Brace for Impact

by Becky Harmon

  An image of Dex’s face in the glow of Christmas lights filled her senses. Remembering the soft feel of her skin and her touch sent a chill down Lucy’s spine. She didn’t know if she was in love or not. In fact, she knew she didn’t even know what love felt like, but she did know she liked this feeling that Dex caused in her. And she looked forward to Dex’s text at the end of the week. For now, that was all she could commit to. And for her…that was enough.

  * * *

  By Thursday morning, Lucy felt like she had been put through a wringer washing machine. She spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday rushing from one location to another. As much as she loved Boston, she wasn’t a fan of the airport. She was starving and trying hard not to be cranky. She knew the long waits in every line were due more to the number of people passing through than the staff’s incompetence. There was only so much even the best customer service person could do to make that many people happy in one day.

  She tried not to release her sigh again since the woman behind her was doing it for her. The young, purple-haired girl at the register was working efficiently taking orders, but it seemed the cooking staff backing her up might not be as quick. But then they didn’t have to deal with the customers. Lucy had been dreaming for three days about a lobster roll, and it seemed no matter how long the wait would be her mouth wouldn’t accept any imitation. She had passed all the traditional Boston seafood haunts, and there were a lot of them, for this version that came from a pub of sorts.

  When it was finally her turn to order, she watched a young man scoop mounds of chunky lobster meat with a light coating of mayonnaise onto a New England style hot dog bun. A handful of crunchy fries and a small container of coleslaw completed her order. She gladly took it, stepping out of the line. She wondered what the others were waiting for since her sandwich had been prepped so quickly. Was she missing something even better than her favorite? She almost asked a man standing nearby but then decided she was happy with her selection, at least for this time.

  She grabbed a few napkins and began the long trek back to her gate. At least she didn’t have to change terminals. Having to leave one terminal and then clear security again didn’t seem like an efficient process, but people seemed to make it work. Of course, she never had to stress about being late for a flight. Not that the flight wouldn’t leave her, because they would, but she had only to call in that she was stuck at the security checkpoint line and she would be rebooked on the next available flight. She might end up going somewhere other than her scheduled location and, of course, it probably screwed up a large part of the Air Marshals’ flight schedules, but adjustments were made.

  She made a quick stop and picked up a few more magazines for her next flight before entering her gate area. As she passed beneath one of the hanging televisions, she heard the announcer’s excited voice mention an emergency landing. Instead of finding her usual isolated seat to enjoy her sandwich, she plopped down in front of the TV. The headline in large letters across the lower half of the screen took her breath away—“Eastern Airline pilots prepare for emergency landing.” She had to force herself to concentrate on what the news anchor was saying.

  “After the pilot radioed air control to clear for an emergency landing, the ground crew went into action. Everyone is ready and standing by, even though the flight is still about twenty minutes out.”

  Lucy dropped her bag of food at her feet and waited for the announcer to drone through all the statistics for emergency landings at Los Angeles International Airport. LAX was second only to Hartsfield Jackson in Atlanta as the busiest airport in the United States, and it was one of the largest international airports in the world. As the announcer was so clearly communicating, emergency landings happened there on a regular basis. The flight in question would fly low over the runway several times to allow the ground crew to view its malfunctioning landing gear. The filmed footage would be analyzed, and then the pilot would attempt a landing.

  She rubbed her palms against her jean-covered thighs, only realizing after the action that her hands were damp and clammy. Why hadn’t she asked Dex where she was going to be this week? She was pretty sure she was in the US but where, she had no idea. Was Dex the pilot flying the malfunctioning plane? She rested her head against the back of the chair and tried to take deep breaths. Dex was an experienced pilot, and if she was in the cockpit, she would know what to do. That thought did nothing to stop the queasiness she was feeling.

  The announcer’s bubbly personality was starting to get on her nerves, so she gathered her belongings and stood. Walking into the flow of passengers moving through the terminal, she dropped her food into the nearest trash can and ducked into a quiet alcove. Even though there was a good chance Dex was in the air and wouldn’t have her phone on, she still typed out a quick message. Then as ridiculous as she knew it was, she dialed Dex’s phone and listened to the recorded message, hesitating for only a second before leaving a brief and what she hoped wasn’t confusing message. She couldn’t say the things she wanted to without sounding crazy after all, given all of her insistence that nothing could happen between them.

  The thought of Dex being on a plane that could potentially crash sent her mind reeling. She could still remember the number of high-risk landings quoted by the television reporter. Even she had her share of stories. Nothing serious and most of the time she didn’t know any more details than the average passenger. Once the oxygen masks had even dropped from the overhead compartments. The plane had made a quick landing only to discover the masks had dropped due to a malfunction rather than a loss of oxygen in the cabin. Emergency landings happened somewhere in the world almost every day and in the majority of them no one was even injured. And yet she still would give anything to know where Dex was right at this moment and be reassured that she wasn’t in the cockpit. Unfortunately that wasn’t going to happen until Dex could call her.

