"Afraid not," Laura said gently. Without thought she reached over and rested her hand on Crystal's shoulder, slightly hurt when she felt the flinch beneath her fingers. Wondering briefly if she should remove it before discarding the notion, the writer let her hand slide down, lightly rubbing Crystal's upper back. When her actions were not rebuked, Laura altered her motion, letting her fingers slide back and forth in a lazy arc, feeling the tension and tightness in the muscles beneath the skin. "It looks like we're about fifteen minutes early," she said, never ceasing in the gentle motion of her hand on Crystal's back. There had been a stiffness when she had first placed her hand but Laura suspected that was more of an automatic reaction on the younger woman's part to being touched.
"I'll let you bring her back to the airport on your own," Crystal said, although her tone was definitely less agitated than it had been. "I'm not going through that mess again."
"How do you think we're going to be getting out here?" Laura queried in a teasing tone. "The car isn't going to come to us." Crystal seemed to think about that problem and frowned even more. Laura tried hard not to smirk but the pout on her roommate's face was too cute for her to keep a straight face.
"Smart ass," Crystal grumbled.
"Just pointing out facts, my friend. Don't forget Helen will probably have three or four suitcases with her."
"What's she doing, moving here?"
Laura smiled at that, her aunt notorious for having more luggage than any one person could ever need no matter how long the trip. "Let's just hope she's planning on staying for a few days. Any more than that and we'll need to use one of those valet carts."
"What we?" the blonde asked dryly. "She's your relative."
"That's fine. You can keep up with her and let her talk your ear off. I don't mind."
"I get the feeling I'm going to regret tagging along with you today, aren't I?" Crystal asked cautiously, fearing that indeed would be the case.
When the plane finally landed and passengers started to stream into the gate, there was no doubt to Crystal who Helen was. Dressed in brightly colored silks with a matching hat, Helen Chick stood out in a crowd. Laura nodded at Crystal's observation and waved to get the flamboyant woman's attention.
"Ooh Laura Elizabeth!" Helen exclaimed, her voice carrying over the throngs of people between them. Waving her hand excitedly, she forced her way through the crowd and wrapped Laura up in what appeared to Crystal to be a very painful bear hug.
"Aunt Helen, how are you?" Laura asked after taking a moment to get the air back into her lungs.
"Oh, I'm the same as always, pumpkin. Busy, busy, busy all the time."
Crystal's eyebrows rose at the pet name her roommate was called, fully planning on teasing the writer at a later time. Realizing that she was now the focus of attention, she held her hand out. "I'm Crystal, Laura's roommate."
"Of course you are," Helen said excitedly, pulling Crystal into a crushing hug. "What a pretty little thing you are." Too shocked to resist, Crystal allowed herself to be held at arms length. Closer now, she could see Laura's aunt clearly. Beneath the brightly colored hat was a mass of platinum hair surrounding a face that Crystal doubted ever saw daylight without makeup. Indeed now she could easily see the layers of base and shadow that created the image Helen Chick presented to the world.
"Uh thank you," Crystal stammered, looking over to Laura for help.
"Aunt Helen, she's" Laura began.
"Now let's get out of here before we spend an hour waiting at the light," Helen said, cutting off her niece. "I absolutely loathe this airport."
Crystal didn't know what loathe meant but from the look of distaste on Helen's face, she got the general idea. Of course there was the other i.e.she figured out from the earlier comment. Helen thought there was more than a roommate situation going on. However, since they were now moving toward the luggage claim area and Helen had gone on to list off the many things that were wrong with the local airport, Crystal decided to let the confusion over the living arrangements slide for the time being. Draped over Helen's arm was a carry on bag done in rich leather with gold trim. Crystal was dismayed to see a multitude of matching bags moving in a lazy circle on the baggage claim belt. She was certain it would never all fit in the Jeep and wondered if Laura had thought to bring cords to use for the luggage rack. After pulling one bag, however, Crystal was more concerned about her back surviving the task of getting them onto the baggage cart much less on top of the Jeep. Helen apparently packed everything short of the kitchen sink when she traveled but didn't concern herself with the weight of the bags, Crystal noted sourly as Helen spent her time pointing out which bags were hers and instructing Laura on which order they were to be stacked on the cart.
The instant they stepped into the warm August air, Crystal reached to her pocket for her cigarettes. Before it lit, however, a cloud of smoke blew past her, Helen apparently faster on the draw when it came to lighters. Crystal finished getting her cigarette lit and was stuffing the lighter back into her pocket when Helen yelped loud enough to startle her.
"You're a smoker too?" That earned the blonde a hearty slap on the back.
Damn she's strong. "Yeah," Crystal choked.
"No smoking in my car," Laura said firmly, stopping the cart just behind her Jeep. "Any preference on hotels?"
"Now there's no reason I should put out good money on a hotel especially in this little city," Helen said. "Your mother has plenty of room in her drafty old house."
Crystal, who by that time was negotiating two suitcases off the rack while holding her cigarette precariously between her teeth, noted the way Laura stiffened.
"Mom wants you to stay in a hotel. I guess she's not over what you said about the house last time."
"Nonsense. I come all this way to see her and she doesn't even have the decency to open her home to me? No pumpkin, the larger valet goes on the bottom."
"I thought this was the largest one," Laura grumbled, pulling it back out of the Jeep, only then noting the larger one Crystal was wheeling over to her. "You can't stay at Mom's house," she repeated.
"Hrmpf, fine." Helen crossed her arms, her cigarette sending little tendrils of smoke skyward. "If she wants to be like that, that's just fine by me. At least you have the manners not to throw a relation out on the street."
Crystal was trying hard not to become part of the conversation but found herself unable to keep her head from snapping up at that. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out where Helen was leading. "Uh, Laura?"
"You still have that townhouse near the lake?" Helen went on, oblivious to the looks the younger women were sharing. "I bet that's such a pretty sight now that the leaves are starting to turn."
"Aunt Helen, we don't have the room for company."
"Oh it'll be just like when you used to come for visits in the summer," Helen said with a dismissive wave. "Now let's get these loaded so I can see just what Gail has done to herself this time. Since you don't seem to be that upset I can only assume she's going to be fine." "With time and medication, yes," Laura began. "But you just can't stay with us."
"Now my little Laura," Helen said as if speaking to a child. "Don't you remember when I came to visit and you and I had that nice long chat about your 'roommate'? There's nothing to be embarrassed about."