A Wing And A Prayer: Truly Yours Digital Edition (Truly Yours Digital Editions)

by Tracie Peterson

  Brad smiled. “Yes, on the picnic. I know a terrific place, and I think you’ll love it.”

  CJ contemplated the idea for a moment. She had enjoyed Brad’s company. What harm could there be in a picnic? “All right,” she finally answered. “It sounds like fun.”

  “Great. Where can I pick you up?”

  “I’ll meet you in the lobby.” CJ wasn’t yet ready to reveal her address to Brad.

  “Okay, let’s say eleven?”

  “Eleven is good for me.” CJ waited for Brad to open the balcony door. “Thank you for dinner. It was some of the best lasagna I’ve ever had.”

  “Mrs. Davis is a woman of many talents. It also helps that she comes from a long line of Italian cooks. I’ll have her make us a special dessert for tomorrow,” Brad said, walking CJ to the suite’s double doors.

  “Sounds wonderful,” CJ admitted.

  Brad walked her to the elevator, then lifted her hand to his lips and lightly kissed her fingers. “Until tomorrow, then,” he whispered.

  CJ wanted to say something, but the words wouldn’t come. She felt strange emotions return. Frantically, she searched for something that wouldn’t sound awkward. Instead, the elevator doors opened and she found herself stepping inside without a word to Brad. The look on his face told her that he understood…maybe too much.

  three

  The following morning, CJ found Cheryl more than a little amused at having mistaken Brad for a maintenance man.

  “I suppose I should be embarrassed at all the things I said to him about the poor management and such. But in truth, I’d have probably said those things even if I’d known,” Cheryl admitted.

  “No doubt,” CJ laughed, playing with the handle of her coffee cup.

  Cheryl looked through her calendar of events. “Now don’t get so wrapped up in Brad that you forget about your dress fitting. I don’t want my maid of honor looking shabby on the happiest day of my life.”

  “I won’t forget,” CJ assured her friend. “Now remind me where it is I’m supposed to go.”

  “Designs By Christy.” Cheryl pulled out a piece of paper and jotted down the address while CJ looked at her watch for the tenth time.

  “Relax. It takes only five minutes to get down to the lobby,” Cheryl teased, handing the address to CJ. “And I’m sure he’ll wait…even if you’re late.”

  CJ stuffed the piece of paper into the back pocket of her jeans. “Do you think I look okay?” she suddenly asked, surprising both Cheryl and herself.

  “You look smashing!” Cheryl said, feigning a British accent. “Jolly good, I say. Just like the good old days.”

  CJ nodded seriously. “I’ve missed them. When you went to Europe and Curt moved away, I thought I’d go crazy.”

  It was Cheryl’s turn to sober at the mention of CJ’s brother. “How is Curt?”

  CJ shrugged her shoulders. “Beats me. I hardly ever heard from him after you two broke off your engagement. He never calls. Never writes. I suppose someday I’ll pick up a newspaper and read that he’s won a Nobel prize or something. I’d be the last to know.”

  “Where’s he living now?”

  “Florida,” CJ replied. “At least he was still there a month ago. I never find out anything until he’s already relocated. He’s lived in seven different places in the last five years.”

  “The accident was hard on him. It was the end of your close-knit family,” Cheryl remembered. “It was the end of our relationship, as well.”

  CJ nodded. “Mind if we change the subject?”

  “Nope. Besides, if my watch is right, you have just a few minutes to get downstairs and meet Mr. Hotel. Or should I say Prince Charming?”

  CJ stuck her tongue out in feigned disgust. “I’m going to go comb my hair or whatever you do with it. I’m still not sure why I ever let you talk me into getting it curled.”

  “Because you needed the change,” Cheryl said firmly. “You’ve been stuck in a rut for five years, and if I have anything to say about it, you won’t be stuck there much longer.”

  “Well, changing my hair is one thing,” CJ replied, heading for the bathroom. “Rearranging my life is totally different.” She glanced at the bathroom door handle and smiled. “Totally different.”

  Downstairs in the lobby, Brad was already pacing back and forth when CJ stepped off the elevator. He was dressed casu- ally and holding a wicker basket.