  Lucy returned to her gate and waited as patiently as she could for the boarding process to begin. The long-anticipated lobster roll was gone from her mind, replaced by thoughts of the woman who had taken her world by surprise. A woman who was so disarmingly unaware of her own beauty.

  Basking in the glow from the restaurant candle, Dex had been a vision that Lucy was unable to get out of her mind. Dex had reached inside her and found the dormant feelings she had made an art of hiding. When they had met in Paris, the determination in Dex’s eyes had been like a laser zeroing in on Lucy. Since then she had been doing her best to ignore the tingly feeling in the pit of her stomach and treat Dex like every other one-night stand. The ache in her heart said otherwise though. She wasn’t sure what she had to give, but the way Dex looked at her it was clear she saw something in her. She wanted to be the only woman in Dex’s life. The best thing she could do at the moment was try to occupy her mind with work even if that wasn’t what she wanted to do. Dex would call her when she could and everything would be okay. She was ready to see where Dex wanted to go with what was happening between them.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “The crew is briefing the passengers on emergency landing procedures,” Dex said as she slid into the co-pilot’s seat.

  “Okay.” Pilot Carl Tash nodded. “We’ve burned off enough fuel so that was our last pass. Let’s take her in.”

  “Ready. Auto brake is off and there are no other system failures.”

  Carl calmly spoke aloud each step as he continued to move through their emergency procedures. “Still no response from the landing gear. We have a green light. Here we go. Disconnecting auto pilot.”

  Dex felt the rush of adrenaline as Carl guided their 737 onto runway 25L at Los Angeles International Airport. Her palms itched to be in control of the large plane, but Carl confidently followed through their action plan. He had excellent audible skills and she had no problem following his lead.

  She could see the lights of the emergency vehicles flashing in the distance. Unlike today’s emergency, emergencies with the Blackhawk happened fast. Lights flashed and alarm
s sounded making her blood pump faster as she raced to rectify whatever situation had been thrown at her. Today, Carl had identified the issue with the landing gear almost thirty minutes earlier. They had even silenced all of the audible alarms so they could communicate with each other and ground control. The silence was tranquil but she fed the excitement coursing through her to keep her mind at a heightened level should she need to assist him.

  She and Carl had both reviewed the video ground control had sent of their partially extended landing gear. If the gear collapsed under the pressure when the 737 touched down, then they would be performing a belly landing. The initial touchdown was soft as Carl fought to hold the bulk of the plane off the ground. The landing gear held their position as more and more weight pressed down on them. As the plane slowed to a stop, Dex took a deep breath. Together she and Carl ran through the remaining emergency shutdown checklist.

  Carl stood. “Let’s go check on the passengers.”

  She followed him out of the cockpit and was immediately confronted by anxious faces.

  “Everything is fine now,” she assured them. “Follow the flight attendants’ directions and we’ll get everyone safely into the terminal.”

  She stood in the door with Carl and consoled each passenger as they used the bright yellow emergency slide to exit the plane. When the last passenger had cleared the door, she and Carl followed the flight attendants down the slide.

  * * *

  Dex gave the taxi driver the name of the hotel and then rested her head against the back of the seat. It had taken hours to file all of the paperwork required for an emergency landing. She and Carl had stayed with the passengers until they had all been released by the paramedics. There was one twisted ankle from the emergency slide and a few bumps and bruises. She was thankful for Carl’s gentle demeanor in dealing with each person. He was doing what Eastern Airlines expected of them, but he wasn’t doing it because it was in the manual. His sincere compassion was felt by everyone.

  He had taken care of her too, talking her into having a quick bite to eat when they finally finished with all of the required paperwork. Neither drank alcohol and he didn’t talk much about the landing, but it was clear he wanted to make sure she was okay. So had the airline, which had called in another pilot to cover her next flight. They also arranged for her to catch a flight a couple hours later to Denver, where she’d pick up her next assignment.

  Even before today, it had been a long week; it had taken all of her strength each evening to not call Lucy. She wondered where she was now and if she had seen the emergency landing on the news. Tonight after she settled into her room she would text her. She was looking forward to it. Her vow that she would forget Lucy was long forgotten, but she wasn’t going to push her either. She would make contact tonight as she had promised, but the rest was up to Lucy. Remembering that she hadn’t turned her phone on since she landed, she pulled it from her pocket and pressed the button. It immediately dinged, letting her know she had a voice mail.

  The cab pulled to a stop outside the Denver Airport SpringHill Suites, and she slid her phone back in her pocket. The voice mail was probably from Deidra, and coffee was required before she listened to it. Deidra only wanted to keep her informed, but it was painful to listen to the sadness in her voice. She realized how horrible that sounded. Deidra was the one dealing with their father every day. She was thankful to escape to work, even if it was only for a week at a time. Of course, Deidra might have seen the news too. She certainly wasn’t ready to deal with her questions or anxiety about that either.

  After depositing her bag in her room and changing clothes, she sent her uniform to be dry cleaned and decided to walk to a nearby Italian restaurant. She needed to decompress and let the events of today wash over her. When she had seen the flight schedule, she had hoped to be able to see some Colorado mountains. Unfortunately she was on the east side of Denver, and all the good views were on the west side. Denver had gotten its first snow of the season less than a week ago, so the patchwork quilt view from above was mostly white. Her flight out in the morning was too early to allow time to enjoy a hike either.

