Chapter 2
"Well, it was nice chatting with you," Sarah said kindly as she gathered her things around her.
"Yes, it was nice to talk to you too," Dixie said, hoisting her purse and Jenny's baby bag over one shoulder, and holding Jenny on the other.
Walking into the airport, Dixie started to break into an anxious sweat. She'd already booked a rental car so she could leave Pine Valley Airport as swift as possible-- She'd put on a large pair of black sunglasses, just incase anyone she knew happened to be at the airport.
She loaded Jenny into a car seat, and strapped it into a luggage cart with her suitcases. Her breathing was heavy as she arrived at the car-rental counter.
"Reservation under Anderson," she panted. "I called yesterday for a car, you said you'd have it ready."
A man with a pointy noise and long fingers behind the desk quickly typed the information into the computer before saying, "Ah, yes Ms. Anderson, one moment please."
Dixie leaned against the counter, then reached to run her fingers through Jenny's soft baby-curls. Jenny however, quickly turned her head, and began to point in the distance. She opened her mouth wide, gurgling happily, fingers still outstretched.
"What's that Jenny?" Dixie cooed at the little girl. She followed the little girl's eyes to the profile of a man in the distance. In that glance time slowed down, the room began to spin, and Dixie's felt suddenly ill. It was Tad. She flipped her body back towards the counter, craning over it, praying the man would hurry back with her keys. *Please don't let him see me… Please don't let him see me…*
A few meters away, Tad turned around. One hand clutched the briefcase he'd brought with him, and he ran the other hand through his hair, stretching his arms as he did so. Feeling tired from the business trip, it was enough for him to concentrate on just keeping his eyes open. Turning from his terminal though, his eyes shot open, now eager to concentrate on the woman with soft blond curls standing at the car-rental counter. He quickened his step without thinking, and started to walk towards her. "Dixie?" he questioned himself under his breath. He loosened his tie so he could breathe again, eyeing her anxiously, only a few feet away. Then the clerk from behind the counter handed her a set of keys.
"Here you are, Ms. Anderson." Tad held his breath as he watched the woman take the keys and rush out of the doors to the car lot along with her baby in the luggage cart.
It was lucky that there was a bench nearby, Tad needed to sit down. He practically collapsed against the hard wood, wondering if he'd lost his mind. "Dixie," he muttered again. *That woman looked exactly like Dixie.* Nervousness and confusion were suddenly drowned out by a louder voice in his head. *No. A woman named Ms. Anderson, who happens to be visiting Pine Valley with her baby looks like Dixie.* "I can't keep doing this!" he growled as he stood quickly. A few people turned to stare at him. He stalked off to his own car. *Dixie is in Europe. JR showed me the postcard she sent a few weeks ago. I've got to stop thinking about her.* He opened his car door, got into the seat and rested his head against the steering wheel before starting the car. *Right. Like that will ever happen.*
Not far away, Dixie loaded her things into the backseat of the car and fastened Jenny into the seat. "All ready to go?" she asked Jenny calmly as she started the car. The infant shot her mother an exasperated look, as if her little mind was saying "Nice going mom."
Dixie sighed. "I couldn't have told him. Especially not then. He still thinks I'm in Europe. I have to move slowly, I can't go jumping into anything." Dixie could have sworn that little Jenny was eyeing her skeptically. "You're a sweet little girl, you know that? I love you so much. And your Daddy does too, even if he doesn't know you yet. We just have to relax. We'll stay calm, and everything will work out alright. Everything is going to be fine." Watching her little girl's eyes close, Dixie realized Jenny wasn't the only one she was trying to convince.
Bone-white knuckles protruded from Dixie's hands that were gripping the steering wheel so tightly. The tenseness of her body was rivaled only by the intensity that emanated from her eyes.
*What wouldn't I give for one of Lanie's back massages right now.* She smiled nostalgically, remembering the magic her sister's hands had always been able to work during those nine stressful months. She missed Lanie's comforting talks and patient encouragement—she hadn't seen her sister in such a long time before, she'd almost forgotten what "being sisters" was like, even when it meant getting into silly little arguments or talking about "boys." Boys like Tad. Dixie sighed, glancing hopefully at the backseat, knowing her cell phone was buried in mountains of neatly folded clothes in one of her suitcases. *I suppose I won't be calling Lanie anytime soon.*
By now, her hands hurt from the tight hold they'd had on the steering wheel, but when she eased their grip, they shook slightly. She forced one trembling hand to turn on the headlights and light the steadily dimming road, still blurry with tears that didn't seem to want to go away. She could not take it any longer. Braking quickly, the car was at the side of the road in no time. The car door flung open, and Dixie sprang out. She stamped across the street and back, then grabbing the railing with both hands and screamed a desperate cry, trying to let the stampede of emotion escape her tired body. "My God," she gasped, "How am I going to do this?" Her head throbbed as she fell to her knees, and tried to soothe herself by rubbing her neck with her clammy hands. The first thing her hands felt though was a delicate gold chain.
She coughed as she traced the chain to the front with her fingers, and caressed the diamond star at the end. Before leaving Paris, she'd put the necklace on, to remind her of why she was returning to Pine Valley. Cradling the precious jewel, she lifted her head up to the dusky sky. It was a clear night, and in the dark inky blue, she spotted the first star—a bright, twinkling all alone in the sky. She twisted the chain in her hands for a moment more. The tears on her face now shone on cheeks that formed a reassured smile. The pulse that pounded in her head moments before began to retreat, and her hands steadied gradually as she regained her composure.
Lifting herself to her feet, her legs guided her back to the car. She recollected her thoughts for a moment before driving off again, with her star resting close by her heart.