  “You look great,” Brad said and added, “I hope you’re hungry.”

  “Starved,” CJ confessed. “You’ll think all I ever do is eat.”

  “Not with a figure like yours,” Brad answered, casting CJ an appreciative once-over. He directed her out the front door, where a Jeep stood ready and waiting. “Ownership has its privileges.” Brad grinned and opened the car door for her.

  “Where to?” CJ asked.

  “It’s a surprise,” Brad announced and started the Jeep.

  CJ realized she’d not get anything more out of him and decided, instead, to sit back and enjoy their drive. She loved Denver and lost her thoughts in the passing city streets.

  “You haven’t heard a word I’ve said,” Brad proclaimed, startling CJ. With an embarrassed nod, she admitted that he’d caught her daydreaming.

  “Sorry,” she offered. “I got a little caught up in memories.”

  “Why don’t you share them with me?” Brad suggested.

  “I’d only bore you.”

  “Hardly,” Brad replied. “I want to know everything about you.”

  “Why?”

  “You’re a unique woman and I want to get all the details…the scoop, so to speak.”

  CJ laughed. “It won’t stop the presses, I assure you. I’m just a nobody.”

  “I’m just a nobody,” Brad mimicked. “You’ve lived a lifetime of events, no doubt, following your father and mother around the world. You’re no ordinary woman, CJ. You’re Doug O’Sullivan’s daughter.”

  CJ turned to size Brad up with a frown. “Is that all you care about? Is that all I represent…the daughter of your dead hero?” She hadn’t meant to be so frank, but she reasoned it was better to be honest than hide her feelings.

  “I’m sorry,” Brad began, “that was rather callous and rude. I didn’t mean it that way, I assure you. I just figured that you must have experienced a lot in your life because of the life your father lived. Maybe you didn’t. Maybe you stayed home, safe and sound with a nanny, or perhaps you were tucked away in boarding school.”

  CJ smiled and instantly forgave him the indiscretion. “No such luck. I’m guilty of the gypsy lifestyle you purport me to have lived.”

  “You sound like it was an awful thing.”

  “I guess in some ways it was. I never knew where we’d be from one week to the next. Oh, I’m sure someone had that all mapped out, but I didn’t know about it.”

  “What did you do about school?”

  “My mother home-schooled me. I never saw the inside of a classroom until I was grown.” The tightening in her stomach made CJ wish Brad would change the subject.

  Brad didn’t sense that anything was amiss and continued to quiz her. “What was your first memory of childhood? I mean, do you have one thing that sticks out in your mind above the rest?”

  “I suppose I do.” CJ remembered flying with her father and forced the image away.

  “Well?” Brad pushed for an answer.

  Just then, as if to rescue her from having to speak, Brad screeched on the brakes to avoid running a red light. CJ was amused to find his arm shoot out in front of her, as if to offer her additional protection.

  “Whew! That was a close one,” he sighed. “I guess I should do less talking and more driving.”

  “This isn’t a town to fall asleep at the wheel in,” CJ quickly answered. “I remember once…” The words tumbled out over themselves as CJ recalled some insignificant near miss. She was grateful to avoid thinking of her parents and hoped to keep Brad’s mind occupied with other stories. Maybe he’d forget ab
out Doug O’Sullivan and the fact that his only daughter was sitting beside him on the way to a picnic. Maybe, but not likely.

  They drove slowly through the city until they were able to catch Interstate 25 north, and then the pace picked up dramatically. CJ forgot to pay attention to the surrounding scenery as Brad broke into a story about one of his resort hotels.

  “You wouldn’t believe the things people take back home with them. We leave the complimentary stationery, pens, coffee, and tea. We even anticipate the cheating that goes on with the wet bar and snacks. We bill them after the fact, but we always anticipate the possibility of it happening.”

  CJ laughed. “But I take it this involved something much bigger.”

  “You might say that,” Brad replied dryly. “This particular time they took a huge, cherry highboy. The thing weighed enough to require two grown men to move it, and when I finally caught up with the thief, I found myself face-to-face with a sixty-year-old woman who told me she simply had to have it.”

