Riann probably doesn’t need that info.
“Well, the first thing that happened was the engine went quiet. Everything went quiet. Thinking back on it now, if we hadn’t been in danger, that probably would have been a peaceful moment. But, you know, it wasn’t planned, so…” I go on to tell what I recall of our descent, being honest about how scared I was. But also admitting how George’s calm kept me from completely melting down.
Hopefully that detail will slip by unnoticed.
“And then we were on the ground. I couldn’t even believe it at first. I just froze. George was the one to unbuckle my seat belt and open my door.” Leaving the burning imprint of his hand on my thigh that I still sometimes feel in the morning when I’m half asleep, waking up from a good dream.
No need to admit that out loud.
“Did Mr.Bunsen’s—”
“You can call me George,” he interrupts, although the comment is gentle.
Riann’s cheeks darken, but she sits even straighter in her seat and makes a note in her notebook. “Okay. Did George’s heroic acts inspire you to pursue your pilot’s license?”
The man in question shifts next to me, and I get the sense he’s not on board with the “hero” moniker. But I focus on another part of her question. “Who told you I’m working on my license?”
“A reporter never reveals her sources. Answer the question, please.”
I roll my eyes. So much sass.
“What he did was very impressive. And I admit that I was frustrated in the moment, not knowing what was going on or what to do other than sit there and let him handle it. But I’ve wanted to learn how to fly planes since I was seventeen.”
“What happened when you were seventeen?” George asks, as if he wants to conduct the interview now. I can feel his eyes on the side of my face.Guess he doesn’t know about the spring break incident.
“I went on a plane for the first time. Just as a passenger, but I still thought it was amazing.”
Yeah, a passenger in one of BBN’s jets. A jet that Shawn decided to charter without telling his dad or the company exactly what it was for. Nothing more than a vague “Spring break at the beach.”
I didn’t even know what was happening until we showed up at the tarmac.
My mom had signed off on me spending the weekend with my brother, who was twenty at the time, but I’m pretty sure she thought he was just going to take me camping or to a fancy hotel. Not fly several states away.
Mom wasn’t happy to learn how far we’d gone, but she was more chill about the excursion than Karl Newton was. I overheard her on the phone the night after I got back. Because Mom prefers to put all calls on speaker, I figured out right away who she was talking to. The man who, as far as I knew, hadn’t spoken to her without going through a lawyer since the day she left her job at BBN. My bet is that Mom picked up only because she didn’t recognize the number. And on this rare call, Karl told my mother that she shouldn’t be teaching me how to guilt his son into using company resources for my personal amusement.
Mom had screamed back at him that he and his company could go to hell before chucking her phone across the room. Then she lockedherself in the bathroom of our small apartment for hours. But I could still hear her sobs through the door.
I’ve never felt more guilty for enjoying myself. And I never asked Shawn to take me anywhere again, claiming that I’d had fun but missed my mom being away from her that long.
And like my easygoing brother always does, he believed me. When she got sick, my excuse made even more sense.
One more lie to add to the pile.
But still, since the moment that jet ascended from the runway, I was awed and fascinated. I’d wanted to sneak into the cockpit just to understand how we were in the air, but I didn’t want to distract anyone from their work. I spent the few hours we were airborne gazing out the window at the clouds below us and the endless stretch of blue sky all around us.
And a dream was born. A hope that I nurtured.
One day I would be back in the air. And I would be in charge of the flight.
That was back when things were going okay for my family. We weren’t flush with cash, but our debt was small and manageable. When I started working at Cornfield’s, I was able to save everything I earned.
Then things changed.
“Are you scared now?” Riann asks, bringing my mind back to the present moment and the interview. “When you go flying?”
“I’ve only gone up twice since the emergency landing. And yes, both times I was scared. Maybe I’ll always be.” I shrug. “But I don’t think it’s a debilitating fear. It’s abe carefulkind of fear. And anyway…” I glance at George, offering him a rueful smile as I steal his words. “Sometimes the things you love are scary.”
He stares down at me, an emotion flaring in his eyes that is gonebefore I can discern what it was. Then he swallows, and the bob of his Adam’s apple distracts me.
