Page 14 of The Wedding Toast
Trick chuckled.“You just love it when Chuck takes us for barbecue.”
“I’m not gonna deny that,” said Elliott, “but no, it’s more.Have you seen the smile on Darlene’s face when you let her sit in the right seat?”
Trick nodded happily.“And Chuck, he loves it too.He was even asking me about what it would take to get his private pilot’s license.”
Elliott laughed.“That’d be something.”
“Wouldn’t it?”
“It would, I mean.It’s not like he’d need to fly anything like this bird.”He patted the wing of the plane as he spoke.“But he could get himself a little Cessna or something.”
Elliott raised his eyebrows.“I’m not sure I’d want to make the trip out here from Kansas City in a single-engine plane like that.”
“No, that wasn’t what I was thinking,” said Trick.“Just for him to enjoy buzzing around at home.”
“Now that I can see,” said Elliott.“What’s the plan for the rest of the day?”
“You can take off as soon as we’re done here,” said Trick.“Jacob said we should take whatever time we can get until Thursday.Once we start making trips to pick people up from the airport, it’s going to get crazy busy, and it’ll stay that way until we deliver them all back to wherever they’re going on Monday.”
“So, no one’s arriving until Thursday?”Elliott asked.
Trick pulled his phone out and checked his notes.“Nope.According to the master schedule, Chuck and Darlene were the first, and only, coming in today.”
He frowned.“Becca’s bridesmaid, her friend Callie, is now arriving on Wednesday.But Ollie’s going for her.”
Elliott gave him a puzzled look at first.“Oh, that’s right.She’s the one who lives in Fort Bragg, isn’t she?Is he taking his Cirrus?”
“That’s right.”Trick smiled.“See, those little single-engine jobs come in handy sometimes.”
“I guess,” said Elliott.“And what’s our schedule look like Thursday and Friday?Is it mostly runs back and forth from the airport?”
“That’s right,” said Trick.“In fact, Thursday’s airport runs all day.”
“Is it all wine people?”Elliott asked.
Trick scanned the list.“Out of the names I recognize, yeah.”
“Anyone we know?”asked Elliott.
Trick nodded slowly as he read through the names.“I think we know most of them.There are only a couple I don’t recognize.”
He stopped when he saw the name Annalise Bork.It couldn’t be her.There was more than one woman named Annalise, and the one he was thinking of was Annalise Montclair.
He looked at the name on the list again.Not Bork.
“What’s up?”asked Elliott.
Trick shook his head.“Nothing.I just saw the last name Bork.Do you think that’s real?”
Elliott gave him a puzzled look.“Are you joking?”
“No.Why?”asked Trick.
“I thought you knew,” said Elliott.
“Knew what?”
“That she’s back.”