  CJ couldn’t suppress a giggle. “What was her reason for that?”

  Brad shrugged and rolled his eyes. “She said it matched her own bedroom furniture and she’d looked all over for one.”

  CJ broke into a hearty laugh. “How did she ever get it out of the hotel unobserved?”

  “She waited until two in the morning, and then, with the help of some hired hands, moved it down the service elevator and out into a waiting truck. After that, we card coded all the service elevators.”

  “Did you let her keep it?” CJ couldn’t resist asking.

  “Yeah,” Brad said with a nod. “For thirty-six hundred dollars.” At this, they both laughed until CJ felt tears come to her eyes. She hadn’t even realized they’d left the interstate until Brad stopped the car and jumped out.

  “Well, we’re here. Now, don’t look up until I help you out,” he pleaded, his earnestness reminding CJ of a little boy who’d prepared a special surprise.

  CJ pulled her compact out of her purse and cast a quick glance at her hair. Deciding it was still presentable, she waited for Brad to open the door.

  Lord, she prayed silently, don’t let him bring up the subject of Mom and Dad again. I just can’t deal with it right now. She breathed an “Amen” and tucked her purse under the seat.

  Brad opened the door and offered CJ a hand out. Her eyes met his, and a moment of weakness washed over her at his expression. How could anyone look at her so tenderly, so…well, almost like he could see clear to her soul?

  “Still hungry?” he asked, and his voice was barely a whisper.

  CJ could hardly force herself to speak. What was wrong with her? “Yes,” she finally answered. “Did Mrs. Davis make dessert?”

  “You bet she did,” Brad smiled. “I know you’re starving, but I’d like to show you something first. It’s the reason I brought you here.”

  CJ realized for the first time that she had no idea where “here” really was. Looking around her, she felt a feeling of dread begin to seep in.

  “What do you think?” Brad questioned. “I live over there,” he continued, without waiting for her answer. “But my hangar is back here. That’s where I keep my vintage biplanes. Of course, I keep a twin-engine Beech closer to the house because

  I use it so often. Isn’t this place great?” Brad was too absorbed in the moment to notice CJ’s reaction. “You can very nearly taxi right up to the front door. I’ll bet your dad would have loved coming home to a place like this.”

  His words trailed off in her mind. CJ felt her stomach tighten. The sound of a Cessna 180 coming in for a landing behind them made her head swim with memories. Bile rose in the back of her throat.

  Brad watched the color drain from her face. “CJ? Are you all right? CJ?”

  The plane’s wheels touching down, the engine’s tireless droning, and the ominous realization that she stood in the middle of an airfield were suddenly too much for CJ.

  Slapping Brad’s arm away from her, she began to walk away.

  “CJ? What is it?” she heard him call behind her.

  She looked around her and realized that the posh airstrip had been designed to allow pilots to live in-residence where they could simply get into their airplanes for transportation, like normal folks would their cars.

  “No!” she exclaimed, shaking her head. Memories of another time were everywhere. No matter where she turned, CJ faced the things she’d avoided for the last five years. Her steps increased to a run, and she lost all reasoning.

  “No! No! No!” she sobbed and ran in the only direction that seemed void of life.

  “CJ!” Brad easily caught up to her and whirled her around to face him.

  “No!” she exclaimed and pushed away from the shock-faced man. Instantly she brought her hands to her ears, hoping to block out the sounds.

  “CJ, stop. Tell me what’s wrong. Talk to me!” Brad demanded, pulling her arms down.

  CJ felt her knees give way. She collapsed in a heap on the ground with Brad still firmly gripping her arms. She buried her face in her hands and cried uncontrollably.

  Brad could only stare in amazement for a moment. What had happened?

  Reaching down, Brad gently lifted the crying woman into his arms. He cradled her against him as he might a small child and tried to soothe the obvious heartache.

  “Shhh,” he whispered against her ear. “It’s all right. I’m here, CJ; just tell me how I can help you.”

