Page 29 of Forever Fickle

“Fine,” he smiled. “I can do friendship… but if we are negotiating? Then I have a request of my own.”

Her eyes widened in surprise – and then she frowned, immediately going to the worst thing possible.

He was going to ask for kissing or intimacy, because she wasn’t sure she believed that line when he claimed he was saving himself for marriage. That was complete anthesis of who he pretended to be.

“Let’s hear it, flyboy…” she said flatly, bracing herself.

“Instead of f-fighting me every s-step of the way,” Jace began hesitating, his voice cracking nervously as he spoke causing her to pause for a moment as she listened. “Can you at least give this a try? Bend a little or give me the benefit of the doubt - instead of immediately shutting down or saying ‘no’?”

Karen swallowed, realizing it wasn’t a lot for him to ask – and certainly not what she expected. He wasn’t asking for more than any person deserved in friendship… and it hurt that he even had to say it aloud.

“You’re on,” she agreed softly. “I’ll bend.”

“Thank you,” he smiled shyly, watching her. “Are you ready to fly this bird?”

“ME?” she squawked nervously in disbelief.

He released her hand and put it on the controls in front of her – to which she immediately yanked them off. She wasn’t touching the yoke of the plane because then she was in control – and she couldn’t fly. This was his big idea, he was the pilot, so he needed to be the one flying.

“I’m not going to let you get hurt,” he reassured her. “I’m just showing my friend a few things about the airplane.”

Karen sighed, putting her hands back on the miniature steering wheel that looked chopped in half.

She listened as Jace explained what each of the gauges represented, how she could angle the plane, make it rise, or how they could take it lower to the ground. It was like having a private lesson with a man that she could listen to talk for hours… and he was treating her with the utmost respect and kindness.

Both of them sat there, making small talk, and flying the plane around… until she realized the sun was setting in the distance.

“Oh, my goodness…” she breathed, stunned, as the blue skies suddenly melted into a ruddy hue before her very eyes. It was like watching the screen of some computer fade pixel by pixel until it was enough to catch the viewer’s attention.

Hers.

“I love seeing the sun rise and set over the mountains back in Afghanistan,” Jace said quietly, staring off into the distance. “I was so mad when I got my orders, hoping to go to California or Robins Air Force base in Georgia. I heard those were the best places to go… and then I got assigned to Ghazni. Talk about being shocked...”

“I can only imagine,” she replied, listening to him.

“Here I was, fresh out of flight school… and we were all picking orders. Well, Sorensen was towards the end of the alphabet, and I got up to the table to select… only to see that nothing was left. I’d never been out of the country before, and here was some naïve kid suddenly landing in Kabul before I could even blink.”

“You must have been so scared…” she whispered, horrified.

“I was terrified and trying not to let it show,” he admitted. “My mom cried when she heard I was going to Afghanistan and my dad was trying so hard to be brave, but I could tell he was really upset. So I went, told them how wonderful it was, how much I loved it, and it kinda just stuck with me… all to keep them from worrying.”

“Really?” she said, stunned that he would be so thoughtful of his family or what they thought, putting them first. This didn’t seem to be like him and maybe she realized that she was just as guilty, assuming the worst automatically, just like everyone else. “What do you think of Afghanistan now?”

“Numb,” he admitted. “I couldn’t care either way. I love the mountains and there are a few things there that’s nice. No traffic,” he smiled impishly, “I save quite a bit of money while I’m there, and it makes me treasure the time that I do get to spend at home.”

“But you came here? Where’s your home?”

“My family lives in Massachusetts and we are die-hard Patriots fans… or I’m supposed to be,” he grinned, glancing at her. “I came here because these guys are my family, too. They’ve been everything to me and always had my back. I would die for any of them – and know they would do it for me if something ever happened.”

Jace got quiet, almost looking lost in thought, before he spoke again.

“They are my brothers in every way that matters, and I feel really blessed to have them in my life… but don’t tell them that.”

Both laughed easily at his words and then smiled shyly at each other, before he spoke.

“Thank you for doing this,” Jace said softly. “I know you didn’t want to, but this has been the best flight I’ve been on in forever. I love flying and really appreciated the company… just getting a chance to talk with you.”

“This has been wonderful,” Karen admitted, nodding before looking away as she felt her cheeks heat up slightly with embarrassment. “I’ve liked this more than I ever expected, and it’s been nice talking with you, too.”

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