Flyboy

by Sophia Summers

  “Of course you can. Colton’s a sweetheart. His heart is in the right place. Just remember there are lots of ways to reach the same goal.”

  Ivy sighed, said goodbye, and logged off the call. “The same goal. Do we have the same goal?” Her words hung in the air in her apartment. She reached for her bags and headed to the airport. Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It would be cold. She hadn’t flown cold in a long time. And she didn’t savor the experience.

  But it would be an easy job—two planes, fifteen pilots. She’d be on the ground more often than not. With any luck, they would finish early.

  And, Colton or not, she loved working for Top Flight. Once she’d been honorably discharged, she had looked for her purpose, looked for a place to fit in, but nothing else in life had been so comfortably regimented, so perfectly orderly as the military. So when she heard of opportunities at Top Flight, she jumped at the chance.

  But nothing in life was ever exactly as you’d expect.

  Still, she loved her job. Top Flight was easily the best thing to happen to her since the military. If the others wouldn’t listen to her complaints and would then ask her to work with Colton as her team lead, then she would do it.

  Colton. She shook her head and smiled in spite of herself. If he weren’t so dang charming in an irresponsible, irritating, and unacceptable sort of way, this would be easier. He’d gotten away with this reckless behavior all these years because he could smile like no one else she’d ever seen, as if the whole sun beamed out through his eyes. Well. She would work with him. But she wasn’t going to let that smile turn her into a sappy, soft, Colton follower.

  He was dangerous. Plain and simple. In more ways than one. She shook her head and reminded herself that she knew what happened when pilots were dangerous. And no matter how it made her appear, no matter how much they all talked about her clipboard-carrying exactness to obedience, she knew the alternative, and she wasn’t going there. And Colton couldn’t either, not if a simple warning could do the trick.

  The taxi dropped her off for curbside baggage, but she walked past with her no-nonsense carry-on and made her way through security. Not everyone could have their own jet. Not like Ace. Must be nice. She was pretty sure every member of the board of Top Flight was swiftly making their own millions. Her own salary was not too shabby. She lifted her chin. She could do this. She could work with an irresponsible man as her superior. She’d done it before.

  When she landed in Brazil, the stark beauty of the mountains, the crisp air, and the lovely people did a lot to lighten her expectations and give her hope. This job certainly brought her to places she would never be otherwise. Rio Grande do Sul made up the very most southern tip of Brazil. Probably like most people, she’d always thought of Rio and hot beaches when she thought of Brazil.

  The architecture as she drove through Puerto Allegre kept her eyes glued to the window. The driver was kind enough to point out churches and other sights in his remarkably clear English. “We have penguins and snow here in the south.”

  “Remarkable.”

  “Most people from other countries—they don’t know that.”

  “I didn’t either.” She shivered even though she wasn’t cold as yet. The weather was mild. The sun was bright. The vegetation all around with full leaves seemed to indicate summer. Their road curved as they left the city and was lined with trees and her favorite flower bushes seemingly growing wild on the side of the road. “Hydrangeas.”

  “Oh, yes. They love our country. The big blooms are everywhere. Even my mother sometimes, she would cut them back.”

  “They’re stunning.” Light blues and pinks with the occasional deeper colors stretched on both sides of the road for as far as she could see. The flowers were as large as her head. She clicked a few photos with her phone. How often would she see something like this again?

  “How long will you stay in our country, miss?”

  “Six months, I think.”

  “Oh, that is wonderful. Then you will see the festivals. The German towns have their festivals, and the tourists love them.” His smile grew. “You like our country. You stay so long.”

  “Yes, I’m here for work.”

  “Very good. We work down here in the south. We work hard. Not like the others in the north. Every day there’s a party in the Bahia, did you know?” He shook his head like something so innocuous as daily parties was offensive to his understanding of the world.

  Ivy smiled. “Sounds like a great place to visit.”

