Page 2 of Forever Fickle

“The same…” Glory smiled. “Then there’s Hot Cakes…”

Karen choked on her coffee, nearly spitting it out as she looked at the smiling woman. Coughing emphatically, Dixie patted her on the back several times before casting a knowing look to Glory.

The two of them were pathetic at matchmaking,Karen thought. They were barely hiding their intentions at all and yet, she was an idiot just sitting here letting them manipulate her.

Maybe she was actuallythatlonely?

“Did you say…Hot Cakes?”

“Jace,” Dixie amended quickly. “Stupid call sign, but nice guy according to my husband. I’ve never met the guy, but Hunter said he’s from ‘good stock’.”

“Do I even want to know?”

“Probably not…”

“Let’s just focus on ol’ Reaper, okay?” Glory said happily. “That hottie will be here for a whole month for you to get to know him better and chat.”

“I’m supposed to be helping at the office, remember? That doesn’t involve me meeting some… hottie,” Karen protested faintly, feeling the pressure that her friends were suddenly putting on her. “Besides, shouldn’t we be discussing how this is going to work?”

“Glory, she’s right.”

“Finnne…” Glory drawled in frustration, rolling her eyes. “Can you come by the offices tomorrow and I’ll show you the ropes? Dixie can help too, because she knows more about payroll and how it’s calculated. I can show you the phones and where to find stuff.”

“Payroll?” Karen choked out. “You want me to do payroll, too?”

“Uh, you might need to… Harley is down for the next two months, and we all want to get paid.”

“I’m sure Harley might come by with the baby, but depending on Samantha’s schedule, you might need to do it and have it waiting for her to check.”

“You’re both asking a lot and putting a ton of trust in me…” Karen hedged nervously, feeling suddenly insecure.

“You’ve got this - and we wouldn’t ask, if we didn’t think you were more than capable. Please, Karen… don’t back out. It will be just fine – I promise.”

The two women were watching her in earnest.

Karen smiled, nodding.

“I don’t mind helping out besides, it will give me something to do to pass the time this summer instead of twiddling my thumbs trying to come up with a project or spending money on a trip by myself … that I don’t have the money for.

“If you want to go somewhere, just say the word,” Glory hedged. “We can have one of the guys fly you…”

“You are going to be short-handed enough,” Karen replied, touched at the offer. “Maybe someday, but for now let’s get through the next several months, right?”

“Exactly,” Dixie said pointedly, giving Glory a look as the other woman opened her mouth to speak – and promptly shut it.

* * *

A week later,Karen was eyeball-deep in Flyboys and learning as much as she could from the two women. Glory was supposed to be at home, having just been threatened with bedrest.

Dixie was scheduled to leave with Lee in the morning for an unknown length of time… and then it would be just Karen with two, almost three, pilots.

Alpo, Glory’s husband, was only there part of the time and spent most of it at the hangar working on the planes.

Firefly had just gotten married not too long ago and the man was supremely distracted – always texting or calling his wife and checking on his daughter.

Armadillo was there, but his own wife was due in less than two months and the moment the last student left? Armadillo was gone in a flash, driving home to check on Delilah and his son, Luke.

It was sweet to see such dedication – but it also left her there with almost no one to answer questions. The biggest piece of advice she’d gotten and had taken to heart was to write down everything, names, and phone numbers, so if there was an issue? It could be addressed the next morning.

---