Her mother huffed tight-lipped from the kitchen as Hailey wrung the water from the cloth and turned to wipe the table. “Man, Jack. What did you do to my mother?”
“What did I do? All I did was try to talk to her,” he replied.
She leaned across the table to give it one last wipe. “Well, there you go. You tried to talk to her.” She let out an exaggerated sigh. “Direct communication, right? I hate to say I told you so.”
“Then don’t.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “But I’m telling you, the woman has more against flying than she’s telling. I can’t help but feel that there’s something else.”
“Don’t try to read some big mystery into this, Jack. There’s no deep, dark motive lurking in the shadows here. My mom’s unfounded objections are very well known.” She put a hand on her hip, deep in thought. “You know, I’m beginning to think she just needs to feel like she’s more a part of things. Maybe we need to find a way to get her involved so she’ll feel needed.”
His skepticism didn’t seem to surprise her.
“Jack, I appreciate the attempt you made.” Her eyes conveyed sincere appreciation. “But our job is to honor my dad’s memory and continue doing his work. Mom will be okay.”
“I only hope I didn’t make things worse.”
She shook her head and let out a little snort. “Worse? You couldn’t have.” Her voice was steady. She folded the washcloth and laid it across the sink, turning to face him. “Jack, listen, I know how you feel. You’ve been dealing with a difficult family situation of your own, and now you’re thrust into someone else’s difficult family situation. But I promise you, this is going to work out. God will work it out because it’s what’s right.” She let out a deep sigh. “How many times and ways do I need to say this? I love my mom and I know she’ll come to her senses. So let’s just give her some more time.” Her voice was firm. Final. “Trust me when I tell you that the rest will fall into place.”
He drew his lips in and doubts swirled through his brain. I’m not sure. How many times and ways can she say it?
Hailey continued. “Besides, with Dee here, she won’t have time to worry about what we’re doing.”
“Now, come on.” Jack had to chuckle. “How much mischief can a six-year-old get into?”
She tossed her head back and let out a knowing laugh. “Dee Watson could dismantle the Statue of Liberty in thirty minutes. Twenty-five on a good sugar-high day. I have to hide my chocolate stash from her or she goes wild.” A tender smile touched her lips. “Poor little darling, she’s had it rough. It would have been nice if Neal was the kind of guy to take responsibility for a child, but what are the chances of that at this point, right?”
“It’s nice that you and your family are so close to the little girl. And to Mrs. Watson.”
“It’s not just us. My Uncle Frank and Aunt Shirley help a lot, too. Ms. Carleen’s an excellent hostess and server at the diner.” Her face brightened. “Dee loves being around the airplanes almost as much as I do.”
“She won’t be hanging around while we work, will she? I don’t think that’s safe.”
“Come on, Jack. She’s been around us and our planes all her life. I keep a close eye on her. She knows what she’s supposed to stay away from.”
“It’s not a wise move, that’s all I’m saying. She’s a little kid. Little kids get into things. You said so yourself, she’s a dismantler.”
“Well, we don’t have to worry about it much anyway. Between my mom and Felicia, and my middle sister Lindsey, when she’s home from school, I hardly get that much time with Deedles.”
The doorbell sounded and Hailey motioned with her head. “She’s here. Come on, I can’t wait to show her off to you.”
The little girl running to Hailey with a fierce leap into her arms was followed by a weary eyed but smiling woman. That had to be Mrs. Watson.
Hailey made the introductions, but the only shred of resemblance Jack saw between Carleen Watson and her two wild sons were the deep-set eyes and high cheek bones. Nothing in the woman’s demeanor would have tipped him off that she’d been the poor unfortunate human who bore those two thugs.
Mrs. Watson gave Hailey a fierce hug. “Thank you, sweetie. I’m not working late tonight. Your Uncle Frank just needed me at the last minute. The diner’s hoppin’ today, he says.”
Jack’s lips formed a knowing smile. “Busiest time of the day.”
