"I'm on top of the freaking world.I love this.But my fingers might cramp because I'm gripping this thing so hard."
He chuckled and took the stick."I have the controls.You're clear."
She let go and flopped back into her seat."That was a-freaking-mazing.Thanks so much, Ollie.I can't believe I actually got to fly a plane."She chuckled."I have to tell my folks.My brothers will be so jealous."
"I'd be happy to take them up when they come to visit."
"That's so nice of you to offer.But..."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to put my foot in it."He'd probably overstepped by saying that.
But she shook her head rapidly."No, that's so sweet of you.It's not you.Sorry.I guess it's just that I don't know when they'll come to visit or how things will go if they do."
~ ~ ~
As Ollie turned the plane onto the approach to the airfield at Fort Bragg, Callie watched him closely.She would never have dreamed that she might one day get to fly an airplane.But now that she'd had a taste, she couldn't get it out of her mind.This was freedom at its finest.
Ollie was so competent.He kept talking into the radio even though no one was answering him, announcing that they were on their final approach.He even talked her through what he was doing, which was awesome.As they descended toward the runway, he pointed out the row of lights beside it, explaining that when the lights showed two white and two red, they were on the perfect glidepath."All white means too high, all red means too low.Two and two is the sweet spot."
It was fascinating.She wanted to ask him how on earth that worked, but she figured she'd better wait until they were back on the ground.As competent as he was, she figured he didn't need her distracting him with questions while he brought the plane down safely.
The landing was so smooth that she checked out the windows to make sure that they were really back on the ground.
"Everything okay over there?"he asked.
"It's amazing.And that landing was so smooth."
He chuckled."Why, thank you.In fact, I may have to bribe you to tell Reaves that.We have a kind of running competition about who makes the smoothest landings."
She laughed and shook her head."Guys!You might be pilots, but you're still just typical guys, aren't you?"
"We sure are."It felt like there was a touch of the old weirdness in the air in the cockpit when he added, "And there might come a time when I ask you to remember that you just said that, okay?"
As tempted as she was to ask him to explain, she decided to let it go.The flight had been so much fun.She didn't want to spoil their goodbye by interrogating him.He was probably only joking anyway.Hopefully.
"Okay."
When they reached the end of the runway, he turned the plane and taxied back toward the hangars.She watched his feet work the pedals, curious about how much of flying happened down there rather than with the stick.
She startled when the sound of his phone ringing filled her headset.
"Shoot, sorry," he exclaimed."I didn't think to disconnect it."
He pulled his phone out of the door pocket and checked the screen."It's only Reaves.I'll call him back."
A cold shiver of doubt slithered down her spine.Hopefully it really was Reaves — and even if it wasn't, it was none of her damn business anyway.She had to remember that.They'd both said that they'd like to spend more time together, but she didn't have any claim over him.There was no reason another girl shouldn't be calling him.
He brought the plane to a stop in pretty much the same spot where he had last week when he came to pick her up.Back then, he was just some friend of Becca's.Now—
She glanced over at him as he removed his headset.Now she wasn't exactly sure what he was, but she was hoping that she might find out.
He smiled at her and reached across to remove her headset, making her feel dumb — she'd completely forgotten that she was still wearing it.
"Oh, thanks."She tried to smooth her hair, but that was a losing battle.
He grinned."You're welcome.Thanks for enjoying it so much."He held his phone up."I need to call him back.He knows that I'm flying, so— it's weird that he would call me."
"Yeah, of course."Callie glanced in the back."I can grab my bag and get out of here, I..."
