The Color of Love (The Color of Heaven Series) Read Free Page B

more interest in seeing her only grandchild.
    Like mother like son, I supposed.
    “What’s going on?” I asked.
    She breathed heavily into the mouthpiece and let out a tiny whimper.
    With growing concern, I faced the sink again. “What’s wrong? Are you all right?”
    “I’m fine,” she replied at last, “but something’s happened to Seth. Have you been watching the news?”
    “No,” I replied. “What is it? Was he climbing?”
    Did he fall? Was it altitude sickness again?
    I’d been preparing myself for this phone call since the first time he left me, eleven years ago.
    Heart racing, I waited for Gladys to go on.
    “He was on his way to Iceland to be in a movie about that billionaire, George Atherton, but they lost track of the plane. They think they crashed somewhere up north, probably over the Atlantic. I can’t believe it.”
    She began to sob into the phone while I strove to comprehend what I was hearing. I couldn’t believe it either. A plane crash? Surely there had to be some mistake.
    “How many people were on board?” I asked.
    “It was just a small private jet so there were only three passengers, plus two pilots. I didn’t even know he was going to Iceland. He didn’t mention it to me. Did he tell you ?”
    I cupped my forehead in my hand while a wave of nausea crashed over me. “No. The last time we spoke was Christmas Day and he didn’t say anything about it. He called from out west, somewhere in the Rockies. Other than that, it’s been over a year since we’ve seen him.”
    “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m always telling him to go home and be with the two of you, but he never listens. That boy… He was always such a free spirit.”
    Free spirit…?
    How about commitment-phobe?
    I exhaled and tried not to think negative thoughts, not at a time like this. “Are they sure the plane actually went down? Is there any chance they just lost contact with it?”
    I didn’t want to give up hope. Not yet.
    “They interviewed Atherton on the news a few minutes ago,” Gladys told me. “He’s very concerned because the pilots sounded distressed when they last heard from them. They were heading into a storm and wanted to change course, but then they lost contact completely. It was like the plane just disappeared into thin air.”
    My stomach turned over again. “Oh, God, I can’t believe this. Have they started searching yet?”
    “Yes, but they don’t even know if they’re looking in the right place, and now they’re saying there are blizzards in the area so they might have to hold off. But if the plane did change course, it could have crashed anywhere. From what I understand, they’re searching the waters north of Newfoundland, looking for some sign of the wreckage.”
    Wreckage. The word turned me into a big puddle of grief. I couldn’t bear to think about Seth being on that plane when it was careening from the sky, and how terrifying that must have been.
    “This is a nightmare,” I said shakily. “What am I going to tell Kaleigh?”
    “I don’t know,” Gladys replied. “But let’s not lose hope. I can’t accept that he’s gone. Not my boy. I have to believe he’s still alive out there somewhere.”
    I nodded and wiped a tear from my eye. “I’ll keep my hopes up too, Gladys,” I replied, “and I’ll say lots of prayers. Keep me posted if you hear anything. And I’ll do the same.”
    We hung up and I took a moment to gather my composure before I went into the living room to tell my daughter that her father’s plane had gone missing.

Chapter Eight

    That night I climbed into bed beside Kaleigh to read to her, but it wasn’t easy to focus on the adventures of a vampire bunny while I was waiting fretfully for news about Seth’s plane. Nevertheless I carried on and tried not to behave in a way that might upset her before bed.
    When we came to the end of the chapter, I closed the book and kissed the top of her head. “Time to go to sleep now. We’ll read more