The line was loud on the other end, threaded with the impatient voice of a train attendant.
My mother kept her voice low, like she was afraid of being overheard.
"They're saying the tickets are wrong."
"They said these are yesterday's tickets, that we can't ride today."
"They've already made us get off."
My head went blank with a roar.
Carol had said she'd taken care of everything.
So this was what "taken care of" meant. She'd bought my parents two expired coach tickets.
I gripped my phone tighter.
"Mom, where are you right now?"
My mother said quickly,
"Tommy, don't blame your daughter-in-law."
"She had so many people to arrange for. A slip-up in all that chaos is only normal."
Beside her I heard my father swallowing back a cough.
"We'll just wait here at the station for a bit."
"It's no trouble."
"Don't let it hold up your boarding."
They'd been kicked off the train.
They were standing in some unfamiliar station.
And still they were making excuses for Carol.
My chest went tight. I turned to face her.
"You bought my parents yesterday's tickets?"
Carol's expression shifted, just barely.
"What?"
I held the phone out in front of her.
"They got thrown off the train."
"Is this what you meant by 'taken care of'?"
Carol finally frowned.
It was like the trouble was only now registering with her.
"The assistant must have made a mistake when booking."
"Don't panic just yet."
She lifted her own phone and made a call.
"I'll have my assistant go pick up your parents."
"Let's not fly today after all."
"We'll rebook and all go together tomorrow."
She spoke fast, her tone softening a little.
Like she was handling some minor, temporary incident.
But watching her, my heart went cold by degrees.
If I hadn't kept pressing.
If my mother hadn't called.
Would my parents have been left in that train station, clutching their luggage, waiting until dark?
Harry came over just then, his face uneasy.
"It's my fault."
"If my relatives hadn't added people at the last minute, your parents wouldn't have gotten bumped off their flight."
He went on, his voice dropping lower.
"It's just, this is my parents' first trip far from home. I was worried there'd be no one to look after them."
Carol's eyes snapped to him at once.
"How is any of this your fault?"
"Don't take everything on yourself."
Watching her shield Harry like that, a sense of absurdity washed over me.
My parents had been sold the wrong tickets and dragged off the train.
Her first reaction was that it was a nuisance.
Harry's face went a little pale.
And she ached for him at once, as if he were the one who'd been terribly wronged.
A little over half an hour later, the assistant brought my parents to the airport.
The moment my mother spotted me, she hurried to hide the plastic bag in her hand behind her back.
Inside was the peanut brittle she'd made to bring to the island.
She must have been jostled on the platform, because the bag had split open, the brittle cracked into pieces, sticking to the clear plastic.
My father had a hand braced at his back, his face frighteningly pale.
Yet the first thing he said when he saw Carol was,
"Carol, sorry to have caused you so much trouble."
"It was us old folks not reading the tickets right."
My nose stung.
"Dad."
But Carol only lowered her head to glance at her watch.
"Good thing it didn't hold us up too long."
My mother held out the broken plastic bag, her smile careful.
"Carol, this is peanut brittle I made myself."
"And a little dried fish, for the in-laws."
"It's my first time meeting all those relatives on your side. I couldn't show up empty-handed."
Carol lowered her eyes and took one look.
Her brow creased, almost on reflex.
"Ma'am, the island resort provides all the meals."
