I clung to him. “I’m scared,” I admitted.
 
 “Tell me about the girl you were with.”
 
 “Huh?” I asked.
 
 “Don’t focus on the turbulence. Tell me about your friend.”
 
 “Sandy is my best friend. We go way back.” Another jolt stopped me from saying more.
 
 “What does she do?”
 
 “She’s a photographer,” I got out between bumps.
 
 He tightened his hold around my shoulder. “What kind?”
 
 “Underwear mostly.”
 
 He laughed at that—a pretty common reaction. “Now that’s a job I might like.” With guys, that was another common reaction.
 
 The next big drop made me cringe. “This isn’t working.”
 
 He brought out another bottle of scotch. “Maybe this will help.”
 
 I nodded, and we quickly repeated our cap teamwork. I downed this drink even faster than the first.
 
 The turbulence became worse, a lot worse. I clung to him like his arm was a life preserver. “How many of those do you have?”
 
 “Two more.”
 
 I clutched him tighter. “One for each of us?”
 
 “You need it more than I do.”
 
 After the fourth bottle, the jostling of the plane seemed to settle down. At first I couldn’t tell if it was the liquor or if the air was actually getting calmer.
 
 “We’ll fly higher than the airlines and have a smoother time of it in a little while,” he told me.
 
 His prediction came true as we eventually cleared the clouds, and the ride smoothed out.
 
 The scotch was having a definite effect on my eyelids. “I think I need to lie down.”
 
 * * *
 
 “Time to buckle up,”someone said.
 
 My ears popped, and I pried an eye open. Slowly it came to me. I was lying on the plane’s couch.
 
 The warm body spooned behind me was Josh, his arm around my mid-section. A blanket lay over us.
 
 The pressure in my ears increased again. We were descending.
 
 “Time to buckle up back there,” one of the pilots repeated from the cockpit.
 
 I didn’t want to, but I pulled loose from Josh’s grasp. “Time to wake up.”
 
 He rose groggily and rubbed his eyes. “How do you feel?”
 
 I found my seatbelt. “Better.” I stretched and smiled to myself.