  She would have enjoyed the walk to the restaurant if not for the fact the streets were crowded with traffic. Spotting the sign for the restaurant at last, she followed the sidewalk into the brightly decorated and well-lit lobby. Unlike the place she had shared pizza with Lucy, this Italian restaurant was anything but dark and quiet.

  The lobby gave way to a long bar and open dining space. Stairs on the side led to party dining tables upstairs. She was taken to a small two-person booth on the side and given a menu. The authentic Italian murals and decorations gave the room an Old World Italy appearance. When the waiter, a middle-aged man in a starched white shirt and black pants, approached with a wine bottle, she nodded eagerly. After the day she’d had she didn’t feel at all guilty about a splurge of one glass.

  “I’m Anthony. I’ll be taking care of you this evening. Have you made a choice or would you like to hear the specials for today?” he asked as he poured the wine.

  “I was thinking about the spinach ravioli?”

  “Excellent choice. Would you like mushrooms and artichoke hearts in the sauce?”

  “Sure.”

  “I’ll put your order in and be right back with a glass of water.”

  True to his word, Anthony’s return was quick. She had barely taken her first sip of wine.

  “Is the wine acceptable?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Very good. It’s our house wine. We have it shipped from my cousin’s vineyard in California. Have you been to Santa Rosa?”

  “Not yet, but I certainly hope to one day. I travel for business but mostly only to larger cities.”

  “Pity.” He waved his hand in the air as if to make her lack of seeing Santa Rosa disappear. “It is a beautiful place. Maybe you will see it one day.”

  She nodded and he was off to greet a new table of patrons.

  He was back with her meal before she even had time to take in all of her surroundings. She ate slowly, sipping her wine while she watched the other patrons. Sometimes she liked to read an eBook when she was dining alone, but it didn’t seem appropriate in this setting. She wasn’t a big people watcher, but she found the dynamics of others’ relationships fascinating. There was always at least one couple who never spoke to each other while they ate. She tried to imagine where they were going or coming from. Probably a forced family visit. Maybe a funeral or a wedding. Certainly not locals out for a night of fine dining. They didn’t appear to enjoy each other’s company and had probably been married for way too many years.

  She was savoring her last bite when Anthony returned.

  “Can I get you anything else?” he asked, laying her check on the table.

  He had been the perfect combination of attentive but not annoying. She was pleased that he along with the enjoyable meal and some people-gazing had taken her mind off her day. “No, Anthony, everything was perfect. Thank you.”

  “Would you like a container to take your ravioli with you?”

  “Not this time. I’m in a hotel and have to leave in the morning.”

  “Oh yes, here for business. You must be in sales.”

  “No, I work for an airline.”

  “Oh, did you see the news earlier? There was an emergency landing at LAX.” He leaned toward her conspiratorially. “We watched it on the television in the kitchen.” He stood straight again, glancing from side to side to see if anyone had noticed his departure from proper etiquette. “No one was hurt, so it all turned out okay.”

  She didn’t see any reason to tell him she had been in the cockpit or even that she was a pilot. “That’s good news.” She stood and handed him the black leather book with her cash in it. “It’s all set. No change.”

  “Thank you, ma’am. Enjoy your night.”

  Enjoy my night. That was something she would certainly like to do. But the first thing she had to do was listen to Deidra’s m
essage and then deal with her own anxiety over the emergency landing. It didn’t matter how many near misses she had been through; each one was only a reminder of how short life could be. There would be no lingering aftermath for her, however. No hesitation about getting back up in the air. Although she had discovered as she boarded the plane to Denver earlier that she much preferred to be in the cockpit rather than a passenger.

  She slowly wound her way toward the exit, enjoying the last few seconds of soothing atmosphere and smells. After she had consoled Deidra, she would text Lucy. Saving the more enjoyable part of the evening for last. No matter what happened between her and Lucy she would never forget her. Lucy had affected her more than she had expected. To the extent she could, she had kept her focus this week on work in order to avoid analyzing her trip to Niagara. She still couldn’t believe she had followed her. It was so unlike her.

  Ego? Was that what was to blame? She didn’t think so. Watching Lucy pack and leave that morning had hurt, of course. She didn’t like the vulnerable feeling. The truth was she didn’t need Lucy in her life. Especially if Lucy didn’t want to be there. She knew she would be saying those words a lot over the next couple weeks. Convincing her heart they were true wouldn’t be easy. No. She didn’t need Lucy, but she did want her.

  She stepped outside into the cold air, sucked in a gulp of it, and felt it wash away some of her sadness. She would be fine. She always was. Through everything she had faced over the years, she always pulled through. This time, though, she felt the loss. The emptiness.

  Her phone vibrated with an incoming call. It reminded her that she hadn’t listened to the waiting voice mail. Deidra’s name displayed on the screen and she swiped to answer.

  “Hey, sis.”

  “Where are you today?” Deidra asked.