Chapter 42
Chapter
George
Beth chooses her birthday for one of the most grueling tests.
I’ve instructed dozens of pilots. Gone through hours of flights with each, always to end up at this most challenging part of the curriculum.
For the student and for the instructor. The solo cross-country flight.
In order to earn a private pilot’s license, a student has to fly one hundred fifty miles, stopping at three airports, all in one day. All on their own.
Every single time, this step is nerve-racking. All I can do is stay at the base airport, tracking their progress on FlightAware, and wait for their call after each landing. The quick reassurance that the first leg went fine before they’re in the air again.
After so many times, I thought I was familiar with the stress.
Then I watched Beth take off over two hours ago and almost passed out on the tarmac from worry.
Gettysburg Regional Airport. I silently chant the names of the airports she’s flying to. Greater Cumberland Regional Airport. Winchester Regional Airport. Then home. To me.
That woman flew off not only with my heart but also every single one of my internal organs. I am a panicking shell of a man as I sit in the airport lobby and stare at my cell phone.
“She’ll be fine. She’s got this,” Shawn says. The problem with his reassurance is that he sounds like he’s recording a video in a hostage situation, and he’s repeated those exact phrases almost every five minutes.
Darla paces past the window outside, claiming that if she didn’t get some space and fresh air, she was going to start punching people. Probably Shawn.
I understand the sentiment.
“I invited you to distract me,” I growl. “Not compound my worry.”
“You’re worried?” he yelps. “Why? Why the hell are you worried? Did you lie to her about being good? Oh god, is she a shitty pilot and you wanted to keep from hurting her feelings, so you lied and now she’s up there and doesn’t know what to do?” Shawn is on his feet, his face purple.
Darla sticks her head in the door. “Why is Shawn yelling? What happened?”
“Nothing happened. He’s being unnecessarily dramatic.”
She breathes out a sigh of relief, flips Shawn the bird, and retreats outside.
I scowl at my best friend. “Beth is an amazing pilot. Better than I was at this point in my training. Did you freak out this much when I got my license?”
“No. But that’s because I was in my wake-and-bake phase. I was too high to be worried.” He groans and collapses back in his chair. “I should have gotten some weed gummies or something.”
“Doesn’t BBN drug test?” Pretty sure I had to pee in a cup when I first got hired, but that may have just been an order from my dad disguised as corporate policy.
“Fuck BBN,” Shawn grumbles, glaring out the window as a Piper PA-28 Cherokee comes in for a landing. Not the blue and white Cessna 172 I long to see.
My friend’s words do something I didn’t think was possible. They distract me from what’s happening two thousand five hundred feet in the air right now.
“Could you repeat that?”
“I said fuck BBN. Or fuck BnB.” He gives a dry chuckle at Beth’s silly nickname for the company, and I feel a smile trying to claim my mouth. But I can’t let jokes distract me from this moment.
“You’re not happy there anymore?”
He glares at me, which looks more like a pout, because Shawn’s face was not made for anger. “Ever since I found out my father is a piece of shit, I’m not too keen on supporting the family legacy. Plus, my best friend quit, so I don’t even get to look forward to hanging out with you.”
I handed in my notice the Monday after the wedding party.
And all I regretted was not making the move sooner.
Especially after I interrogated my father and finally got him to admit that he knew how Karl had forced Beth’s mom to quit BBN in an attempt to cover up his affair.
Not only that, my father had supported the move.
The Baylors, it turns out, thought Charlotte quit on her own terms and that Karl was at least paying child support.
Sounds like there will be some tense discussions among the partners about the future of the company.
And I’m going to need a lot of time and space before I’m ready to have a civilized conversation with my father again.
Even though I don’t know what the next step in my career is yet, I’m content not to be a part of BBN anymore.
“Are you thinking of leaving?” I ask.
Shawn drags a hand through his hair, leaving the red gold strands in a tangle.
“Maybe. But what would I even do? I’ve spent my whole life training to take over the company with Tasha. There’s noncompete language in my contract so I can’t work for the competition—not that I would want to. I wouldn’t do that to Tasha. And could I even leave her on her own to handle BBN?”
I snort. “Feel free to ask her about it, but I’m betting she can handle the place just fine without you.” I brace my elbows on my knees and hold Shawn’s gaze. “As for what you’ll do, we can figure it out.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
His grin is slow but wide. “I think Darla might like me more if I’m not a BBN drone.”
“Is that a thing?” I glance out the window where the woman is shadowboxing.
Shawn sighs. “Not yet. But she still hasn’t told me to officially fuck off. So I think I have a chance.” The eternal optimist. I reach over to pat his knee, then sink back into worrying about the woman I love.
A half hour later the rumble of a plane engine draws my attention, and a familiar aircraft approaches the runway. I sprint out of the terminal, not bothering to tell Shawn she’s back. He’s smart enough to figure it out.
We stand together, holding our breath, watching as Beth guides the single-engine plane home. A larger crowd wanted to be here. Charlotte, Marge, Sally, Sam, Billy, and Riann. But Beth said having so many people watching would freak her out.
Absolutely no one wanted that.
So it’s us three who get to see the woman we love execute a flawless landing.
“Oh thank god,” Shawn gasps, clutching his chest. Darla whoops, her fist punching the air. Then she flings her arms around Shawn’s neck and kisses him hard.
While they celebrate, I keep my eyes on Beth taxiing toward the gas pump, the plane needing to fuel up after such a long journey. When the propeller slows, I sprint, booking it across the airport in time to meet her as she climbs out of the cockpit.
“I did it!” she shouts the moment before I scoop her into my arms. She laughs, giddy off a successful flight, and I breathe her in.
“I knew you could.” I speak the words against her neck, inhaling her warm skin.
“Really? Because you’re acting like I just came home from war.”
Letting her feet settle back on the ground, I cradle Beth’s face in my hands. “You can do anything. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to worry about you.”
She places a hand on my chest and grins up at me.
“Sometimes the things you love are scary,” she whispers.
“Yeah,” I rasp. “But loving you is always worth the risk.”