  “Visit.” He shrugged. “It’s true. The beaches are beautiful. You go visit there once, and you will be counting the moments until you come back to the south. Here you can see the beautiful beaches and the buildings and the mountains and also get all your work done.” He nodded. Then they pulled up in front of a large home.

  “Are we here?” She pulled up her phone to check the address. “Yes, looks like it.” It was surrounded by a gate, and two large parrots sat on either pedestal in the front.

  “They’re gorgeous. Why don’t they fly?”

  “They’re trained. Probably. I don’t know.” He didn’t seem as intrigued or as excited to talk about the birds. “This house is a good one. I know the owner. She take care of you.” He brought her bags to the front gate and clapped his hands. “Oi de casa!”

  A window upstairs opened, and a smiling older woman in her fifties leaned her head out the window. “Oh, Roberto. Hello, Ivy. You must be my new guest?”

  “I am. I think Mr. Bushman must have called to set this up?”

  The house was white stucco, brilliant in the afternoon sun, which felt warm on her face in a pleasant way; the air was chillier than she expected.

  “Yes, he did. Come on in. Roberto, please bring that woman’s bags inside.”

  “For you, for her, I will do it. You are staying in the finest house in our city.”

  Ivy smiled. “It is beautiful.” A large awning ran along the front, and the door was the brightest blue she had ever seen.

  The woman opened it with another large, white-toothed smile, her curls piling around her face, tickling her forehead. She leaned in, kissing each of Ivy’s cheeks. “Bem vindo mi filha.”

  “Oh, Obrigada.” Ivy felt flustered for a moment. The charming welcome was so sincere, so full of happiness, and the kisses—she wasn’t used to it, but it made her smile. “I’m Ivy Hatfield.”

  “Fatima. Everyone just calls me Fatima.”

  “Fatima. It’s good to meet you. Thank you for having us.”

  “I was so happy to get the call. I denied every other rental request so that I could have the American pilots come stay at my house.” She stepped back and indicated they should come in. “Roberto, once you put her bags in the yellow room, come into the kitchen for some suco.”

  Roberto’s face wrinkled with a brilliant smile. “She makes the best suco de Aracaju.” Mmmm.

  “Come in, come in.” She led the way into a bright and open front room. The windows were opened, no screens blocked their view.

  Ivy let some of the tension tightening her shoulders release. “This is such a beautiful home.”

  “Oh, thank you. It’s been in our family for five generations. Please make yourself comfortable. All the main rooms are open to our guests. Just the family rooms are private. The back yard is for your use, and you will notice a pretty path down the way there. If you go for a mile or so, you will see a waterfall.”

  “I’m sure I will be very comfortable here. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Now, you go, feel free to freshen up, rest, or whatever you like, dear. I’ll bring up some refreshments in just a moment.”

  Ivy smiled and made her way to the back of the house and up a set of stairs. Her room sat in the back corner. It was large with a huge, soft-looking bed in the middle of the room against the back wall. Two windows overlooked the green rolling hills that seemed to stretch in every direction.

  Her smile started small, but soon, she was rocking back and forth from heel
to toe and grinning from ear to ear. A noise at her door turned her head, looking for her promised refreshment. “Fatima, this view. I could look all day . . .” She turned to congratulate her hostess.

  But instead of Fatima, Flyboy stood in the doorway.

  Her energy left her as quickly as it had come. “Oh.”

  “Hey.” Flyboy nodded his head. “So, you’re here and got settled in?”

  “Just arrived, yes.”

  “Omar and I came together. He’s down at the end of the hall that way.”

  She nodded.

  “And I’m right next door.”

  She swallowed through a suddenly very dry mouth. She had nothing, no words, no thoughts beyond the fact that she’d sent a detailed letter to the whole board, including this man standing in front of her, explaining why he was a danger to any mission. And another glaring realization that Colton’s hair was newly cut, and the military shave made his eyes look . . . different, and his jawline, sharper, thicker—or something—more handsome. The realization tickled something inside, something . . . pleasant. She blinked it away before it bloomed into . . . anything.

