Chapter 3
Linda hurried to the wall where she picked up the receiver.
“Hello?” she said, expecting to hear Nick’s voice on the other line, but it wasn’t him.
“Mrs. Carter? I’m sorry to have to inform you of this Ma’am, the plane went down. Our crews have searched the ground. No survivors found.” She heard him say.
The phone slipped from Linda’s hands and she steadied herself against the wall. Leigh Anne rushed to her side.
“What is it?” she asked. When Linda didn’t respond Leigh Anne picked up the phone to talk to the person on the other end.
Linda closed her eyes tightly to keep the room from spinning. She felt she was going t be sick to her stomach. She heard Leigh Anne thank the man on the phone and hang it back up. Linda looked up at her and the horrified look on Leigh Anne’s face only confirmed that this nightmare was a reality.
“This can’t be…this can’t be happening.” Linda gasped. Leigh Anne helped her into the other room where they sat down on the couch. Tears welled up in Linda’s eyes and she felt pressure building in her chest, making it hard to breathe.
“I’m flying out to meet him in a few days.” She added. She was sobbing uncontrollably now and Leigh Anne held onto her, trying to comfort her. “He doesn’t even know about our daughter!” she cried. “I didn’t get a chance to …”
“Shhh.” Leigh Anne said softly, trying to mask her own tears. Linda stood up at once and walked over to the end table, picking up a picture of them together. The picture had been taken shortly after their honeymoon. Nick was holding her on his lap on their boat. She gazed at his smiling face, her vision blurred by salty tears as she sobbed quietly.
“You can’t do this Nickolas!” she said at once. “You can’t leave me here to raise our daughter alone. She’ll need you. I need you!” she cried. Leigh Anne stood up and engulfed her in a hug. Linda sobbed on Leigh Anne’s shoulder until she couldn’t cry any longer. They sat back on the couch again in silence. Linda felt numb. She needed Nick to walk through the front door and embrace her, to tell her that everything would be okay and that he was there to stay. Her thoughts were interrupted by another ring from the phone. When she didn’t budge, Leigh Anne stood up and went into the kitchen to answer it. She heard Leigh Anne start to cry even though she was trying to hide it and then she realized who was on the phone.
“I know sweetie, I can’t believe…” Leigh Anne mumbled. Linda walked toward her slowly, trying to steady her breathing.
“Let me talk to him.” She said to Leigh Anne. Leigh Anne nodded and simply handed her the phone, wiping her eyes quickly.
“Brian?” Linda said softly.