Chapter 49
Chapter Forty-Nine
NATHAN
Riley’s jaw slackens and the glow that she had as she gushed about airplanes fades.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” I assure her.
She hasn’t even told her family about it. I won’t be offended if she chooses to keep that card close to the chest.
“No,” Riley says, staring at the blankets beneath our feet. “I’ll tell you.”
“Riles—”
“I want to,” she says, her eyes meeting mine. In the somber, brown depths of her gaze, I sense her reaching deep for courage.
This topic is hard for her.
And I am unbelievably honored to be trusted with whatever she’s about to say.
“You know how I first got into planes, right?”
“I think,” I close my eyes briefly, straining to remember every time Chris mentioned Riley in the past, “it had something to do with your uncle who was in the military.”
“Uncle Will. He used to be a military hangar chief and when he retired, he continued to manage a hangar for a private company.”
I shift forward, watching Riley closely.
“He practically took me under his wing and set me up with all the connections I needed to log hours before I was accepted to AMT school. He saw my potential and my,” she gives me a crooked grin, “obsession.”
I got a taste of that obsession on this date.
“But after I left Uncle Will’s mentorship and took on AMT training on my own, I was totally out of my depth. There were so many people who wanted to see me fail and, at the start, I thought she was one of them.”
“She?”
“Betty Kalinsky. She was the first female Specialist Technician at our hangar. She’d worked her way up to Lead Mechanic and her word was law. Sometimes, it felt like Betty was functioning at the Maintenance Supervisor level too, even if she didn’t have the title.”
“She sounds tough.”
“Oh, she was. And Betty was tougher than usual on me. I thought she hated me and I often left her office crying.”
I frown. “Was she targeting you? Trying to be the only woman at the hangar?”
“Not at all. Everything Betty did was to make me better. She was no-nonsense and rough about it, but I owe all my progress to her. She refused to let me hide behind excuses. She pushed me to work harder and better than everyone else. I got the promotion because of her.”
Riley’s chin is hitched in the air and I get it instantly. This Betty woman is someone untouchable in her mind.
“What happened next?” I ask.
Riley goes very still.
Overhead, an airplane roars.
I remember all the interesting facts Riley spouted about planes. She’s passionate about them. I can’t imagine what would have pushed her away from her old job.
“One day, I was working in the hangar when I heard a commotion. I came out to check what happened and it was the Inspector. He said there was a hair clip left in the electrical junction area.”
My eyes widen. Riley taught me well, and I’m now very aware of how a small hair clip can damage an aircraft.
“The hair clip obviously belonged to a woman.” Riley swallows. “And there were only two women in the bay.”
“Was it yours?”
Riley shakes her head. “Betty said it wasn’t hers either, so I took the heat for it.”
Her voice remains steady, but her hand is shaking. I reach out and cover her hand with mine.
Riley smiles at me, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.
“The director said the most awful things, and it felt bigger than that mistake. It felt like things he’d been keeping bubbled up inside about women in the industry.
All of it just exploded on me.” Her eyes turn misty. “I felt so demeaned and so stupid.”
“Riles, I’m sorry.” I pull her in for a hug.
She resists at first, her body stiffening as if she doesn’t believe she deserves comfort. However, I refuse to let her go until she relaxes against me. When she does, I tuck my chin on her head, wishing I could envelop her into me and protect her from the cruelty of the world.
“Why didn’t they investigate before they started throwing blame?” I ask.
“In situations like that, someone has to take the fall for it. You can’t write off an accident like leaving a foreign object in a panel without an explanation. And Betty said she didn’t do it. Who would they believe? The young technician or the senior?”
“What about security cameras? I’m sure they have those at the airport.”
“The cameras in the hangar are to verify who comes in and out, not to record the maintenance crew.”
I frown, trying to problem-solve despite the matter being done with. “Who did it if it wasn’t you or Betty?”
Riley eases away from me. “About that… there was no other possibility but us.”
“So it was Betty?”
Riley nods.
“Why did she lie? Why would she throw you under the bus like that?”
“It wasn’t intentional.”
My eyebrows crash together. “There is no plausible reason for—”
“Betty was forgetting things,” Riley blurts.
The ire raging through my blood putters out and I stare at her, speechless.
“She genuinely didn’t remember leaving the hair clip in or even working on that plane, but she had every intention of taking responsibility for it. Betty pulled me into her office and said that she would tell the manager the truth and that she would retire.”
I put the puzzle pieces together. “Betty knew all along she was getting sick, didn’t she?”
Riley gives me an imploring look. “She had no family, no friends, no loved ones to take care of her. She’d been trying to hold out for one more month to qualify for benefits and she was very close to reaching her goal.
Practically days away. But if she was stuck with this mistake and got fired, she’d lose everything. ”
“But she’d deserve it. It’s irresponsible to work on planes when you’re forgetting things. What if something devastating had happened because of her?”
Plus, Riley still looks broken just talking about what happened that day in the airport hangar. She had to endure the abuse of her supervisors for something she didn’t do. It doesn’t sit right with me.
“It was risky, but nothing had happened before the hair clip incident. Betty was excruciatingly particular—more so than anyone else in that hangar. And it got even worse the months leading up to her retirement. Aviation repair relies heavily on human sign off and redundancy. The reason they caught the mistake in the first place is because there are several levels of sign off. Betty was wrong, but she was doing the best she could given the circumstances.”
“Alright, I hear you.” To prove it, I raise both hands in surrender.
Riley’s shoulders, that were hiked to her ears, relax. “Sorry. I get worked up about this. I just… I know it doesn’t make sense, but Betty was like a mother to me. I wanted to help her. I could always find another job, but she had nothing else to fall back on.”
“I understand, Riles.”
“I couldn’t do it, Nat. I couldn’t throw her out to the wolves like that.”
I pull her into my arms and she relaxes all the way into my chest.
I’m seeing a pattern with Riley. When she stepped in to help Chance and April’s proposal, that wasn’t a fluke. She has a habit of going over and beyond for people. She’ll move the entire world and fall on her own sword if it’ll protect someone else.
“I was so terrified of telling my family,” Riley admits, her words half-muffled against my shirt.
I smooth her hair in response, massaging her scalp and giving her the best comfort I can.
“If my parents find out, then Uncle Will might find out and he’ll raise a stink. He might demand a re-investigation and Betty might get in bigger trouble.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I won’t tell Chris.” My eyes shift to the airport below us. The lights twinkle in the night, like a reflection of heaven. “I just hate that you lost something you loved.”
“Maybe I gained something I loved even more,” Riley mumbles. “I got to meet Rebel, April and Cordelia. And I got to run the mechanic shop with Jimmy, Carlos and Blade. And I got to meet you.”
“Which is arguably the best part,” I tease.
Her words escape in a slow cadence. “Don’t make me regret it.”
“Never, Riles.” I continue to rub her hair as the wind picks up. “I’ll always be on your side.”
“So… will I.”
Emotions are stirring in my chest, and I know it’s too early. I know it’ll make me sound crazy, but I can’t hold back what I feel.
I take a deep breath and continue rubbing circles in Riley’s hair. “From now on, I’m going to be taking all the hits for you, Riles. You won’t ever have to sacrifice what you love for someone again.”
She nuzzles into my chest.
I press a kiss to her head, squeeze my eyes shut and let it out. “I love you.”
A soft snore meets my statement.
Stunned, I bend my neck to observe her face and realize with a quiet laugh that Riley Carter is fast asleep.