Love in the Air: Lopez Island Series #2

by Jamie E. Matthews

  “You are the first man she’s brought home,” volunteered Zane, looking thoughtful. “I’d put a twenty down for our boy Adrian.”

  “You are not betting on us,” retorted Adrian, sighing when Ryan volunteered twenty on Nell. Tom began to scribble down sides on the napkin.

  “I’m for Nell,” Paul said, a small smile tugging on his lips.

  “What the fuck?” Adrian stared at him in disbelief. “Dude, you’ve seen me in action all these years.”

  “I’ve seen her in action even more.”

  “That’s it. I’m putting in fifty that says that we have a mutually satisfying adult relationship, part as friends and go our separate ways. Like every other relationship we’ve both had,” Adrian said pointedly.

  Another silence fell over the room.

  “Well, shit, where’s the fun in that?” pouted Zane. “My money’s still on you, Adrian!”

  The men laughed, and to Adrian’s immense relief, the topic turned to holding the next guys night out on Ben’s boat. He leaned over to Paul, punched him lightly in the shoulder.

  “We good?”

  Paul nodded, gave him a smile. “We’re good.”

  “Sweet.”

  Adrian sat back and finished off his well-deserved beer. He knew one thing for sure—he’d win the bet, hands down. He just had to seduce Nell back into bed first.

  Chapter 7

  Nell gave the wings one last wiggle as she circled in for the landing, grinning at the delighted peals of laughter that rang out from Sarah, the four-year-old in the seat behind her. Cara, her mom, had started out the plane ride with her arms wrapped tight around Sarah, gluing her to her side, but eased up when Nell kept up a stream of friendly chatter about the sights. Still, Nell noticed the mom’s knuckles remained white even after she’d done her best to land smooth and even.

  “I know Sarah had fun,” Nell remarked when the little girl jumped off, chattering excitedly as she ran into the arms of her waiting dad. “I hope you enjoyed it.”

  “Flying scares the shit out of me,” Cara confessed in a low voice after checking to make sure Sarah wasn’t within earshot. “I just didn’t want to admit it to her, because she was so excited. She thinks I can do anything.”

  Nell smiled and patted her on the shoulder. “Well, you made it, didn’t you?”

  Cara grinned. “Thanks to you. I know you took it easy on us, and I appreciate it. Pretty sure this was the highlight of Sarah’s trip. Well worth it. Even if I am glad to be on solid ground again.”

  Nell waved them off, then grabbed her clipboard from the cockpit and went through her usual round of post-flight checks before striding into the empty hanger. Pete had another family up in the larger cargo plane—Wednesdays tended to be the busiest days, and she thanked her lucky stars once again that after selling the business to her, Pete hadn’t been quite willing to retire his wings yet. While the retired Air Force captain still had plenty of flying years in him, Nell knew his wife was making noises about moving to Portland where their only son—and newly born granddaughter—lived. She’d have to hire someone else one of these days, but she pushed the thought away.

  A narrow rectangular window near the ceiling let a few measly streams of light into her shoe box of an office. On the other side of the wall was the reception area, manned by Anna Sue, a seemingly delicate flower from the deep South with a spine of steel and a bent for ruthless organization. The reception area had been added on later, and whoever had constructed it hadn’t seen fit to add a door connecting the hanger to the space—which, in Nell’s mind, meant nosy customers were mostly kept out of the hanger with its expensive tools and equipment. But Anna Sue had to abandon her post altogether and go outside to the tarmac and around if she wanted to speak face to face with Nell.

  “I swear, I’m going to quit one of these days if you don’t fix this damn office,” she grumbled from the hanger, her cowboy boots clicking on the concrete floor. Nell liked the way the lilt of her Southern accent lent a charm to even her complaints.

  “Shit,” Nell swore. She’d meant to have Tom give her a quote on adding the door, but between the tourist season ramping up and her love life taking a strange turn, time had slipped away from her.

  Anna Sue stuck her lower lip out and pouted, crossing her arms and tapping her foot. Nell risked a glance at her and yep, those bright blue eyes were narrowed. Her curly blond hair framed the peaches and cream face flushed with temper. Once more, Nell marveled at the fact that her assistant was two years younger than her but already had three children, the youngest of whom was entering kindergarten that fall.

