"I'll be fine," he said, smiling. "Thank you."
Billy wheeled himself down the corridor, first to the bathroom and then to his room. I prepared for bed myself. As he went by to go to his room, he paused at my door.
"Good night, Melody."
"Good night, Billy," I called. He wheeled into his room and I marveled at how cheerful he was and how well he had driven the shadows of loneliness from his door.
I wasn't in my room five minutes before those shadows began closing in on me. Here I was in a strange place, away from anyone I loved or who loved me, feeling like a wanderer who had lost all sense of direction and no longer knew her way home.
From what well of faith did Billy Maxwell draw so much strength?
I lay there in the dark thinking about Cary, hearing his laughter, recalling flashes of his smile, his beguiling eyes, even his smirk. Thinking about him made me feel better. I closed my eyes and
concentrated on the memory of the sound of the ocean, visualized the sight of the tide rushing in to wash the shore.
And soon, the shadows of loneliness sunk back. Sleep, like the tide, washed over me.
I was drifting out.
When I woke the next morning, I was embarrassed by how late I had slept. I practically jumped out of the bed, washed and dressed. Holly and Billy had already opened the shop and were dealing with customers.
"I'm sorry I slept so late," I declared when the customers left.
"That's all right, honey," Holly said. "You must have been exhausted. Billy told me you two went for a walk," she added.
"I guess all the excitement of being in New York tired me out."
"I'll get her some breakfast," Billy called out as he headed for the kitchen.
"I hate being so much trouble."
"You're no trouble. After you have some breakfast, we'll go get your airline tickets," Holly said. "Then, I'd like to show you some of New York. What would you like to see the most?"
"I don't know." My mind reeled with the possibilities, the things and places I had only read about and Alice and I had spoken about back in Sewell when the two of us planned a future trip together. What had once been a childhood fantasy was now a reality for me.
"I guess I'd like to see the Empire State Building and Broadway and the Statue of Liberty and the Museum of Natural History and . . ."
"There's only one day," Holly said, laughing.
"I'll show her most of that," Billy called from the kitchen. "Got some fruit, a bowl of multi-grain cereal, juice and coffee in here waiting on you, Melody."
"You'll show me?" I asked, not hiding my astonishment well. He and Holly looked at each other and then laughed.
"Billy gets around as well as anyone," Holly said. "He has a van with a lift and a specially engineered steering wheel."
"Gift from my parents," he said, and I thought, how strange that he had never mentioned them before. "I can't take you away from the shop. I . ."
"What do you mean? I'm due a vacation anyway, aren't I, Holly?"
"More than one," Holly replied. "Better eat breakfast so you can get started," Holly said. "Go on," she urged. "Stop being a worrywart."
I laughed and went in to have my breakfast. Afterward, Holly and I drove over to the travel agency where her friend worked and I picked up my airline tickets. Having them in my hand with the itinerary spelled out before me made me suddenly frightened. Would I really get on that plane tomorrow and fly across the country to stay with people I didn't know and search one of the country's biggest cities for a mother who might not want to see me?
Billy had his van in front of the shop when we returned. He showed me how the lift worked and then took his place in the driver's seat. Holly waved goodbye as we drove off for my tour of New York, Billy looking as excited about it as I was.
"It's always fun to see familiar things through virgin eyes," he explained. "It helps one appreciate what one has more."
Seeing the Empire State Building in the distance was one thing, but to ride right up to it and look up was another.