  “Ok, great.” Why was he still standing in her doorway? “We meet the pilots tomorrow?”

  “Not for a couple of days, actually.”

  She tilted her head. “I thought your email said to arrive today, that we were under the wire?”

  “Oh, well, no, not under the wire, but I thought it might be good for our team to get together ahead of time, get settled in, get to know the people, and . . . bond.” He winked. Then he laughed. “It might be nice if we liked each other before we start this assignment.”

  Again, she found herself speechless for a moment, and then she shook her head. “Liked each other?”

  “Yeah, I need a couple days to prove I’m not . . . what were the words? A danger to the team? And an embarrassment to the word pilot?”

  She felt her face heat, but she refused to stand down. “I stand by my words, but I hope there isn’t anything uncomfortable between us.”

  “Not at all. I just have my work cut out for me.”

  “Your work?”

  “Yes, we can’t work well together when you have such disheartening opinions about me. And I have a couple days to prove to you that I just might be a good pilot after all.”

  “I never said you weren’t a good pilot.” She looked away, flustered. “I . . . look. I don’t want weird feelings, either. Let’s just forget I said anything for the time being.” She shrugged.

  He shook his head. “Nope. We are going to address every one of those complaints.”

  She stepped closer, ready to talk him out of this ridiculous plan. “No, really. That is not necessary.”

  “Oh, but it is.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. Except I can’t have you over there thinking negative thoughts about me.”

  “What if I just tell you I’m not . . . thinking negative thoughts.” Of all the ridiculous conversations.

  “I’ll know you’re just trying to get out of it.” He dipped his head and then smiled, a slow curl of his lips, the kind she shouldn’t look at for too long. “Come on. Give me a chance.” His eyes widened, and he turned a pleading, adorable expression in her direction.

  She couldn’t stop the smile that lifted one corner of her mouth in return. But she covered it and said, “Of course. We have to work together. Let’s make it as pleasant as possible.”

  The light in his eyes dimmed, but he nodded at her. “Good enough. Put on some comfortable hiking shoes.”

  “Pardon me?”

  “Apparently, there’s a waterfall we must see before another hour goes by.”

  Chapter 3

  Colton did not congratulate himself that he’d found a way to spend the rest of the afternoon with Ivy, even if Omar would be joining them. He knew she was humoring him for professional reasons only. But whatever the reason, he was going to make the most of the time he had to prove his point. And what was his point? He shrugged into a lightweight sweatshirt. Who knew what his point was? Something didn’t sit well, just under his skin, like a new itch, whenever he thought about Ivy not approving of him or his methods. There was absolutely more than one way to do things. And she was just about to get a crash course on Colton’s way if he had anything to say about it. Once he’d done his best, if she still had the same opinions, then so be it. But . . . he wanted her to like him so much that he might one day see her smile at him, in just the right way.

  He stepped out the front door, stretching his arms above his head. But today—these next two days—were all about fun. And if Colton could do anything, he could do fun.

  Omar’s frown, when he stepped out the door, made Colton laugh. “What is it?”

  “It’s not humid here.”

  “I’d think that was a good thing.”

  He grunted. Then he squinted up into the sun. “This is perfect weather. I feel like we’re in San Diego.”

  “Well, then I see nothing you should be frowning about.”

  “This ain’t frowning. This is my normal expression.”

  “He’s right.” Ivy stepped out to join them. “You should have seen him on the islands. Everything around us as beautiful as it gets, and Omar is over there frowning.”

  “Ivy.” He pulled her in for a hug. Colton felt every part of his body bristle like a prickly pear cactus, while he watched the two of them embrace.

  “It was hotter than any place needs to be and humid on top of it.” He looked up at the sky. “But this. I could go to a lot of assignments with weather like this.”