  “I…um…” She couldn’t say she forgot.

  “And where is the fuel invoice that you were supposed to sign? The website hasn’t been updated with those new pictures I took. You have dark circles under your eyes, your desk is an unholy mess even for you, you’ve got ten minutes before the next clients arrive, and I know damn well you didn’t eat any lunch.”

  Anna Sue had the mom look of death perfected to a T, and Nell resisted the urge to hang her head, reminding herself she was boss.

  “Like you said, I only have ten minutes here, and you forgot to mention the 45 emails that I need to read, so which should I do first?”

  “Sign the invoice,” Anna Sue returned without hesitation, shoving it under nose. “Eat a protein bar, go to bed earlier, and delegate the rest to me.”

  “You have enough to do,” Nell said, glancing over the invoice, then scrawling her signature across the bottom.

  “So do you,” Anna Sue pointed out. She sighed, rubbed her temples. “Look. Eddie needs to get used to being in school anyway. Caryn signed up for soccer, and Will’s been asking to join the robotics club. I can stay an hour later.”

  Nell tilted back in her chair, considered the ceiling while she did the math. If she could delegate the bulk of the website and blog updates to Anna Sue—who was a hell of a lot better at it anyway—and stay open longer, maybe squeeze in one more flight…yeah, she could swing that.

  “I’ll take you up on it.”

  “And you’re paying for a damn door so I can yell at you through that instead of having to walk all the way outside and around,” she added.

  “Then get started, and call Tom now.” Nell nodded towards the parking lot. “Customers.”

  “I called Tom already this morning. He’s coming out tomorrow to give you a quote.” Anna Sue flounced out, smug.

  “Then why the hell did you bitch at me?” Nell blew out a breath but couldn’t help but laugh at her sneaky ways. “And thank you,” she called as she grabbed her clipboard and headed back out for another flight.

  Two flights later, and she still hadn’t managed to grab even the protein bar. A dull ache took up residence in her head as she sat back down at her desk and gauged she had about thirty minutes before the next customers—time to knock down the pile of ever-present paperwork on her desk. But, she’d barely managed to make a dent before footsteps echoed in the hanger.

  “Nell, you in there?”

  Nell sighed, resisting the urge to hide under her desk. Still, Tim Norton from San Juan Flights, although her competitor, helped her out when she had business she couldn’t handle, and she did the same for him.

  “Come on back,” she called.

  Tim smiled as he entered her office, held out a can of Coke like a peace offering. “I know how much you love drop-in visitors.”

  “For you, I’ll make an exception.” Nell cracked it open and felt the cold, sweet fizz ease the throb in her temples. She studied him over the can, trying to remember the last time she’d seen him face to face. Maybe in the fall? Now he sported more lines in his ebony skin, and the tight fitting shirt that usually showed off his muscled arms hung a bit loose. He had to be in his mid-fifties now, and for the first time, she saw hints of his age in the slope of his shoulders. He’d messaged her over the winter to tell her he was sending her some clients, and at the time, she’d assumed he and his wife had gone to Florida for a
break from the winter.

  “How you been, girl?” he asked, bringing up his ankle to rest on his knee.

  “All right. Busy.” She cocked her head. “You?”

  “Shitty winter,” he answered, shaking his shaved head. “Had a heart attack in December.”

  Nell gaped at him, then reached across her desk and grabbed his hand. “Jesus, Tim. I’m so sorry. Where the hell was I that I didn’t know this?”

  He pulled a face, squeezed her hand, patted it, then released it. “Nah. No one knew—we kept it on the down low. Didn’t need a bunch of sympathy bouquets stinking up the place.”

  “Are you okay now?” she asked, still trying to process the news.

  “Oh, yeah. Amazing what the docs can do nowadays. They opened me up,” he mimed cutting a hole down his chest. “Cleared the blockages, repaired a valve. Stitched me up, good as new.”

  “Wow.” Nell blew out a breath. “You’re always eating bean sprouts and tofu and all that healthy shit, and lifting weights so you can show off your guns there,” she pointed to his biceps.

  Tim’s grin split his face. “I know the ladies like that.”

