Absolutely no one wanted that.
So it’s us three who get to see the woman we love execute a flawless landing.
“Oh thank god,” Shawn gasps, clutching his chest. Darla whoops, her fist punching the air. Then she flings her arms around Shawn’s neck and kisses him hard.
While they celebrate, I keep my eyes on Beth taxiing toward the gas pump, the plane needing to fuel up after such a long journey. When the propeller slows, I sprint, booking it across the airport in time to meet her as she climbs out of the cockpit.
“I did it!” she shouts the moment before I scoop her into my arms. She laughs, giddy off a successful flight, and I breathe her in.
“I knew you could.” I speak the words against her neck, inhaling her warm skin.
“Really? Because you’re acting like I just came home from war.”
Letting her feet settle back on the ground, I cradle Beth’s face in my hands. “You can do anything. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to worry about you.”
She places a hand on my chest and grins up at me.
“Sometimes the things you love are scary,” she whispers.
“Yeah,” I rasp. “But loving you is always worth the risk.”
Epilogue
A year later…
Across the streetfrom Cornfield’s sits Charlotte’s Shrubbery.
Not only was my mom able to open her plant business, but she also hired an employee. Darla, it turns out, enjoys working with plants more than people. Luckily, neither of her mothers took offense when she switched careers. In fact, they smile with wistful, teary eyes every time she stops by to drop off small potted plants to be showcased on the booth tables.
Most often she arrives with more than one Shawn Special Succulent.
Mom tried to discuss with Shawn a payment plan for the money he loaned me for her medical bills. But the only payment he asked for was to have a plant in the shop named after him.
A plant, he maintains, is so much more impressive than a burger. Although Shawn is smart enough not to say that in front of the burger maker, aka Darla’s brother.
Billy is still content in the Cornfield’s kitchen and no longer has to fight off Sally’s matchmaking attempts since he came out as ace to hismoms. But he does find the occasional printout of dogs available at the local animal shelter waiting for him at the pass because Sally insists that even if he doesn’t want a romantic relationship, that doesn’t mean he has to be lonely.
Billy is picking up a nine-year-old German shepherd next week.
My mom isn’t the only one who started a new business. The truth coming out about my father changed a lot of minds. Shawn and George left BBN. Because of corporate noncompete laws, they couldn’t start a similar business, but neither one of them was interested in luxury transportation. Instead, they decided to start a nonprofit called Fly Free Sky Aviation that aims to provide ground school and flight time to those who can’t afford it.
Wonder where they got that inspiration from.
My brother claimed the business idea was entirely selfish, explaining he’d hoped the less-pretentious job would sway Darla to officially be his girlfriend. My friend still refuses to speak on the subject, but I’ve noticed that Shawn’s apartment has a lot more plants in it whenever I go over for book club.
The change in career has only increased the community work George does. Part of their nonprofit involves coordinating with local high schools to get kids interested in flying by taking them up with club members. The first one to sign up for the opportunity was none other than Riann. She reasons that having a pilot’s license will make her future as a journalist easier because if she has her own plane, she can fly to different locales at the drop of a hat.
And I think she has a promising career, seeing as how the article she wrote for her high school newspaper about a certain emergency plane landing got picked up by the local paper. A cutout of the piece is now framed on the wall in Cornfield’s, hanging right next to the picture that Darla shot of George and me the day we let him know about his special on the menu. The Bunsen is now a permanent fixture.
The Shawn Special is still by request only.
Last month I moved out of the house—letting mom and Marge have their own space—and into a small place closer to the airport. I share the new home with the man I love, plus a wild cat and grumpy dog who tolerate each other. George and I still go back to my moms’ place plenty of weekends in order to help with different repair tasks. I don’t know that the project will ever be finished, but now the continuous repairs don’t seem like I’m sinking into quicksand. Instead, they feel like bonding activities I get to have with the man I love and my moms.
But we make sure that any tasks involving climbing up on the ladder are not delegated to George. Poor man still can’t handle being more than a few feet off the ground. That is, unless he’s in an airplane.
For now, I still wait tables at Cornfield’s—and only Cornfield’s. But Sally and Sam know my last shift will be on the same day I finish earning my commercial license and can become a flight instructor myself. Then, I’ll officially join Fly Free Sky Aviation. Shawn will continue to use his charisma and luxury connections to garner donations, while George and I will handle the aircraft and instruction logistics.
I realized that this is my calling. Not just spending my time in the air, but also helping others who share my joy for flight achieve their dreams, too. At the beginning of my pursuit for a license, the idea of completing all the requirements to becoming a pilot was daunting. But now, the longer I’m in the world of aviation, the better I can see how the main thing stopping me was my own self-doubt.