Hailey issued him a “see, told you” look.
Mrs. Watson kissed the top of her granddaughter’s head and left the kitchen, heading to work. Dee was already tugging on Hailey’s hand. “Come on, Hailey, let’s go see the planes.”
“I have a better idea. First, let’s go show Mr. Stinson our swing and secret hiding place.”
The little girl’s light brown curls bobbed up and down. “Race ya’!”
Dee and Hailey ran all the way to the back pasture, followed by the much slower moving Jack.
When he reached them, huffing and puffing, Dee was already settled on a wooden plank, notched and set against a sturdy rope hanging from a thick-trunked china berry tree.
“You didn’t … ” he tried to catch his breath, pulling a handkerchief from his back pocket and wiping at the perspiration on his face. “You didn’t tell me we’d be jogging halfway across the state.”
“You didn’t ask,” Hailey teased, and Dee giggled.
“Swing me higher, higher!”
Hailey gave the little girl a giant shove. “Any higher and you’d hit your little pumpkin head on those clouds up there.”
Dee let out an earsplitting squeal of delight. “Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Those clouds are soft! That won’t hurt, Hailey!”
Jack shook the tightness from his leg muscles and surveyed the area. It actually felt good to run. “This is a nice shady spot. Probably the only real peaceful spot in the county.” He was still huffing a little bit.
Hailey cast an admiring glance around. “It is great, isn’t it. My dad made me and my sisters this swing when we were small.” She motioned with her head to an old wooden flatbed trailer standing a few yards from the tree, its back wheels buried deep into the hard earth.
Jack didn’t ask, but this had to be the flatbed Mr. Watson had tried to move.
Dee flashed Hailey a wide smile. “Higher!”
“Okay, higher.” She gave Dee another giant shove.
Jack made a wide circle around the swing and stood beside the flatbed. “So this is where little girls come to play house and things like that, huh?”
“Heavens no, Jack! Play house? How nineteen fifty-two of you.” She tossed him a look of mock shock before trying to tickle Dee’s underarms as she swung past. “This is where little girls come to read and think and pretend that they’re airplane pilots.” She slowed the swing. “Good grief, we thought you knew that!”
Dee drug her feet across the ground and brought herself to a skidding stop. She hopped from the swing and ran to the flatbed, stepping from the tire to the top of the bed. She spun around with arms held straight, wing style. “Look, I’m an air-o-plane. See what I can do, Mr. Stins? I can be an air-o-plane.” She hopped down and disappeared beneath the trailer.
Jack gasped and grabbed for her. He cast a worried look at Hailey. “Where’s she going?”
Hailey touched a finger to her lips. “To our secret hiding place. Sometimes we read books together or work on letters and numbers. Sometimes we just talk. But no one can see us when we’re under there. We are i-n-v-i-s-i-b-l-e,” she spelled.
Jack wrinkled his brow. The thought of crawling underneath the flatbed made his chest tighten. A person could suffocate under there. It had to feel as if the whole world was falling down on top of you. A light film of perspiration reappeared on his face and he felt his knees weaken. “That’s just not right. Make her come out of there,”
he urged.
Hailey didn’t look up from the ants she was busy stomping with her work boot. “She’s fine, Jack.” Then she knelt and peered underneath the trailer. “Hey, Deedles, should we let Mr. Stinson come in to our secret hiding place? You could show him the A B C’s we carved into the dirt.”
He was just about to protest when a loud “No, thank you” came back at them.
Hailey shrugged at him. “You’ve been black balled from the secret hiding place.”
“Too bad.” A mock scowl touched his brow.
For the next twenty minutes, Jack and Hailey watched Dee crawl from beneath the trailer and swing awhile, then jump on the bed awhile. It surprised him that he was actually beginning to enjoy the squeals and child’s non-stop chattering. He hadn’t been around children much. Hadn’t thought about them much, either. Who had time with the schedule he kept?
“Higher than the clouds, Mr. Stins! Come swing me high.”
