I know.”
***
“We’ll all be busy most of the day with funeral arrangements and going through Aunt Marcy’s things, so I thought maybe you two would like to just enjoy the pool. You’ll love her house, Jill, it’s beautiful,” Mrs. Sherer said as she wound her way through the throng of traffic just outside of LAX, the LA airport.
Because of booking the tickets at the last minute, they hadn’t all been able to get on one flight, so Jill and Todd had flown out separately, four hours later than her parents and Winnie and Aaron. Her grandparents had flown out about half an hour before the rest of her family. It had been both Jill’s and Todd’s first time flying, and Jill felt somewhat nervous, but experiencing it with Todd made her feel brave, in a sort of careless way. She would be willing to try anything if she could do it with him.
Todd didn’t seem to think flying was any big deal; he’d slept most of the way. Jill hadn’t been able to sleep. There were all kinds of weird noises during the flight that had freaked her out a little, but she’d looked around and seen that no one else appeared alarmed, so she’d tried to relax. By the end, she’d decided she loved flying. The takeoff had been thrilling – the buildup of speed and then the sudden strange pressed-into-your-seat feeling of no longer being on the ground. The landing was exhilarating too – the brakes slamming and the plane skidding to a halt so quickly. It’d scared her at first because she didn’t know it was supposed to be like that, and she thought the pilot had lost control or something had gone wrong. She’d grabbed Todd’s arm without thinking, then smiled embarrassedly and laughed at herself when she’d once again glanced around and seen that no one else appeared alarmed. He’d laughed too, and ruffled her hair.
Her mom had met them in the baggage claim area and helped them get their bags off the luggage carousel, then led them out to short-term parking and a sleek white SUV that she said had been Aunt Marcy’s, and now they were speeding around curves in a steady stream of city traffic.
Jill looked out the window in amazement, trying to take in everything around her. As soon as they’d stepped out of the airport into the fresh balmy air, she’d been intoxicated with southern California. It was beautiful and tropical and exciting. Everything moved fast...the people, the traffic...and she felt like she’d been transported into another world. Life in the fast lane. She couldn’t wait to see Aunt Marcy’s house, which her mom said was in Bel Air, close to the UCLA campus and in an upscale neighborhood.
The whole plane ride, Jill had felt bummed and still confused over all the emotions surrounding Aunt Marcy’s death, yet excited to have Todd sleeping next to her. She still couldn’t believe he’d wanted to come, and she’d been so proud to introduce him to her grandparents last night. Even though they’d been too distracted to really pay much attention to him, she thought they must be impressed he’d wanted to come with her, and she hoped they thought he was sort of her boyfriend. And she felt especially cool in the airport, waiting at the gate with him. They must have looked like a couple there. But now she wis
hed Aunt Marcy could meet him too...
But the California sun, as well as the accomplished feeling of having survived and enjoyed her first plane ride, had improved Jill’s mood drastically. She’d always wanted to come to California, and now she was finally here...with Todd. It just sucked that Aunt Marcy’s death was the reason this was all happening. But, Jill thought, if she hadn’t died right now, Todd and I wouldn’t be here, and maybe this is what will bring us together....Then she realized with shock and guilt how bad it was to be thinking like that, and prayed to God to forgive her for being so selfish.
As the SUV slipped through the large black elegant-looking gate into Marcy’s neighborhood, Jill’s mouth dropped open in shock. These houses were beyond anything she’d ever seen or imagined. Most of them were only partially visible from the winding road, but Jill could tell from peering through the tree-filled yards they were all enormous and beautiful. Now she was even more excited to see Aunt Marcy’s house, and even more disappointed she’d never been able to come visit before.
When they finally turned into the driveway, Jill’s eyes widened. This had to be one of the prettiest homes in the neighborhood. The driveway curved uphill and circled in front of a three-story Victorian-style mansion. It looked like a castle. Jill couldn’t take her eyes off it as the car rolled to a stop.
“Sweet house,” Todd said as he climbed out of the car.
“I told you you’d like it,” Jill’s mom said, smiling at Jill’s stunned expression. “Come on inside and I’ll take you to your rooms, then you can go use the pool.”
The entryway was gorgeous and spotless, a wide spacious foyer leading to a spiral staircase with a large ornate banister. Windows from other rooms shone light into the entryway, giving it an open, airy feel. No one else was in sight.
Jill’s mom headed for the stairs, and Jill and Todd followed. The stairs had plush white carpet, and it felt soft and cushioning under Jill’s flip-flops as she ascended. At the top was another open area overlooking the foyer, and across from where they were standing, another spiral staircase rose to the third floor. On either side of them were hallways leading to the two wings of the second floor, and Jill and Todd followed Mrs. Sherer to the left.