“She?” Spence repeated. “That’s cool. Issheany good?”
“That’s what I’m calling to discuss. But for that, I need to have Tabitha and Buck on the phone so I can fill you all in at the same time.”
“Okay,” Spence replied agreeably, because the man was nothing but upbeat these days since he’d met his wife. “Tabbi’s right here and I’ve just put you on speaker.”
Yeah.Totally affable.
Even Buck, who for years had been a surly son-of-a-bitch, had turned his sour attitude around once the love of his life had opened up to him again. It was all so very…sweet.
Not that Trask wasn’t happy for them. He was. To be honest, which he always was, his annoyance simply stemmed from the fact that he couldn’t fathom the same thing happening for him.
His mind, of its own accord, snapped back to the kisses he’d shared with Jett, but he shut that down immediately. That woman wasnotwho he was looking for.
Trask pressed a few buttons and soon had Buck on the line.
“Hey guys. What’s up?” his brother asked, obviously still chewing whatever he was having for dinner. “Wait. I have bothTrask and Spence?” Buck laughed. “Something big must be going down,” he speculated. “And speaking of which,” he chewed a little more, “nice job today, big bro. Wasn’t it cool that Diver Downeast’s first paying gig was rescuing a moose?”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t have much to do with it,” Trask admitted tersely. “Hold on. I’m putting you three on speaker. I’m here with Mom, Dad, and Jett Deluca, who brought all the vintage equipment north today, then saved the day by having the right equipment to go well-diving.”
Trask hit the button to enable the participants to hear each other.
“Hey, Jett. Nice to meet you,” Buck offered up.
“Nice to meet you, too,” Jett returned affably.
“No way. You’re a woman?” Buck asked.
Jett chuckled. “Last time I looked.”
“Sweet. Thanks for putting our first job on the books, and for making us look good.”
“About that…” Jett began.
Trask held up a hand. There was no way he’d allow her to put her thumb on the scale of a possible job. Presenting the facts, and only the facts, would be up to him. “If it’s okay with you,” he challenged her, “I’d like to take it from here.”
He sent her a look that defied refusal, and to hand her props, she grinned, sat back, and nodded.
“Okay you three. I’ll give it to you in a nutshell. Jett flew in this morning in her Cessna 180, a craft equipped with what she’ll want you to know are amphibious floats. She gifted us with a lot of great stuff, and I’m already imagining some of it in our big windows. But there’s also enough to start a small museum of sorts, which I’ll want to talk to you about, later.”
“Sounds awesome,” Spence interjected.
Yeah.Thinking about all that raised Trask’s mood, and made him optimistic that his brothers wouldn’t necessarily want Jettsigning up with them right away since there was so much minutia that still needed attention. And if they put Jett off…perhaps she’d move on to more fertile ground, far, far away.
“So what’s on your mind right now?” Tabitha asked astutely.
“Ms. DeLuca.” Trask responded without thinking, and… That was an understatement. She was really,reallyon his mind, and he couldn’t seem to shake her.
Trask cleared his throat. “What I mean is, Jett has just separated from the Air Force after twenty years in, and?—”
“Hey. Do you know our brother, Julian?” Spence asked her. “He’s career Air Force, too, in case Trask didn’t tell you.”
“Nope. He didn’t, but I can’t say as I’ve heard the name before tonight,” Jett returned with a shrug.
“Right. It’s a big pool. What, exactly, was your job with the Zoomies?” Buck probed, clearly intrigued.
“I was a pilot and a PJ,” Jett answered proudly,
“Hot damn,” Spence whistled. “That’s pretty badass.”
