Chapter 37
A/N More Sorrow
Time jump is 2 years, Suzanne and Benjamin rented their house to the Barnes family and moved into her parents home and Eric and Evelyn continued to live in Kentucky.
Suzanne walked down the stairs into the kitchen. Benjamin had let her sleep in and he was getting the kids ready to go to school. It was Thursday and his parents were flying in later in the day to spend the weekend with them. They had started visiting more since her parents death to make sure Lizzie and Will had that grandparent connection.
William had just announced his retirement and was in the process of selling his company. They had gone through the process of separating Benjamin's equine finance company from his company. It had been a slow and difficult task, but it had been completed last month. Benjamin was now the sole owner of his company.
"Good morning sweetheart," he said, kissing her as she passed him at the table.
"You feed the rugrats?" she asked with a smile on her face.
"Yes, they went up to grab their school books. I will be getting home later tonight, I have to pick up Mom and Dad from the airport," he told her.
"I have to come into town later. I can pick them up so that you don't have to wrangle with them while you wait for your parents," she told him.
"Sounds good, what time are you coming in? Going to be there at lunch time? We can have lunch together," he said with a hint of mischief in his voice. He wiggled his eyebrows at her with a smirk.
"Yea I will be in around 11 and my meeting should not last but maybe an hour, so I can meet you at your office. Want me to pick up something or you want to go out?" she asked.
"Hmmm, let me think. Take out and alone time with my gorgeous wife or a crowded restaurant. I think that is a no brainer," he laughed.
She smacked him on the arm and said, "I guess I am getting take out. Anything in particular you want?" she asked, playing along with his game.
"YOU," he said, pulling her into his lap and lowering her head to his. He placed a soft kiss on her lips and tried to pull away, but she held him in place and deepened the kiss. They were too busy making out in the kitchen when Will walked in.
"Ew really do you have to do that in the kitchen? It is contaminating the food," Will said with disgust in his voice.
Suzanne pulled back and glared at him. She stood up and walked toward the coffee pot.
Benjamin stood up and placed his plate in the sink as he placed his arm around Will's neck and ruffled his hair.
"Dad, stop I just got it right," Will complained as he smoothed his hair back down.
Benjamin was just about to start picking on him when Lizzie came running down the stairs and hollered, "Lets go I don't want to be late."
Suzanne and Benjamin just shook their heads. Lizzie was a fireball and never still. She was always going 100 miles an hour. She rarely sat still, but when she did she could sit for hours especially if she was doing school work or reading.
At around 5 pm, Benjamin drove out to the airport to pick up William and Emma. The airport was small and only private and charter planes flew into it. He parked by the hanger that the plane would be stored in. The plane was supposed to land at 5:10. He got out and put his briefcase in the trunk so there would be room on the back seat.
He sat back down and checked his watch. It was 5:20 and no sign of the plane. He turned and shaded his eyes and looked in the direction the plane would be flying in. He saw nothing. They may have hit some weather or traffic when flying out, they will be here shortly, he thought to himself.
Another 30 minutes went by and no sign of the plane. He walked into the hangar to find the airport manager, who was usually there until 7 when the last flight was allowed to land.
"Mike, have you heard anything about my parents' plane?" Benjamin asked as he walked up to him.
Mike had his head stuck in a crate he was unloading and looked up when Benjamin spoke to him. "They were supposed to land almost an hour ago. I haven't heard about the flight being delayed. Let's go in the office and call the tower in Washington and see if we can get some information," Mike said walking into his office.
Mike called Washington National and was connected to the tower. He asked to speak to the controller who had performed the flight paths for the plane. He was immediately connected to a supervisor, which was off.
"You are calling about Gulfstream Oscar 27 Romeo?" the man asked.
"Yes, they are an hour late arriving. I was wondering if they made all their vectors and if you had them on radar?" Mike asked.
"Can I ask why you are asking about the plane?" the man asked.
"I am the airport manager in Charlottesville, Virginia. The son of the occupants of the plane is here to pick them up and there is no sign of them. Has something happened?" Mike asked with a hint of concern in his voice.
"The plane has disappeared. They were vectoring on course and dropped off radar about 2 hours ago. We are trying to reach them with no luck. The last location on radar we had for them was near Alexandria. They were supposed to turn west and then head south. Richmond ATC would have picked them up, but no sign of them. We are scrambling search vehicles and aircraft," John the ATC supervisor said.
Mike said, "Please keep me updated with any information you get." He hung up and turned toward Benjamin.
"Your parent's plane is missing. It went off radar somewhere before Richmond ATC would have taken them over. They are scrambling search crews to look for them. I told them to keep me updated. I will stay here until we hear something. Why don't you head home and I will keep you updated there," Mike told him.
Benjamin was stunned by the news Mike had just given him. He wasn't an expert on flying, but he knew his parent's pilot and he was excellent at his job. He nodded at Mike and walked towards his car.
He arrived back at home and walked in on auto pilot. The whole drive he was running scenarios over in his head of what might have happened. He walked into the kitchen and sat down heavily at the table. Suzanne turned when she heard him. She observed the look on his face and wondered where his parents were. The kids were in the yard playing, they must have stayed out with them.
She walked over and squatted down in front of him and placed her hand on his cheek. This seemed to pull him out of his daze. "Babe, what is wrong?"
"My parent's plane is missing. It just disappeared off the radar. Mike called Washington National Air Traffic Control to find out why it was late and they told him it just vanished. They have sent out search crews to look for them," he told her, pulling her up to sit on his lap. He tightened his arms around her. He did not want to think of the worst, but realization was hitting him.
"Oh Benjamin, we have to think positive. They probably just had to make an emergency landing or something. I am sure they are fine. Maybe the radio went out and they couldn't call. I am sure the search teams will find them," she said hopeful.
He nodded his head and held her tightly.
The teams searched through the night and into the next day with no sign of the plane. On the 3rd day the FAA called off the search due to finding no sign of the plane. Benjamin hired private pilots who searched for 5 more days with no sign of the plane, wreckage or anything.
Joan used some contacts and some satellite footage was provided that showed some wreckage off the coast of Alexandria. The wreckage was a part of the tail of a plane, it was inconclusive as to whether it was their parents plane.
A thorough investigation was conducted and it was determined that the plane exploded in midair and was totally destroyed.
Benjamin and Joan would not accept the decision and hired private detectives and divers to search the area where the parts of the plane were found. They searched for over a month and found nothing. They both had to finally accept the worst and admit that their parents had died when the plane exploded.
Two months later they gathered at a cemetery in New York and held a memorial for William and Emma Adams. A large contingent of mourners attended and gave them both their condolences. The fact that they never had bodies to bury always hurt them, but they faced reality and moved on.
About 3 months later, Benjamin was working in his office. He needed some help with an issue and automatically picked up the phone to call his Dad. He forgot about their deaths and hit rock bottom when the machine picked up and he heard his Mom's voice. He had been strong, but hearing her voice did him in and he crumbled to the floor sobbing uncontrollably.
Suzanne came to join him for lunch. She walked in the door, but didn't see him. She was about to call out for him when she heard the crying. She walked behind his desk and observed him curled up in a ball crying his heart out. She immediately sat down and pulled him into her arms. She knew first hand how the death of his parents felt and she would do anything she could to take his pain away or ease it for him.
They had both been extremely close to their parents so their deaths would affect him like hers did to her. He would need time and all the love she could give him to get him past his pain.
Sorry for all the heartache, but I need to put these chapters in to show why Elizabeth and Will would end up with Aunt Joan when Suzanne and Benjamin died.