Page 86 of Shared By the Pilots

“She’s cute when she pouts,” Adam said.

“Like a sad puppy,” Luke agreed.

“Besides, there’s no use inanyof us dwelling on it,” Adam added. “We can probably get jobs at one of the other airlines. There’s a shortage of pilotsandcabin crew. We’ll be fine.”

“Y’all could always take a page out of my book and become your own boss,” Taylor said with a grin. “Just, uh, skip the part about illegal antibiotic shipments.”

“Funny you mention that,” Luke said, pulling out his phone. “I heard through the grapevine that Bernard Langston’s entire fleet of private jets is being auctioned off.”

Adam looked at the screen and whistled. “Wow. That’s a lot more than I expected a plane to cost.”

“And that’s a heavily discounted price,” Taylor muttered. “It’s an expensive hobby to get into. My seaplane may require a lot more maintenance, but she’s cheap.”

“Too bad we don’t know any millionaires,” I joked. “We could pool some investors together and buy the planes, then recreate Excelsior for a fraction of the cost.”

“Yeah,” Luke said. “Too bad.”

Taylor perked up.

“What?” I asked.

“I think,” he said with a spreading smile, “that I have an idea.”

Epilogue

Taylor

One Year Later

“Okay,” I said, “now grip the yoke with both hands. Hold it firm, but don’t squeeze too tightly.”

“That’s whatshesaid,” Veronica giggled.

I gave her a playful glare. “You’re not taking this seriously, love.”

“Sorry. Sorry.” She cleared her throat and took hold of the U-shaped control wheel. “Okay. I’m ready.”

I disengaged my own yoke slowly, letting her take control. Her eyes were wide like a child’s.

“Am I doing it?”

“You’re totally in control right now. Give it a little push. That controls the pitch. Just a little bit, now. Don’t go crazy on me.”

Veronica did as she was instructed, pushing the control wheel forward. The plane responded by pitching downward a tiny degree. She pulled it back quickly and let out an excited giggle. “I’m really flying!”

“You sure are.”

The flight board had met yesterday to review my application for reinstatement. I must have appeared like an innocent soul, or else I dazzled them with my charm, because they unanimously agreed that I could fly again. After spending a day making sure my plane was in flight shape, I had insisted on taking Veronica up.

Feels good to be back in the clouds, I thought with a huge smile.You can’t take the sky from me.

“This is so different than just being a passenger,” Veronica said. She was breathing heavily. “It’s exhilarating.”

“Now you know why I love it so much.”

“Okay, I think I’m done.”

“You sure?” I asked. “I was going to tilt my seat back and take a nap.”

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