“Does this have something to do with the ritzy car I spied a few hours ago?” Her father put down a wrench and walked toward Mattie, his eyes dark and solemn without their usual ever-present twinkle. Bittersweetness swept through Mattie. One of her earliest memories was of her father picking her up and comforting her after she’d fallen and scraped her knee while trying to keep up with her older brothers. After her mother had passed, her father had read a story every night to her and her siblings—daring tales likeTreasure Island,The Count of Monte Cristo,White Fang, andAround the World in Eighty Days.
“You saw it? Why didn’t you say anything?” Mattie asked.
“I figured you’d let me know in your own time, Swift.”
“What ritzy vehicle?” Will asked. Out of all of them, he was the most obsessed with race cars. “What did I miss?”
Mattie disregarded Will’s rapid-fire questions while she watched her father as she made her revelation. “I received an offer today to fly in a mostly female circus.”
Her father’s eyes, normally so expressive, seemed shuttered, but not angry or upset, just... unreadable. Around her, her brothers broke into a chorus of concerns, their voices raised like squawking jays fighting over a nut. For the moment, she ignored them. She’d anticipated their reactions, but what she hadn’t known was what her father would feel. She still didn’t as she tried to study his schooled expression.
Will gently tugged at her arm. “Surely you told her no.”
“Mattie, I don’t think it is a good idea for you to go traipsing off on your own with a bunch of other women.” Jake had lowered his voice alittle, using the tone he always assumed when he acted as the financial head of the business.
“It’s not safe,” Otto said. “Not for lone females.”
When she ignored them, they turned to their father, clearly intent on telling him to make Mattie see reason.Theirreason, of course.
Leo, for his part, had returned his attention to checking fluid levels in the engines. Although Mattie always regularly inspected her Jenny, Leo cared for the planes like a stable master protecting the champion stallions. It hadn’t escaped her notice, though, that he spent the most time onheraircraft, as if she couldn’t check it herself.
Quickly, Mattie looked away from Leo. She didn’t want to feel any more frustrated than she already did. This conversation required delicacy, not anger. It didn’t help that her brothers had encircled their father.
“One at a time, boys. One at a time,” Walt growled out, his voice weary.
“She’s going to get herself killed,” Otto barked.
Jake refolded his arms over his chest. “I told you that it was high time that we all stopped encouraging her nonsense.”
“Exactly,” Will seconded.
“What’s your decision, Swift?” her father asked quietly as he ignored his sons. Guilt stabbed her. She hadn’t meant to tell him amid such chaos.
“Let’s go to the hangar,” Mattie said quietly.
“This should be a family discussion,” Jake said. Although he ultimately deferred to their father, Jake liked to think himself the second-in-command. The rest of the siblings disagreed, but no one more than Mattie.
“Let them have their privacy.” Leo’s quiet voice somehow managed to rip through the tensions surrounding them. When the family argued, he’d usually hover on the fringes. If asked his opinion, normally by a McAdams on the losing side of the argument, he’d generally evade thequestion. Mattie hadn’t expected him to come to her aid, especially when he obviously didn’t approve of her decision to join Vera’s circus.
Shock prevented her brothers from immediately protesting. Taking advantage of their momentary silence, Mattie lightly grabbed her father’s arm and led him in the direction of the hangar. As soon as they entered the building, Mattie dragged the door shut.
Her father leaned against the scarred wooden workbench. Quieter than his offspring, he didn’t speak. Instead, he waited. Normally she found his willingness to simply listen comforting. Right now, it had the opposite effect. Resisting the urge to pace, she bounced once on her heels.
“I’ve agreed to take the offer.” Mattie paused, her throat dry butnotfrom the heat of the closed-up building.
“I assumed as much, Swift,” her father said, his voice kind but still neutral, not betraying a single thought.
“The flying circus is run by Vera Jones.” Mattie didn’t know why she said that. It wasn’t one of the most important details in this particular conversation, but it was one of the easiest.
Her father’s gray eyebrows lifted, his first sign of emotion since she’d closed the door. “The granddaughter of Peter Harrelson, the famous circus owner?”
Mattie nodded and then spoke so quickly her tongue almost tangled. “I’d get to design my own tricks, Pa. Not like here.”
Her father rubbed his chin. “I know your brothers have clipped your wings more than you’d like, but is this really what you want?”
This time Mattie rocked forward on her toes. “Yes, Pa. I’m sure. I’ll miss you. I’ll even miss the boys, but Ineedto do this.”
Her father sighed, deep and long. His hazel eyes flitted over her face, as if cataloging its details. “Your mother would have my hide if she knew you were set on traveling the country on your own.”
