Page 23 of Forever Fickle

“Flyboys – this isJace,” he corrected. “I’m coming in now… to pick you up, Karen.”

“Negative. Just land and I can bring you your key if you want to go back up. I’m not flying.”

“Cessna 639 landing – and then we’ll talk.”

Karen jerked the key off the peg and tossed her purse over her shoulder, walking out of the building and seeing the Cessna coming in low. It was incredible to watch the planes take off and land – and a part of her still wanted to back away from them warily.

As the plane came to a stop, she waited for Jace to climb out – only to realize that he was waiting for her.

Stubborn man!

Marching over to the plane, she saw his smile and her reflection in his aviator sunglasses as she opened the door on the passenger side. Instead of getting in, she put the key in the seat and shut the door just in time to hear him yelling her name as his face fell.

“Karen!”

Moving quickly, she practically ran across the runway to her car… and away from him.

She heard him getting out of the plane, as the engine to the Cessna died… only to have it start back up a few moments later.

Getting into her vehicle, she turned just in time to hear a roar and see the plane take off again in the distance.

CHAPTER9

KAREN

Wednesday

She was prepared for battle!

This was going to be round two and she knew it. She’d left, practically slapping the olive branch Jace was extending to the ground, only because she was scared of her own reaction to him.

Not to mention the fact that she’d fought back tears the entire drive home.

She didn’t want to like him. She needed him to be as politely cool, controlled, and distant as the other pilots so she could handle herself accordingly.

Just seeing Jace brought up so many bad memories, so many things that were better left untouched. It had taken her forever to get past that one prank that had scarred her as a girl – and she hadn’t dated anyone since.

That was part of the reason she taught kindergarten… because she wanted to be with children before they were cruel. She wanted to teach them to empathize, to be kind, and to love despite people’s flaws.

She’d stopped at the donut shop this morning, knowing Dixie was out of town for a few more weeks, and picked up fresh pastries just as she’d promised yesterday.

Today had Firefly teaching classroom and Jace would be taking students up with Armadillo. Both Cessnas would be running off-and-on all day during the morning hours… which meant, her morning would be free of stress – once they finally began.

Looking up at the offices, she saw the light was on in the kitchenette and saw a shadow moving inside behind the miniblinds.

Jace was making the coffee – again.

Picking up the box, she glanced at her watch and saw she was extremely early. It was barely seven-twenty in the morning, and they didn’t open until eight. She didn’t even want to think about this as stolen time alone with Jace… because it wasn’t – was it?

Smoothing her short-sleeved sweater, she smiled. She loved this little summer sweater and how it looked on her. The red complimented her skin so nicely and was her favorite color.

No, she was just dressing nice for herself… not him.

Stepping inside, a part of her expected to see his head pop around the corner and say good morning again… yet he didn’t.

Instead, she walked back towards the kitchenette and dropped her purse in the office on the way, before walking inside. He was standing there, in a black T-shirt with a flag on the arm, rubbing his face as he stood before the coffee pot.

He looked exhausted, like he’d barely slept at all.

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