Page 21 of Beauty Beneath the Sorrow
Me: Happy landings, Lina.
Lina: Thank you.
And that's that.
Chapter Six
Carter
Liam and I are hopping off the plane when Christian jogs over to us. “Liam, you did awesome, dude!” he calls out to his nephew.
Liam fist-bumps me, then turns to his uncle. “It was so much fun!”
“You did a great job. A complete natural in the skies,” I respond, patting his shoulder.
“Thank you again for offering to give Liam flight lessons.” Christian hooks an arm around his nephew as we walk toward the cover hanger.
“Of course. I don’t mind at all.” I glance around as we pass another pilot, getting ready to take off. “I’d be out here anyway.”
“Well, you are the best of the best, Carter, and I know my sister feels a little bit better knowing someone with your experience is up there with her fifteen-year-old.”
Liam shoves Christian. “What the hell, man? You say that like I’m a kid!”
“You know what I mean!” He chuckles, and we all laugh a bit.
“Captain Hernandez—” Liam begins.
My eyebrows furrow together. “You can call me Carter, Liam. It’sfine.”
I rarely get called Captain Hernandez unless I’m working. I prefer Carter or Jag. However, whenever I hear it roll off Lina’s tongue, it’s probably one of the hottest fucking things. I know she does it to be cheeky, but I ate it the fuck up every single time.
“Thanks. So, my uncle mentioned that you might be moving away?” Liam continues.
With a glance at Christian, I think about my response. I haven’t told anyone, except Brian, that I’m applying for a flight instructor position at the academy in Florida. And I hoped to keep it under wraps at work since it’s not something that will be happening soon.
“I’ve been looking at a position on the East Coast, but nothing is certain,” I reassure him, assuming he was worried about his continued flight lessons.
“I overheard you talking on the phone about it in the cockpit a few weeks ago, and I thought it would appease my worried sister if she didn’t want Liam to continue lessons.”
I chuckle. You’d think by now I would have understood that nothing is secret when you’re in a confined space with people for long periods of time. “I understand.”
Christian’s hand goes up into the air as he speaks. “It was more of ahe might be moving away, so let’s try this out right now.”
“It was the only way we could think of getting my mom to agree to it so fast,” Liam adds with a crooked smile.
“Well, we’ve got some time. So, don’t worry, young grasshopper,” I reply.
By the time we reach the front of the airport, Christian’s sister drives over with the driver’s side window down.
Hanging out of her SUV, she greets us. “Hey, guys!”
“He killed it today!” I call out as the three of us approach the side of the car.
She arches her upper lip and looks over to me. “You’re the only one I’d let take my son that high into the air—and in that tiny little plane too.”
Christian leans against the car. “I’m going to try not to take that personally since I’m a pilot too.”
“Not like Carter!” she retorts. “Thanks again for offering to do this for my son. I know you have a busy schedule.”
