Leo had spent his life watching over others. He was not accustomed to being the one watched. Mattie had stayed by his bedside for over thirty-six hours. It had taken him and all the female members of the flying circus to convince her to depart to eat a proper meal and to rest. She had only agreed to leave when the other Flying Flappers had volunteered to stay with him. In the end, Aida had mentioned that she had something she wished to talk to Leo about, which was how he found himself sitting in awkward silence with her... well, awkward silence on his part. Aida seemed entirely at ease as she chatted to him about nothing in particular. He supposed she was trying to make him more comfortable, but he’d never figured out the art of small talk.
She must have sensed this, as she turned to more-direct questions. “Howareyou feeling? Don’t worry about putting on a brave face. I promise I won’t gab to Mattie.”
“Sore,” he said, “but fine.”
“Are you tired?” Aida prodded.
“Not really,” he said, and it was the truth. He’d slept more in the past thirty-six hours than he ever had. Although he still felt the vestiges of the draining effects from the drugs and the surgery, his mind didn’t feel muddled. He also wasn’t on the verge of drifting off to sleep every time he blinked.
“Would you be up to reading?” Aida asked.
Leo glanced warily at the stack of newspapers perched on her lap. It was a rather intimidating pile with her clutch situated precariously on top. He’d barely had any education, even at the orphanage. He couldread, but it was a rather laborious exercise. And he hated doing it with an audience.
“If you are too tired, I can read them to you.” Aida kept her voice casual, but Leo suspected she understood the reason for his reluctance. Not only was she classy enough to refrain from calling him out, but she’d given him an excuse to just listen and to avoid chitchat.
“Okay.” He eased back onto the pillow, trying to make his stiff, bruised body as comfortable as possible.
“I will warn you that these are about the pylon race,” Aida said. “If you are not ready for articles about your accident, I fully understand.”
Leo regarded Aida carefully. Like always, she looked perfectly put together, her style more elegant and reserved than Vera’s flashier chicness but no less distinctive or compelling. She was a thoughtful, caring woman. If she’d brought the broadsheets with her, she’d done so for a good, logical reason.
“Is this for Mattie’s sake?” Leo asked.
A pleased smile touched her lips, painted a dark, muted red. “You are remarkably attuned to her. I find it enormously refreshing.”
“Our relationship is definitely going to be in your book, isn’t it?” Leo barely, just barely, stopped his groan.
“Only if you both consent. I do think your courtship would make for a very informative study about how a modern love can work between the New Woman and the New Man.”
“New Man?”
“It is a term I am planning to coin as a companion toNew Woman. After all, it wouldn’t be fair if only one sex had the fun of going through a remarkable revolution, now would it?”
“Uh...” Leo did not exactly know how to reply. He wasn’t accustomed to viewing the world in the terms that Mattie, Aida, and their female companions did. But then, he supposed, he never had to. Although he occasionally butted up against class restrictions, he didn’tencounter nearly as many unwritten societal regulations. Presumptions generally worked in his favor, not against it.
“Well, you and Mattie can discuss between yourselves whether you wish to be featured in a chapter. I won’t ask again, so if I hear nothing, I shall simply assume that you wish for privacy,” Aida told him.
Mattie would likely want to, especially if she thought it would help other women achieve independence. But she had always been remarkably cognizant of his unspoken feelings, more so than himself sometimes. She wouldn’t force him to permit Aida to write about their personal lives if it made him uncomfortable.
“May I ask why you are so keen to study society?” Leo asked.
“Do you think it an odd choice for a woman?” Aida’s lips quirked into a challenge that reminded him of Mattie.
“I haven’t put too much thought into sociology,” Leo admitted. “I’d never even heard about it until you mentioned it. I’m curious to understand more.”
Satisfied with his answer, Aida folded her hands. “I suppose the influence of culture and societal norms has always fascinated me. I’ve been fortunate to experience so many. I have great-grandparents who are Miwok, Mexican, and Spanish, and I spent my formative years speaking French and German in a Swiss boarding school. It has made me naturally curious to explore the roles and beliefs that form us.”
When Aida finished, she unwrapped her fingers and carefully placed her purse on the chair beside her. Selecting the top broadsheet, she unfolded it. “This is Pringle’s article that is being run in all of theChicago Advance Leader’s affiliate papers. The headline reads, ‘Crash Raises Questions of Legitimacy of Flying Flappers.’”
“Does Mattie know?” Leo asked, his stomach plummeting faster than it had when he’d parachuted from a JN-4 for the McAdams Family Flying Circus. Mattie had been right about how the press would perceive any failure related to her race against Crenshaw.
“No,” Aida said. “We’re planning to tell her after she’s had a chance to rest.”
Leo squeezed his eyes shut at the enormity of what Aida had just revealed. For Mattie not to check or even ask about the coverage of the accident showed how much she was worried about him. She did truly love him, something he’d never even dreamed possible before the night on the Lake Michigan beach.
“How bad is the rest of the article?” Leo asked.
“It is not good,” Aida admitted with her normal straightforwardness, but she gentled her voice. “Unfortunately, we were all distracted and not able to ensure that the reporters knew the truth. Earl Crenshaw has clearly been manipulating the perceptions of the event. He is rather diabolically cunning at taking advantage of common prejudices to twist events to benefit him. Fortunately, he has not encounteredusbefore. Vera and I are both using our connections, and Carrie and Sadie are helping us make the technical arguments in your defense. Crenshaw has already fled town now that an investigation into the crash has started. Fabin Flyer has agreed not to press charges against you, although they do wish to meet with you and Mattie.”
