The crackle and subsequent voice that appeared over the intercom sent a surge of hope through Paige.

“This is your Captain speaking. I hate to break bad news to you all, but it seems that the storm drifted farther north than originally anticipated and we’ll have to make an emergency stop here in Denver until it passes. I do apologize for the delay and we’ll make sure that every passenger gets some complimentary tickets for the food and the stores in the terminal to make up for the delay.”

The businessman to her right groaned and stared at his watch before looking grumpily back at his laptop as he resumed punching numbers into a document entitled ‘Spreadsheet 1’. She doubted if he was actually working as the numbers seemed like a bunch of gibberish and occasionally she thought she saw him hiding the solitaire window whenever she looked in his direction.

The older woman on her left didn’t seem so happy as well. She shifted more towards the window, curling up in her Danielle Steele novel as she pulled her jacket tighter around her and then flipped the page, wetting her lips with an intensely concentrated look. Paige couldn’t help but marvel at the way everyone jumped to make themselves busy, as if making a comment to someone they had been seated with for the last few hours was an unheard of phenomenon.

Unlike the two next to her, Paige was almost glad that there was a delay. Technically, the situation was out of her hands. She would be late and probably not be able to attend the funeral at all with the way the pilot had sounded. It was one of those situations in which Paige found herself in quite frequently. She was torn between doing what her mother would want her to do and what she felt would be right for her. Despite being twenty-four and married, Paige Logan could still not get her mother’s hand out of her life. So she was, despite her better judgment and the sick feeling in her gut, headed to her father’s funeral.

“He’s going to be buried next weekend.” Her mother had said, surprisingly calm for a woman whose husband had just died. Paige could hear a bit of a tremor in her voice, but she still had that air of sophistication and dignity that Paige could never understand when she was growing up.

“I’ll make up your old room for you. When are you flying in?”

Paige couldn’t say no to that. She’d always been the good child, the one her mother had always liked best, only because she was the most obedient, got the best grades, and never really acted up. She was too nice, her husband often said, the type of person people just walk right over. How could she say no to her mother when she put it like that? She had honestly tried her hardest to convince herself out of it. It had taken her a while to even get up enough courage to order the plane ticket and actually go. In the end, it was the conversation with her husband that convinced her.

“Dad was going downhill for a long time, though. He was practically senile by the time I went off to college. We weren’t even that close… and he always had this way of making me feel worthless whenever I was home. Parents aren’t supposed to make their children feel worthless.” Paige rationalized in bed the night of the call.

“He’s still your father, love. He helped give you life. Maybe you weren’t close to him as a person, but he still holds the role of your father. The least you can do is see him off. If you can’t do it for his sake, at least do it for your mother.” Her husband said, reaching over to turn out the bedside lamp.

“Jack, you know how Mother is. She doesn’t just want me there for the funeral, I’m sure she’s got something she wants to pin on me or make me do.” She cut herself off as her husband leaned over and kissed her.

“Paige. You worry too much. Your father just died. Don’t you think you could at least go visit your mother for a few days? She’s going to be all alone in that great big house of hers.”

“I don’t know, Jack. Mother might have some elaborate plan to try to get me to move back to Philly or she—“ Paige started, but Jack cut her off, putting a finger on her lips. She started to talk again but he made a funny little ‘ah’ sound, as if he was scolding her like a small child or a puppy.

“Paige, look at me. I know your father wasn’t all that bad. Just remember what he was like when you were a child. I even remember when I met him how talkative he was and how friendly he was. You were a Daddy’s Girl, admit it.”

There was a moment when Paige stopped talking, instead just focusing on Jack’s eyes in the semi-darkness with only the moon streaming in through the gap where the curtains weren’t pulled together completely. She wet her lips, and turned over in the bed, preparing for sleep.

“I’ll order my ticket tomorrow.”

So reluctantly, Paige had packed a suitcase and got on Delta flight 147 to Philadelphia to visit her mother and attend the funeral of her deceased father. She had pleaded with her husband to come with her on the trip, asking him over and over and doing her best to come up with things they could do on their trip to entice him.

“Paige, you know I can’t take off work this week. It’s the end of the month and it’s closing. I can’t just get a substitute like you, it’s not that easy.” She had done everything in her power to convince him, but the answer stayed the same. A firm ‘no’, and she was back at square one.

The majority of the plane ride had been quiet, and Paige’s own thoughts shifted to her situation with her mother. What else could her mother possibly want her to stay for? She had to be up to something. Paige could have easily stayed in a hotel that night, one right near the airport so she could easily get up for her flight the next day. Their old home was out of the way and she’d have to face quite a commute to get back to the airport. Not to mention Paige was not a morning person. Why else would her mother want her in that big empty house unless she had another motive?

It was a while before the plane was settled in the Denver airport and Paige was finally able to get off the plane, and she waited until she was in the terminal, complete with complimentary food tickets in hand before she fished in her purse for her cell phone. She sank down into a wooden chair of a sandwich shop, adjusting her suitcase at her side as she waited for the ringing to stop.