He walked across to give Dee a push on the swing. “Okay, but you can call me Jack.”
The little girl grinned as she swung by him. “Jack! Jack! Swing me higher, Jack!”
Hailey tapped her watch. “Hate to break up the fun, you two, but us grownups have to get back to work.”
Dee didn’t complain. She skidded herself to a stop and jumped from the swing. “Race ya’ Jack! Come on, Jack.”
Hailey gave Jack an approving glance. “She likes your name.”
He smiled back. “Obviously.”
This time Hailey declined the invitation to run across the field. “You go ahead, Miss Busybody. I think we’ll take a slow trip to the hangar and save some of our energy for work.” She reached to pull the little girl to her and kiss the top of her damp curls. “Ask Granny Rinnie for apple juice. You’re probably ready for a nap, too.”
“Nooooooooo!” she protested in a fit of moans.
Hailey held up one finger. “One.” Then added another. “Two.”
Dee turned to run toward the house and Hailey called after her. “And ask her pretty please for some ice water out at the hangar.”
“I will,” she shouted over her shoulder, running with the energy only a six-year-old could muster after playing nonstop in the Texas heat.
Hailey wiped her brow. “Man, sometimes this heat is draining. Dallas is even hotter, though, isn’t it? With all those buildings and concrete.”
“A littler bit.” He watched Dee zig-zag across the pasture on her way back to the house. “I wonder if we had that much energy when we were her age.”
“Of course we did. If we could have only saved a bit for our old age.” She dodged an ant hill. “Just think of the things we could accomplish in a day.”
He was thoughtful. “I think you do pretty good for an old timer of … what? Twenty-two? Twenty-three?”
Her eyes twinkled. “Something like that. Actually, I’m twenty-six. And you?”
“Twenty-seven.” His eyes focused on the ground as he walked. “Lately I’ve felt more like ninety-seven.”
“I’ll tell you. I’ve known a great many seventy and eighty-year-olds who had more going on than people less than half their age.” She tapped a finger against her head. “It’s all up here, you know. Age is nothing. Just a number.”
“I’ll remember that.”
“See that you do, Mr. All-Kidding-Aside.”
“If you call me that again I’ll develop a complex.”
She tossed her head, and walked backward, facing him with a teasing challenge. “Want to hear something that could give a person a complex?” When he nodded, she continued.
“Guess what my dad wanted to name me when I was born?”
He thought a moment. “I have no idea.”
“Come on, guess!”
“Harvey.”
She shook her head. “Try again.”
“Airplane Jane.” He chuckled at his own wit.
She stopped in her tracks. “Hey! That was good. You actually made a joke.”
“I make jokes. When the occasion calls for it.”
She started walking again. “I’m proud of you, Stinson. See, I told you there’s hope.”
“Okay, okay, don’t gush over me. Now tell me what your father wanted to name you.”
Her eyes were bright with merriment. “Cessna.”
This time he was the one who halted abruptly. “Cessna?”
She nodded and continued walking. “Cessna. Can you believe it? Of course, that’s before he bought his first Skycat. I could have been Cessna Holman. Or Skycat Holman.” She shuddered. “Scary, isn’t it?”
He threw his head back and let loose with an air-filling laugh. “Cessna? Now that’s a good one. Cessna Comet Holman!”
He wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand. “I hope I didn’t hurt your feelings. But Cessna? That’s hilarious.” His laughter turned into a warm smile. “What a cool sense of humor your father had.”
“Didn’t he though? Wouldn’t you say I’m born to fly?” Her own smile held deep tenderness. “I have no choice. Dad always told me that I would soar across the sky. Thankfully, the one battle my mom did win was naming me.”
“Hooray for your mom. I don’t believe I could work for anyone named Cessna. They’re our biggest competition.”
The word “our” slipped from between his lips before he could remind himself that Cessna was no longer “his” competition. He was no longer a part of Brown Aeronautics. Changes were hard to get used to, but he would. In time. He smiled, hoping to recapture the light mood.
