Ready to Run

Part One, Chapter 1

As Lexi bustled around the room, packing for a week-long vacation, her best friend Jenny sat in the middle of the bed.

"I still don't understand why you want to go there when you could go anywhere? And how'd you swing a week off from work?"

"Principal Weber was willing to give me the week off, given the circumstances. I need to regroup, to think about what's next. The school year will be over in two months and then what? Obviously I'll keep nursing, but where?"

"Why bother working? It's not like you have to."

Jenny was on the verge of pouting. It was an increasingly common occurrence since the accident.

"I want to."

Lexi caught Jenny rolling her eyes.

"And somehow I think they'd be happy knowing I enjoyed the vacation they never had. Maybe I'll feel closer to them somehow, on the anniversary, if I'm where they should have been."

*****

One year earlier, a catastrophic failure in the fuselage of the private jet in which they were traveling had killed her parents, and everyone onboard. At least they had been together, she told herself. At least they didn't suffer.

A swift and massive settlement from the airplane manufacturer had left Lexi a very wealthy woman at twenty-three, and her immediate sale of the family's prosperous business was another seven digit addition to her bank account. And yet Lexi, despite her new affluence, had kept her same habits and lifestyle. She worked hard, lived modestly, and always included Jenny in her activities. Or tried to.

Lexi had offered to bring Jenny along for the week. The club was a destination frequented by the rich and famous, some staying in luxurious villas and bungalows surrounding the clubhouse, others owning residences along the beach and around the golf course. It had been a family joke before her parents left that they might be mistaken for staff, not guests.

"Jenny, you could still come. It would mean so much to me if you were there. I'm glad I'm going, but I'm a little worried about how I'll manage on the day itself. If you were there I know you wouldn't let me mope all day. Will you please let me do this for you?"

Jenny looked cheerful as she answered, "I wish I could, Lexi, but I have essays on the French Revolution coming in and I'll need to get those graded, and I'm not sure I could find a good sub on such short notice."

She paused, taking a deep breath before she spoke again.

"I hope you won't be too sad. It would be a shame to waste all that white sand and the posh bungalow."

Although Lexi had her back to Jenny, her friend's sour face, seen in a small mirror on the dresser, belied the tone of concern. She didn't have time to discuss it now, but it would need to be addressed when she got home. She didn't like the rift that was growing between them.

*****

Lexi had no qualms about flying in a large commercial jet, and the journey from her home in Maryland to the enclave just south of Miami was swift and smooth. The club had given her the same bungalow that had been reserved for her parents, and she was afforded every courtesy in deference to the tragedy of the year before.

She shed a few tears as she settled in, wondering what her parents would have thought of the large sitting room and its kitchenette, the exceedingly comfortable bedroom, the bathroom that seemed more like a small day spa, and the veranda facing across the pristine beach, not fifty feet away, and over the sun kissed ocean waves

Knowing that she would have ample time for reflection and planning, Lexi, although tired after a day of travel, took her dinner at the clubhouse instead of in her room. As she read a pleasantly mindless novel over her grilled pompano, there was a commotion by the front desk as four young men entered the reception area.