  “Mmmm hmmm.” Because he got a kick out of it, she pretended to fan herself while ogling him.

  “It’s genetic, they tell me.” He sat back in his chair, tapped his fingers on his ankle. “My daddy passed on just shy of 50 with a crappy ticker, so I figure I got lucky. Thing is, the doc tells me I should slow down.”

  Nell knew he worked 60 or 70 hours a week at least, so she nodded her head. “Makes sense. Dial it back to a regular 40 hours, old man.”

  He shifted in his chair, shrugged. “Well now, I’m not so sure that’s enough. There’s all the stress. You’re always so calm and collected, seems like it rolls right off your back. I worry about every little thing, can’t sleep some nights for thinking about what I’ve got to do the next day. Gotta pay the bills, pay the employees, satisfy the customers. To be honest, even before the heart attack, I was thinking about what a pain in the ass it all is.

  “And,” he continued, “Patty’s not too crazy about me flying, even though the doc says it’s safe enough for me to do so.”

  “That’s tough,” Nell said with a frown. “What are you going to do? Hire someone else on?” Immediately, she added, “You can’t have Anna Sue. Or Pete. Seriously, I’ll kick your ass, and I’m thinking I might have a fighting chance, since you’re damaged goods now.”

  Tim roared out a laugh. “Girl, I’m sure gonna miss you.”

  “Shit. You’re leaving?”

  “Thought about it a lot. And, well, like I said, I’ve already outlived my daddy, and cheated death once. Truth is, I don’t feel the same rush anymore when I leave the ground. You know?”

  “Yeah. I know.” Nell gentled her voice, laid a hand over his again. “You sure? You’re not just freaked out because you’re still recovering?”

  He planted both his feet on the floor, spread his hands out wide. “I’ve loved living here. I’ve loved my career. But, it’s a job now. That’s all. There’s a flight school in Santa Fe that offered me a teaching position. It’s sunny, dry, something totally different than here. The wife likes it. And the more I think about it, the more I like it, too.”

  Nell sat back, looked past the fatigue on his face, saw the peace in his brown eyes. They sat in silence for a moment.

  “Well, sir. You’ll be missed. Truly.”

  They smiled at each other.

  “I’ll do my best to steal all your business before the new owner comes on board,” she said.

  He laughed again. “No need to steal it if it was yours, right?”

  “Right—wait. What?”

  “Of course, I’m not going to just hand it to you. But, it seems only fair that I give you a crack at the first offer before I put it up for sale.”

  Nell’s mind raced as a thousand questions flew into her mind. Of course, she’d wanted to expand her business, but that was always someday—much further down the road. Say, when she could afford more than two part time employees. She took a deep breath, pulled over her laptop and opened up a blank document.

  “How many customers do you see a year? What about employees—how many full time, how many part time?”

  Tim just smiled, pulled out his phone and tapped a few keys. “I’ve got it all drafted up. Business plan, marketing, profit and loss statement, projections, all that crap. Just tell me this—you interested?”

  “I’m always willing to have a conversation,” hedged Nell.

  “Because if you’re not serious, I’m gonna have to just send you the basics. Not real fair for the new owner if you get a peek at all this.”

  Nell blew out a breath. “Is it bad taste if I say I’m as serious as a heart attack?”

  Tim grinned. “You and me, we’ve got the same funny bone.” He rubbed his hands. “All right. Let’s get down to business.”

  ***

  Hours later, Nell snagged a corner booth at the pizza joint downtown while Zane grabbed a high chair, and Ryan guided Mellie across the restaurant.

  “I will have a very large glass of the house red,” Nell announced to the waiter who dropped off the menus. The kid, who looked about 13, shifted on his feet.

  “Uh, so, we only have the one size? I think? I can go check?”

  “She’s just kidding,” Zane said, patting him on the back.

  “Not kidding about needing the wine. Very important clarification,” Nell pointed out.

  When the kid still looked confused, Zane gently turned him in the direction of the kitchen. “Three regular sized glasses of the house red, please. There, off you go.”

  “Nell!” Mellie held her chubby arms out to Nell as if she hadn’t just ridden next to her in the car.