If she noticed his brief, solemn lapse, she didn’t show it. She smiled back at him. “I like the Jack Stinson I’m seeing now. It’s great to hear you laugh. Even if maybe I shouldn’t be sharing such personal information about myself. Since you’re just a short-timer and all.” Her eyes glowed.
“I like it,” he assured her. “And it’s okay to share all this stuff. It’ll make us stronger business associates.” If it works out that way. He always liked getting to know his family business’s employees and customers. It made him feel like he could be a better boss and offer better service. If only his dad could have understood that.
She agreed with him. “You’re right. But I have a tendency to say whatever pops into my brain. While you seem more refined.” She threw the word out with a good-natured grin.
“Refined? Of course I’m refined. Everybody looks refined to you compared to Neal and Paul.”
“Hey! Those are my people.”
“Oh, of course.”
They walked in comfortable silence for a moment.
“But you, Jack — for all practical purposes, you’re a stranger. I hardly know you.” She turned herself back around and quickened the steps she took toward the hangar. “As much as I enjoy talking to you, who knows? You might take what you find out here and open a business nearby. You could be a spy. You could actually be in cahoots with the Watsons.”
He glanced her way with a wide smile on his lips, trying to think of a clever comeback to her kidding. It took about two seconds for him to reconsider. “You couldn’t possibly be serious. You think I could be a spy?”
“Never know.” Her voice held a hint of mystery and she twisted her lips. “I mean, it’s not impossible.” She smiled at him and quickened her step.
He made no attempt to keep up with her faster pace. Instead, he let his eyes sweep their surroundings and followed a few steps behind. “Now I know you’re kidding,” he shouted at her back. “Cahoots with Neal and Paul.”
He let loose with a huge smile. Even if she might actually be entertaining the ridiculous thought that he could be there with ulterior motives, he’d hate to see her succeed with anyone but him. He was pretty sure Hailey Holman would indeed succeed. And he already wanted it to be with him by her side.
H
e looked up and then all around him. I’m already getting used to that airplane windsock fluttering on top of the hangar. And those cows grazing along the fence line. This could be paradise. With some changes.
Maybe he could keep trying to talk to Rinnie. Maybe with time, she’d open up to him. And maybe with time, he’d let himself admit that he found Hailey Holman more than just a little bit fascinating.
He felt his ears burn. He could blame it on the sun beating down on him. Or heat stroke or lack of sleep making his mind wander. Quit dreaming. Maybe I’d better stay focused on what’s important. Like finding another job.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Securing the latch on the hangar door, Hailey raised her eyes to the enormous cloudless sky. Thank You, Lord. I’m trusting You.
She believed Jack could very well be an answer to her dad’s prayer, as well as to her own. Staring up into the heavens, she was oblivious to the approaching footsteps of her youngest sister.
“Are you lost in space somewhere?” Felicia stood close, her sweaty t-shirt still drenched from her efforts at cheerleading practice.
Hailey flinched. “You startled me, Diva. Didn’t your mama teach you never to sneak up on people like that?” She offered her sister a good-natured swat on the backside.
“Are you kidding? My mom’s the one who taught me to sneak up that way.” She leaned against Hailey. “I love it because I get to hear the juiciest gossip that way.”
Hailey waved her away. “Keep that gossip talk away from me and the same for that smell! I see you practiced outside in the heat again. I’ll be glad when the air conditioning in the gym is fixed so you won’t come home smelling like a gorilla anymore.” She turned to hike toward the cottage. “Is Dee up from her nap? I promised to take her to feed the cows before we eat.”
Felicia ignored her sister’s question. “How’s Mr. Wonderful Face?” She fluttered her lashes in Hailey’s direction. “Anything exciting happening?”
“I’m sure I don’t know who you’re talking about.” Hailey stared directly ahead as she walked. “Now be a big help and get Dee for me.”
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