  CJ gasped for air. She could feel herself growing faint. “Take… me…home,” she pleaded and fell back against his arms in unconscious blackness.

  four

  CJ fought her way through the endless mire that held her captive. When she finally opened her eyes, she found Brad’s concerned face hovering over her. His green eyes were intent on her every move.

  For a moment, CJ couldn’t remember what had happened. Then everything came rushing back at once. Brad was still holding her tightly, as if he were afraid of what might happen if he let her go.

  CJ couldn’t think of anything to say and so she said nothing. It was Brad who finally broke the tense silence.

  “You want to tell me about it?” he questioned gently.

  CJ stared blankly for a moment, then shook her head. “No,” she whispered. “I just want to go home. I need to be alone.”

  “I don’t think that would be wise,” Brad said. Tenderly he put her in the Jeep, even fastening her seat belt before standing back. “I don’t know what’s going on with you, but I’m not about to let you go off by yourself. We may not be that close of friends, but I wouldn’t let a total stranger wander off alone after a scene like I just witnessed.”

  He came around and got in the Jeep, causing CJ to turn her tear-streaked face to the window.

  “Does this kind of thing happen all the time?” he asked, starting the Jeep.

  Silence met his concern.

  “CJ, I’m not the type to give up. You might as well talk to me and get it over with. Besides, maybe I can help.”

  Still, CJ refused to respond. She stared in silence out the window, looking beyond the airfield to the distant Rockies. “I lift up my eyes to the hills,” the psalmist had said. Now CJ found herself doing that very thing…the same thing she’d done a million times before.

  Brad drove back to the hotel in dejected silence. He wanted so much to help the troubled young woman, yet she kept a wall of protection firmly in place between them. What was it that troubled her so? When they’d first met, it was the claustrophobia and now this incident at the airstrip. What was grieving her so that she was given to these bizarre episodes?

  Brad drove the Jeep under the archway and parked in the same place as before. Without a word, he turned off the engine and came around to help CJ out of the vehicle.

  “Come on,” he said firmly. “I’m taking you upstairs to Miss Fair-child. I don’t think you’re in any condition to drive yourself home.”

  CJ wanted to protest, but in truth she couldn’t find the energy for
it. “Brad,” she finally managed to speak.

  Brad stopped and looked down. CJ refused to look at him and instead lowered her gaze to the patterned carpet of the hotel’s lobby.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be,” he replied. “Just know that I’m here and I’ll be happy to listen whenever you’re ready to talk.”

  Upstairs, Brad knocked loudly on the door to 618 and prayed silently that Cheryl Fairchild would answer. Cheryl pulled open the door in a burst of energy and enthusiasm. Her face, however, dropped the animated look when she caught sight of Brad’s worried expression and CJ’s lack of color.

  “What happened?” she questioned, taking hold of CJ pos- sessively. She eyed Brad suspiciously over CJ’s bent head.

  Brad shrugged his shoulders with a look of pure confusion on his face. “I wish I knew,” he answered. “I think you should put her to bed, though. She’s not in any shape to drive.”

  Cheryl nodded. “You wait here, Mr. Aldersson. I’ll be right back.”

  Brad paced the room nervously while waiting for Cheryl to return. He went over every detail of his actions and couldn’t begin to figure where things had gone wrong. When Cheryl came through the door and closed it firmly behind her, Brad urgently asked, “Is she all right?”

  Cheryl nodded. “I managed to get enough out of her to figure out what happened. Why don’t we sit down and talk?”

  “I’d love to,” Brad replied. “I have to know what I did wrong.”

  “It has nothing to do with you.” Cheryl took a seat on the sofa and waited for him to join her. “In fact, if CJ hadn’t agreed to my telling you, I wouldn’t be talking to you now. She’s a very introverted, private person. She always has been, but even more so after the accident.”

  “Telling me what? What accident?” Brad questioned.

  “The crash that took her parents’ lives.”

  “I never thought about it,” Brad admitted. “Do you mean to tell me that she still isn’t over it? Was it the airfield that upset her so much?”

  Cheryl nodded. “CJ’s never been the same. Even though the crash took place five years ago, she can’t talk about it and she can’t handle anything to do with flying.”