  Omar was a good, solid, passionate sort of guy. The more missions he went on, the more the team wanted to use him. But if he kept hugging Ivy like they were the best pals in the world, Colton might not like him as much.

  “Let’s be off, then. We’ve got two days to appreciate the weather before we’re stuck indoors.” Colton led the way down a path to their left. He hummed to himself while the other two chattered together. At first, the path was wide, lined with grass and rocks, but the further on they went, the more dense the vegetation became. Soon the three of them were walking in a single file line. Thick underbrush rubbed against his legs and branches scratched at his arms, making him grateful for his sweatshirt.

  After about thirty minutes, the path opened up again and then stopped at the edge of a huge rock outcrop overlooking a pool that splashed with a frothy foam as the towering plunge of the powerful torrent rushed downward. Mist refreshed Colton’s face as he lifted his chin, eyes closed, into the spray of the falls that rose above them. Ivy came to stand beside him. “This is really incredible.”

  “It really is.” He winked at her, peered down off the rocky ledge at the pool beneath them and then dove off.

  Her scream behind him as he fell made him laugh. Then he shouted a great whoop of happiness to the nature all around them until his hands hit the water. He sunk into the cool depths and then swam to the surface. He looked up at the rock outcropping and laughed at Ivy’s face, peering over the edge at him. He waved and then swam over to the side.

  As he suspected, Ivy and Omar did not follow him down the same way. They made their way along the path. He could almost feel Ivy shaking her head in his direction.

  Well, she needed to learn to relax a little bit.

  And she thought he needed to act more responsibly. Well, he would keep trying to change her mind.

  When they finally reached him, he was making his way across the rocks toward the falls. “Come on. There’s supposed to be a cave behind here.”

  “Wait for us. I gotta do something first.” Ivy’s voice sounded excited enough that he turned. And to his amazement, she dove into the water. When she came up, he cheered.

  She shook out her hair, her eyes sparkling up at him. “I was so hot after that climb. This feels nice.”

  “The water is chilly, but I imagine it feels just right.”

  She swam over to him and lifted her hands up on
the rocks. He knelt down and offered her a hand just as Omar joined them. “I’m not getting in that. Who knows what kinds of things live in that water.”

  “This?” Ivy used his hand as leverage and stepped up beside him. She was surprisingly light.

  “Wow, you’re strong.” The grin she sent his way was less guarded, almost impressed. She turned to Omar. “It’s too cold for anything too terrible to live in there. You should try it. After that climb, it feels amazing.”

  Omar just grunted and then moved to step beneath the falls. “Did someone say we’re going back behind here?” He skirted the edge, letting the water cascade down all around him. He shook his now-drenched hair.

  “Yes. Follow me. There’s a ledge.” Colton followed along the left-hand side. Fatima had told him it led to a cave behind the falls. They were able to skirt the strongest force of the falls and hug the side of the rock cliff. Once past the front of the falls, he stepped up onto another ledge and then into a recess in the rocks. He turned as the others joined him, and they all stared at a sheet of water to their front.

  “Wow, this is really cool.” Ivy reached her hand out. The water powered into her palm. “That’s so much stronger than it looks.”

  “It really is.” Colton turned, his shoulder bumping Ivy’s. “Oops. Excuse me.”

  The face she turned up to him was open, friendly. Hmm. Good. Progress. Her hair hung down around her in wet waves. Her clothes clung to her in ways he liked. And above all, she seemed as into this adventure as he was. “They say that the cave goes back a ways, and if we choose the right direction, it actually opens up back near the original path.” He stepped closer to her and winked. “Or . . . buried treasure.”

  Omar snorted.

  “Truth. They’ve never found it. But they say, long ago, there was a time everyone in the area was hiding all their belongings because of the robbers that plagued their land. And during that time, many forgot where they hid things. This place is crawling with ancient treasure. Says the rumors.”

  “Rumors?” Ivy’s voice sounded amused, at least.