Chapter 7
Key West, Florida
Jack held the door for Charli as they entered the bright teal building. “Hey, Sis,” he called out to the young woman sitting behind the counter.
The cute brunette glanced up from the computer she’d been staring at and gave Jack a huge grin. She ran around the counter and gave him a hug. “It’s about time you got your butt out here.” She nudged his stomach. “It’s not like we’re far away, you know.”
Jack gave her a squeeze and shrugged. “What can I say? I’ve been busy.”
“Yeah, so I’ve heard.” She glanced at Charli, an odd gleam in her eye. “Who is this?”
Charli clutched the white box to her chest with one arm and shot her hand out just as Jack made the introduction. “Charli, this is my annoying sister, Janie. Janie, this is Charli Harris. She’s Dottie’s niece.”
Understanding flashed across his sister’s face, followed quickly by a big smile. “Oh, hi! It’s really nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.”
Charli’s eyes widened, a bit surprised at Janie’s answer. “You have?”
“Well, sure,” Janie shot back. “All the locals have been talking about you.” She shrugged. “Plus Miriam called me yesterday and gave me the 4-1-1.”
“Oh.” Charli wasn’t sure if that was good or bad but smiled anyway. “Well, it’s really nice to meet you.” She gestured to Jack. “Your brother has been a huge help and I’m probably the reason why he hasn’t had time to visit lately.”
Janie’s smile turned absolutely wicked. “Oh, I bet you are. My mom’s going to love you.”
Not knowing how to answer that comment, Charli decided to change the subject. “So, you run the tourist business?”
Janie waved her hands around. “Basically, yeah.” At Jack’s scoff, she added, “Well actually, we all chip in around here. It really is a family business.” She looked to Jack. “You’re taking Bertha out today?”
“Yeah, we’ll be back around mid-day if I were to guess.”
Charli’s eyes bounced between brother and sister, trying to follow their conversation but failing miserably. “Whose Bertha?”
“She’s our sea plane,” Janie answered, pointing to the window behind them toward the dock.
“Oh...okay,” Charli said. She grinned as she peered at Jack. “That’s a great name.”
He smiled proudly and held her gaze, his dimples on full display. “Yeah, I named her years ago.”
After a moment, Janie cleared her throat and Charli jumped, realizing that she and Jack had been silently staring at each other.
Awkward...
Charli lifted the box in her hands. “We’re spreading my aunt’s ashes today. Thanks for letting us use the plane. I was going to take the ferry out, but Jack wouldn’t hear of it.”
Janie grinned knowingly. “Yeah, I’m sure he wouldn’t.”
Jack rolled his eyes and lightly smacked her arm. “Knock it off, brat. Is everything set? Everything packed up like I asked?”
Janie made a tsking noise in the back of her throat. “Yes, bossy. Everything is just as you requested. David gassed Bertha up so she’s all set to go. All you have to do is sign her out.” She glanced at Charli, rolled her eyes, and shrugged. “Brothers,” she added derisively.
“Sisters,” Jack answered in the same tone and stepped to the counter to sign a paper. He turned and gave Janie another hug. “Thanks, Sis.” He gestured toward the door as he looked to Charli. “You ready to go?”
Charli turned to walk out the door. “It was nice to meet you, Janie,” she called out over her shoulder.
“You, too,” Janie responded with a wave. “Have a good trip.”
Charli grinned up at Jack as they walked around the building to the dock. “She’s really cute.”
Jack groaned. “God, don’t tell her that. We’d never hear the end of it. She’s bad enough as it is.” He pointed to their right. “There’s Bertha,” he said, gesturing toward the bobbing sea plane.
Charli froze on the dock. “Oh, wow...”
Jack looked back at her, his brows beetled. “What’s wrong?”
Charli shook her head. “Um, well...nothing’s wrong. It’s just that it’s a real sea plane. I’ve never seen one in person before.” It was almost as if she couldn’t wrap her head around the small plane with large floats. She squinted her eyes up at him. “Are you sure it’s safe?”
Jack gave her a gentle smile and rubbed her arm.
“Trust me. It’s one of the safest ways to travel.
And Bertha flies like a dream and can land anywhere.
There’s absolutely nothing to worry about.
” He stepped back toward her and grabbed her hand, giving it a little tug.
“Come on. We have a mission to accomplish and I promise the scenery along the way is breathtaking.”
Charli let Jack tow her down the dock to the plane.
He opened the door to the small cabin and helped her climb in.