  “Hi, sweetie.” Nell gave her a hug, then swooped her into the high chair. “Hmm. Getting big, babycakes. Might be time to try the booster seat.”

  “Noooooooooooooooooo!” Mellie yelled, scrunched up her face, clenched her fists.

  “Two is such a fun age,” muttered Ryan. He reached into the diaper bag, pulled out a clear rectangular tube. “Look!”

  Mellie let out a theatrical gasp, and Nell tried not to laugh as the fake tears disappeared, and her eyes widened as far as they could go. “New animals!”

  “You guys spoil her.”

  Zane raised an eyebrow and gestured to Mellie, who was examining the toy animals one by one with rapt attention. “If bribery allows me to drink my wine without any whining—haha—it’s worth it.”

  “Hi everyone!” Amy leaned down to kiss Mellie’s cheek. Mellie ignored her and continued to gallop her new zebra across the table. “Fine, be that way.”

  She slid into the booth next to Nell. “Hannah can’t make it. Ben’s ordering us some drinks.”

  “Princess!” Ben laid a hand on Mellie’s head, and she looked up from her toys, smiled, dimples flashing. She pointed to her mouth, pursed her lips.

  “Kiss!”

  “I didn’t even get a hello,” Amy complained, but her eyes went misty as Ben gently kissed the toddler.

  “Okay, Nell. What’s the big news?” Ben sat back, arm draped over his wife’s shoulder, and Nell had to smile at the sight of the former People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive wearing tattered jeans, a paint splattered t-shirt and a smear of blue paint under his ear.

  “You missed a spot,” she pointed. “Unless you’re just trying to bring out the blue in your eyes.”

  Ben laughed, didn’t bother trying to wipe it off. “You caught me. Soooo…spill it.”

  Nell opened her mouth but before she could finish, Zane called out, “Adrian!”

  Adrian turned from where he was studying the chalkboard with its list of specials and smiled. Nell felt her stomach flutter at the sight of his muscular arms showcased by the black short sleeve shirt, his black hair pulled back at the nape, and the way his eyes lit up and his grin turned a bit wicked at the sight of her.

  “Isn’t that a coincidence?�
� Zane said. “Let’s invite him to join us.”

  Nell turned, narrowed her eyes. Zane met her gaze, all innocence.

  “Great idea,” Ryan chimed in, and Nell frowned.

  “Hey, everyone.” Adrian strolled over, and Nell had to admit the all-black look—t-shirt, slacks and boots—really, really worked.

  “Come join us,” Ryan offered, scooting over. “Plenty of room.”

  “I don’t want to intrude,” Adrian said, his words polite, but his eyes met Nell’s, amused.

  Nell leaned into Zane, muttered in a whisper, “Did you text him we were here, or what?”

  “You’re not intruding at all, right guys?” Zane completely ignored her.

  “Of course not. Nell was just about to tell us her big news.” Ben signaled the waiter for another beer as Adrian sat down. “We haven’t even ordered the pizza yet.”

  On cue, the waiter showed up to take their order. Once he left, Adrian leaned back, met her eyes with a lazy smile.

  “So, Nell, what is your big news?”

  Nell told herself to ignore the way his voice seemed to slide over her name like a caress she could practically feel all over her body.

  “I’m thinking about buying San Juan Flights,” she said, willing her mind back to business.

  At the chorus of questions, she gave them an abbreviated version of her conversation with Tim, leaving out his health issues—if he had wanted people to know, he would have spread the word long before now.

  “Wow.” Ryan snagged a toy animal from the floor when Mellie began to cry, and she treated him with an angelic smile. “That’s huge. He does more business than you, right?”

  “He’s got several years on me. And, our tours are more custom, with service that can’t be beat,” retorted Nell, then held up her hands when everyone started to laugh. “Okay, okay. I know it’s not a competition, at least, anymore. Yes, he’s got a couple of two-seaters, a seaplane, a full time receptionist, and three pilots. And sometimes he’d take people out on his personal boat, which he’s throwing into the mix, too.”

  “How much time do you have to make a decision?” asked Amy, grabbing a breadstick as soon as they landed on the table. She let out a satisfied sigh. “So good. I’m starving.”