Page 57 of Truth, Lies, and Second Dates
Another sigh, this one sounding more than a little put-upon, and Hannah turned back to him. “I apologize for hacking your phone. I was concerned, but that’s no excuse.”
“Thank you.”
“Is it Ava? Is that why you were worried?”
“… partly.” Anyone else would have just assumed he was in a quiet mood, or tired. Leave it to Hannah to suss out the emotion behind the fatigue. “But it’s nothing either of us need concern ourselves with.”
“We’ll see,” was the mysterious reply, and not for the first time, Tom realized he was in over his head.
Before he could comment further, he heard the brief chime that preceded an announcement. And then an unmistakable voice came over the intercom: “Good morning! This is Captain Capp chiming in to welcome you to flight 420 on Northeastern Southwest—we fly everywhere! We’re departing on time, but don’t worry; we’ll do everything we can to unnecessarily delay you and then refuse to explain why.
“The weather in Boston is partly cloudy and seventy-five degrees, and also I hope you’re okay with going to Boston. If not, speak up now, since it’ll be a lot harder to deplane once the wheels are up. In a minute, the cabin crew will get into the safety speech fully three quarters of you will ignore, and to that I’d like to suggest you be very, very nice to them since they’re CPR-certified and also experts in how best to evacuate theaircraft. I’m not saying they’re vindictive, but don’t make them throw away half-full cans of soda and don’t treat them like truck-stop waitresses. And I say that as a former truck-stop waitress.
“I also want to add that in case the oxygen masks drop, put yours on first,thenthe kid’s. I know that seems like something out ofThe Hunger Games, but there’s a method to that madness. Anyway, sit back, relax, take the miracle of flight for granted, and we’ll be taking off shortly.”
His face hurt, and he realized he was grinning like a fool. Which Hannah, who was the polar opposite of a fool, picked up on.
“You liiiiiiiike her,” she sang, which got Abe chuckling. Tom knew perfectly well denial was a waste of time, so he said and did nothing… including wiping the smile off his face.
Twenty-Nine
Flight deck
27,000 miles over Lake Michigan
“You’re out of your mind.”
“Saw it with my own two eyeballs.”
“There isno waya tarantula defeated a rat in spider-to-rodent combat behind the New York Public Library.”
“I saw the whole thing!”
“Why were you even behind the library in the first place? Did they try to lock you out? Were you sneaking in? Were you ambushing people who were late returning books? Tell me if you were ambushing people who had late fees, Ava. You tell me that right now.”
“Irrelevant to the story. I pity you, India, with your closed mind and refusal to embrace the weird.”
“I embrace the weird every time I climb into the cockpit with you.”
Before she could retort (good one, though!), they heard G.B.’s distinctive “shut up, there’s a passenger in tow” knock.“To be continued,” she told her copilot, then turned to greet the newcomers.
“Captain Ava Capp, First Officer India James, this is—”
“Holy sh… out, it’s Hannah!”
“Hi, Ava!”
G.B. smothered his laugh into his fist. “Did you just say ‘holy shout,’ Captain?”
Ava smiled to see them. There was G.B., taking up half the flight deck, cute-as-a-bug Hannah wearing a MAGE T-shirt, and, hovering uncertainly in the doorway: Doc Baker. She’d known they had boarded, of course, but preflight had kept her busy.
The girl put out a hand and, bemused, Ava shook it. “Uncle Tom’s glad you’re the captain.”
“Oh?”
He was glancing around the cockpit and at India, and Ava realized that he was wondering if her copilot was the saboteur. Just as she had wondered about G.B. Tom was also looking exceptionally striking, which was irrelevant. And, it must be said, a little irritating.Why is he tan? He’s a nerd who hangs out in morgues; he should be sickly pale like a fish belly. And why is his gaze so direct and captivating? And why isn’t he wearing something wildly unflattering like almost every other person on this flight?
And why do I give a shit about any of it?
