Which also means he’s not here to threaten me with bodily harm if I offer to assist her with her luggage. There aren’t any other flight attendants on board, so either I step in or she makes the journey alone.
“Come on.” I grab her bag down from the rack for her before retrieving mine. “I’ll walk you to your crash pad.”
She opens her mouth as if to protest but then glances out the window again and presses her lips together. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” My heart grows heavy because this is all I can do for her. One last walk in the rain after a workweek of hikes, boat rides, and sunset steak dinners.
She pulls up her hood, stacks her luggage, and joins me in rolling our suitcases through puddles to the top of the hill. “This is nothing compared to the last hill we climbed,” she quips. Apparently she’s also reminiscing.She looks around, wary at first, then softening at the sight of flowers still thriving in our mild fall temps. “That hike makes me want to keep moving, and it’s so beautiful here, but I’m afraid to go jogging by myself.”
We turn into the parking lot. I’m not sure which building is hers, so I let her take the lead. But then I stop. “Wait a minute.” Maybe there is something else I can do for her.
She pauses and tilts her head, as if to ask why in the world I’m stopping in the parking lot in the rain. The answer is that I want to show her my house before it’s hidden from view by a neighboring apartment complex.
I point. “See that blue house on the far corner?”
She peers. “With the white trim and black shutters?”
My pulse thrums at the idea of her stopping by. “Yes. That’s my place. And it’s guarded by a big golden retriever who loves to go on runs.”
Her eyes widen when my meaning sinks in. “You’d let me take your dog jogging so I feel safe?”
I shrug, as if it’s the least I can do. Especially after seeing that suspicious meetup in the elementary school parking lot last weekend. “Might be more effective than a soda can in a sock.”
She laughs and heads toward a staircase. “Hey, just because it’s asoftdrink ...”
A smile plays on my lips. We could have been good together.
If she and Wyatt ever break up, she knows where I live. And she has my phone number from when she sent the crew her Alamo photos. As for right now, I need to say goodbye. “It was nice working with you, Claire.”
She pauses at the bottom step and looks back at me. “Thanks for taking me under your wing.”
Another pun, this time a reminder that it’s my turn to fly away.
Chapter Thirteen
Claire
Weareangels whohave butasingle wing, andwecanonly flyifwecling tooneanother.
—LUCIANODECRESCENZO
Nathan warned me I’d be ruined for all other trips after working with his crew, but when I got called out the next day, I seriously never expected the following:
1. A captain who intentionally flew slowly to make more money. If I earned ten times more an hour the way he does, maybe I’d appreciate it. But as it is, I’d give back the extra pennies in my paycheck for the ability to go to bed earlier.
2. A first officer who handed out paper airplanes to kids when they boarded. I thought it sweet of her at first, until I was required to dodge a squadron of white pointy-nosed fighter jets during each extra-long flight.
3. Another flight attendant who kept coughing and wiping his nose on his sleeve. To make matters worse, he worked quickly. So no matter where I was headed, he got there first and covered the area with his germs. He claimed it was allergies, but I’m afraidit was actually a virus that my immune system is unprepared to fight, thanks to my incredible lack of sleep.
