Page 27 of A Spot of Tea
She settled on a piece of toast and a cup of black tea. It wasn’t much, but it was enough. She held the hot mug in her hands and replayed last night’s conversation with Joey in her head.
When she’d said she trusted him, it seemed to do something to him. He’d looked down, blushed. Was it bashfulness she’d seen?
Eliza couldn’t figure it out. Maybe she’d been too forward? Shown her cards too soon?
But it was true! She was going to get on that plane and trust he wasn’t going to fly them into the ground. Eliza wasn’t afraid of flying in general, but she’d never known the pilot before. She’d never made a pilot laugh so hard that tea came out of his nose. She’d never heard about a pilot’s exploits and bad decisions that spanned the literal world.
She’d never wondered if pilots could hold hands while flying, or if they had to keep both hands on the wheel…
Did planes have steering wheels? She had no idea, and she shouldn’t be thinking about trying to hold his hand. Elizabeth Bennet didn’t waste her time thinking about holding Mr. Darcy’s hand – not until long after his first proposal!
She pulled on her coat and stepped outside. The sun had just begun to rise and a cool, foggy mist drifted from the rocky beach.
Eliza had the brief thought that the fog might ground them, but then she saw Joey coming over the hill and had to remind herself not to gasp. His bomber jacket was open, exposing a white shirt beneath. For a brief moment, he looked just like Mathew McFadyen’s Mr. Darcy, coming to propose.
But he isn’t coming to propose, she reminded herself.This isn’t a romance. It’s a mystery.
“Hey!” he called out. “Beautiful morning for a flight.”
Eliza snapped back to reality. “Is it?”
“Yeah, the fog is pretty minor. Not a concern,” he said, reaching her with a wide grin on his face. “Everything is good to go – unless you’ve changed your mind.”
Even his hair looked a little feathered. If she called him Fitzwilliam, would he get the reference?
She really was going mad. “Nope. I’m ready to go and I’m not looking back.”
“What about looking down?” he asked.
“I’d like to look down and see the islands from above.”
“Good, because I heard a humpback was spotted on the west side, and I thought we could fly over and have a look.”
Fly over and have a look. What freedom he had. No wonder he was always so happy. “Sounds good!”
He led the way down the hill to Russell’s property. The new dock and seaplane floated in the mist. Joey opened the seaplane’s door and offered a hand to help her step on board.
Just like Mr. Darcy helping Elizabeth into the carriage after the ball at Netherfield…
Eliza accepted, stepping onto the plane. Her own hands were freezing, but Joey’s were warm and dry.
“Here’s your headset,” he said, handing her the bulky thing. “Once the engine is on, we’ll only be able to hear each other through the headsets. You’ll notice a lag between when you start talking and when it picks it up, so keep that in mind.”
“Is that why pilots always start with an ‘Uhhhh?’”
He sighed. “Uhh, yes, that is correct.”
She laughed and put the headset on. “Uh, roger that.”
“I’m just going to go through my pre-flight checklist and we’ll be on our way.”
Eliza nodded, then pretended not to watch him. His focus was entirely on the checklist, which was very annoying, because she would’ve preferred his attention to be on her.
At the same time, she liked watching him flip switches and push buttons before finally starting the engine.
“Welcome to Joey Airlines,” he announced as they floated across the water. “I’ll be your pilot today. We’ve got an exciting trip planned, with our first stop at Lime Kiln State Park for whale watching, then onto Portland, Oregon to investigate a different type of whale.”
She turned to him, her eyebrows scrunched. “What?”