One.

Two.

Three.

Paige was sure that her mother’s cell would go into voicemail, but a tired voice picked up just before the fourth ring. The voice sounded ages older than her mother was, and it almost sounded as if she had just woken up.

“Hello?”

“Mother?” Paige’s voice was almost skeptical.

There was a long pauses, then the voice on the other end cleared her throat, took an audible inhale of air, then spoke again in a voice that sounded a lot more familiar to the twenty-four year old.

“Paige. When is your flight coming in? I thought you’d still be on the plane right now.”

“Mom, the storm over here is pretty bad, we had to land in Denver.” Paige bit down on her lip, feeling almost guilty.

“Denver…? Oh. Denver. Alright then, when is the plane going to be able to take off again? You know what time the funeral is, don’t you?”

“Mom, I’m sorry.”

There was another pause. “Paige, it’s not your fault the plane can’t get to Philly. What time are they expecting to be able to take off again?”

Paige looked at her watch. “They aren’t sure exactly, it depends on the weather. It’s pouring down rain here, but that’s good. They said it’s supposed to downpour and rain itself out and then let up in a few hours and then maybe they’ll be able to take off again. So it’ll be a couple hours before we even get to in the air again.”

“I see.”

“Mom, I’m sorry. I don’t think I’m going to be able to make it. Even if we get up in the air in two or three hours, it’ll still be a while before I arrive in Philadelphia and I won’t even be able to get to the funeral until 3:30. That’s an hour and a half late!”

Paige glanced towards the window, watching the rain pouring down outside. She fiddled with the handle of her suitcase, waiting anxiously for a response from her mother. The silence that she met in response prompted her to pull the phone away from her ear, checking to make sure it was still on and connected before she put the phone to her ear again.

“Mom?”

“I know.” The voice that responded sounded a lot more like the older woman she had first heard on the phone.

Paige let out a slow breath, pushing on the handle of her suitcase with her thumb. “Mom?”

“Try and get here at 3:30. I’ll push things back for as long as I can until you get here. I’ll see you at 3:30.”

“Mom?”

There was no answer.

“Mom?”

Again, no answer, and Paige pulled the phone away from her ear to check the phone. This time, the phone was blinking ‘Call Ended’.

Taking in another deep breath, Paige put the phone back into her purse and proceeded to head to the sandwich counter to order herself food. Handing over the ticket, she got herself a turkey and avocado sandwich and a bottle of iced tea. Returning to her seat, she began to eat as she stared out the window. The sandwich was dry and stuck in her throat, and Paige was forced to wash it down with the iced tea.

As she stared out the window, Paige recalled the way her mother sounded when she picked up the phone. In all her life, she had never heard the woman sound so old or out-of-control. It was something her mother prided herself on, being in control of every situation. She obviously had not been expecting her to call at that moment. What was most alarming to her was the way that her mother had insisted upon pushing the funeral back. Everyone had been invited for 2:00 and would be there expecting the funeral and for things to start around then. It was a foolish thought to try and push things back for an hour and a half. Maybe if she had only been a half an hour late it might have been acceptable, but it was a ridiculous notion to try and move back the funeral. What on earth was her mother thinking? A moment later, it occurred to her that for the first time in her twenty-four, it was her mother who needed her, and not the other way around.

Several hours later, Paige’s flight had taken off and landed in Philadelphia without a problem. She had been lucky enough to snag a taxi thanks to the fact that she had thought to call ahead for one when she was stuck in the terminal at Denver. An extra twenty-dollar tip was offered to the driver if he could drive faster and get her to Memorial Gardens Cemetery by 3:30. She had never in her life seen a driver manage to maneuver so the streets so quickly, and at 3:27 pm, Paige found herself at the cemetery.

She had barely even entered the cemetery grounds when she spotted the group. There was a large smattering of people talking quietly around a section of the cemetery, a dignified looking chestnut-haired woman whose hair had just begun to silver at the head of them. Her black suit was rather fashionable and Paige had to admire her mother’s way of finding an outfit she looked good in even for the funeral. She was even smiling and chatting amiably with a few of the guests. Before she even had a chance to say anything, her mother looked up from the conversation.

“Paige!”

The shout was loud and definitely louder than should have been in a cemetery. Paige was startled to find that the source of the voice was her mother, who suddenly was clumsily running in high heels down the grassy incline to meet her. She looked an awkward mess, her hat almost falling off her head as she struggled between running and keeping her balance in an attempt to get to her daughter as if her very life depended on it.

“Paige!”

Paige moved quickly towards the edge of the gravel path in time to catch her mother as she practically tumbled into her daughter’s arms. She planted her feet firmly into the ground, reaching her arms to support the older woman who seemed frailer than ever. She didn’t lift her head from Paige’s shoulders; instead she crumpled into her daughter’s arms hiding herself in the crook of Paige’s neck and the inside of her black hat.

“Don’t worry Mom, I’m here. I’m here.”