After they were buckled in, Jack put on his headset and radioed the tower, then pulled away efficiently from the dock.
He seemed so comfortable and competent—and gorgeous and unattainable.
Even so, Charli felt her heart pound in her chest as the plane slowly motored to an open space in the back bay.
She squeaked and clutched the handle on the door frame, her knuckles turning white from the effort, as Jack powered up for takeoff.
The plane gathered speed and Charli could feel the floats striking through the light chop in the harbor.
As the speed increased, the ride began to smooth out.
In just a matter of seconds, and with what seemed like minimal effort, he had them in the air and turning to the west toward the Dry Tortugas.
With wonder, Charli stared out over the lazy island splayed below them in the morning light.
Key West seemed so quiet and peaceful as it slept off the excesses of the night before.
“Wow,” she breathed as she stared out toward the horizon, her knuckles returning to their normal color as she loosened her death-grip on the overhead handle. “This is incredible.”
Jack grinned again. “Just wait,” he said, raising his voice above the engine. He pointed out toward the horizon ahead. “There are some shipwrecks I wanna show you. And maybe we’ll get lucky and spot some sea life on our way out.”
“Sea life?” Charli asked. “Like what?”
“Sharks, sting rays, turtles, that kind of thing.” He winked at her. “I have a feeling we’ll get lucky today.”
Charli nearly choked at his choice of words and pressed her lips together to hold in the laugh.
I wish I could get lucky with you...if only...
Charli frowned and gave her head a sharp shake. That line of thinking was not productive and clearly irrelevant. She needed to focus on the task at hand...fulfilling her aunt’s last request and putting her to rest.
“How are you doing over there?” Jack asked.
Charli glanced at him to her left and smiled, mentally sighing at the look of genuine concern on his face. He was such a gentleman, always taking care of everyone around him. She could only wish that she would be lucky enough to find a man like him one day.
Since when have you ever needed a man, Charlotte Dorothea?!? What has gotten into you?
“I’m good.” She gestured around them. “Just can’t believe I’m sitting up here right now. It’s about one hundred and eighty degrees from where I was last week.”
He laughed. “Sometimes life’s curveballs can be a good thing, right?”
“Right,” she answered, silently hoping he was correct on this one.
Charli gasped as the plane suddenly dipped and tilted to her right. “What’s happening?” she asked, her voice an octave higher than normal.
Jack chuckled and pointed toward her window. “It’s a shipwreck from the 1880s. Take a look.”
With her heart in her throat, Charli braced herself and timidly peeked out the window, then gasped at the sight directly below her. “Oh my god. Jack, that’s incredible.” Forgetting her fear, she pressed her face against the window to see as much as possible. “What kind of ship was it?”
“A merchant ship. It was unfortunately normal for them to get caught by storms in this area. Plus, the seabed moves around here so much that it’s difficult to determine the water depth in some areas.
No telling whether a storm got them, they ran aground, or some combination of the two.
” He glanced over his left shoulder. “Ah, here we go. Hold on.”
Charli squealed as the plane tilted almost 180 degrees to the left, with only the sky visible through her window.
“Lean over me,” he ordered. “It’s a school of sting rays.”
Her eyes widened, and she leaned over him without hesitation, her hand landing on his upper thigh for support.
“Wow. They’re so beautiful,” she breathed, her lips mere inches from his.
She glanced up at him, a huge grin on her face and froze.
His eyes were intense and focused solely on her, his breath coming in short, quick pants.
Charli drew back sharply, hoping she hadn’t offended him.
The poor guy probably thought she was molesting him.
She’d once had to fend off a guy on a plane who had done nearly the same thing with the excuse to look out the window, and she had labeled him as a creep and a pervert.
He’d verified that label shortly thereafter by hitting on her the remainder of the flight.
“I’m so sorry, Jack. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Jack stared back at her for a moment, his expression quizzical. He didn’t say a word and Charli’s heart dropped down to somewhere below her stomach.
Way to go, idiot. Now you’ve really screwed this up!
A mask seemed to drop down over his face.
Jack’s gaze softened and his usually happy-go-lucky grin was firmly back in place.
“You didn’t upset me.” He swallowed and pointed out toward the horizon—redirecting her attention and effectively changing the subject.
“We’re almost there, about another fifteen minutes before we pull in. ”
She nodded, feeling slightly ashamed of her behavior, accidental or not, and determined to keep her hands to herself. Jack was her partner in Paradise West for the foreseeable future, and the last thing she wanted was to damage their new relationship.