"This is the final boarding call for passengers Sammantha and Jerry Collins, booked on flight 2356 to Salt Lake City. I repeat the final boarding call for Samantha and Jerry Collins."
For a brief moment, I wondered if I could pass as Samantha Collins. After all, Salt Lake is a whole lot closer to my home in Phoenix, Arizona, than hick central, Montana. Sighing, I hiked my duffle bag up on my left shoulder while clutching the photo of my long-lost aunt in my right hand.
The aunt was supposed to meet at arrivals instead of contemplating my impersonation of the infamously late Samantha.
Grudgingly, I dragged my feet in the direction of arrivals, and I hoped— not really; Aunt Rachel would be waiting for me. The repetitive squeaks emitted from my cheap sneakers were the only audible admissions of life down the empty hallway. I guess more time than I thought had passed, and now the few dozen people who had disembarked the plane with me were long gone. Great, I thought. If Aunt Rachel had shown up, she was probably pissed at having to wait over an hour for me to walk the five minutes it takes to go from the plane to the airport's exit. Eventually, my squeaking sneakers silenced as I rounded the corner onto the carpeted floor of a surprisingly cozy waiting area.
"Do you think I should call the police!" A frantic voice asked. "I mean, I've been waiting for over an hour, and everyone else from her flight came through ages ago! What if she was kidnapped or, heaven forbid, she hurt herself? Who knows what kind of headspace she's in!"
There was a pregnant pause, and I assumed the person on the other end was trying to rationalize with the woman, who was becoming more hysterical.
I glanced at the photo in my hand and cautiously peeked around the corner. Just as I had suspected, the woman, who now looked slightly crazed with her arms flapping through the air in large exaggerated movements, matched the blonde in the photo.
I quickly retreated behind the wall, wiping my palms nervously on the front of my leggings. I felt relieved that Rachel had shown up. A part of me thought she wouldn't, not with the way my mother always went on about her sister.
Sure, Montana was the last place I wanted to be, and before seeing my aunt standing there, I had hoped I could finish out my last year of school in Phoenix. After all, I was eighteen and perfectly capable of caring for myself — I had been since I was thirteen. Although, seeing Rachel ignited a sliver of hope at the back of my mind that maybe, I wouldn't have to be alone anymore.
"Lilia?" The now quiet voice of my aunt asked. "Lila is that you."
I slowly emerged from behind the wall, embarrassed that she caught me hiding.
"Um. Yeah. Hi there, Aunt Rachel."
Before I could raise my hand in an awkward wave, Rachel hugged me tightly to her willowy figure.
"Oh, thank heavens! I was so worried something terrible had happened to you." She hiccuped, and I gently patted her back in a half-hearted attempt to reassure the woman, whom I hadn't seen since I was two.
The interaction was already so different than any I had had with my mom in a very long time, and she eventually pulled away when I didn't comment.
"Well, you must be hungry and exhausted. How about we go through a drive-through somewhere and get you home? It's about a two-hour drive back to the ranch, so we still have some traveling ahead of us."
I offered a weak smile swallowing the guilt of making her wait and travel far to get me. Grabbing my bag from me, Rachel lead me out the doors and to the nearly empty parking lot. It was already nine o'clock, and rain had started to spit down on us, doing nothing to ease my guilt.
*****
"Alrighty, here we are." Said Aunt Rachel, unlocking the doors to a red Ford F-450 in front of us and tossing my bag in the back seat.
At five feet four inches, I never considered myself short. But standing next to the massive pickup, I knew I would probably be pulling a hamstring getting in. Reaching, I opened the door and, with great effort, hoisted myself into the seat next to Rachel, whose tall frame had entered the truck with the grace of a gazelle. My sophisticated grunts didn't go unnoticed.
"Sorry, Adam made me bring the ranch truck. The mountain pass can be unpredictable this time of year."
I wrapped my light sweater tighter around myself and quietly spoke. "It's fine — thanks for picking me up," I added as an afterthought.
Aunt Rachel gave me a small smile. Her green eyes were kind as they met my blue ones. She started to open her mouth but then seemed to think better of it. Shaking her head lightly, she started the truck, and the engine rumbled to life.
"I hope you're okay with a hamburger, the only thing available at this time of night."
"That's fine," I said with a weak smile that came out as more of a grimace before turning to look out at the passing street lights.
"Look, Lilia. I know this is a huge adjustment for you. But I want you to know that Adam and I are here for you." Rachel took a shakey breath before continuing. "My sister and I may not have gotten along, and I wish it were under different circumstances, but I am happy that you have agreed to stay with us. I know that the boys and Allie are going to love having you around."
"Thank you, Aunt Rachel." I kicked off my shoes and tucked my knees up to my chest, I couldn't bring myself to look at her concerned face. "What, what do your children know about what happened to my, mom?"
"Not much, we told them that there was a house fire and that you would be finishing your senior year at Rock Creek High."
"So they don't know she's dead," I muttered.
"We didn't know what you would be okay with them knowing." She responded in a strained voice.
This time I did glance toward her.
"I-I, think that for now, I would like to keep that information between us, please?"
"Anything you want, Lilia, anything at all."
*****
We spent the rest of the drive in silence, apart from when she asked me what I wanted to eat. It was a comfortable silence, the car was warm and my stomach was full for the first time in weeks. Slowly, my eyes began to feel heavy and the exhaustion of the day caught up to me. I put my head against the cool glass and fell asleep.
