“It’s okay,” she said. “I don’t know why I wasted so much time on him in the first place. I ran into him a couple days ago and I realized he’s not a very likeable guy.”
Nora perked up in her seat. “So, you talked to him?”
Lily rolled her eyes.
“Yeah. For a few minutes outside the community building. I was surprised to see him, but I think I caught him off guard even more. He figured I would have moved away by now, I guess. Judging by his reaction, he was probably counting on it, hoping he’d never see me again.”
“Now, I’m sure that’s not true,” Nora tried to reassure her.
Lily shrugged and shoved another piece of cake into her mouth.
“You know, seeing him after all these years, I think it’s better things ended when they did. Otherwise, I might have ended up marrying him.”
Lily wrinkled her nose in disgust at the thought.
Chapter 5
His face was red, his eyebrows knit together apologetically.
“I sure am sorry, Lily.” He took his hat off and nervously ran a hand through his thinning hair, then placed the hat back on his head. “It completely slipped my mind.”
“It’s alright,” Lily reassured him. “There’s still plenty of time to get there, if we leave now.” But they had to leave right away. They were already running an hour later than planned. Lily, of course, had been right on time. She showed up at the dock early, even. And then she waited there for a half-hour. When Gus never showed up, she went looking for him. She’d found him at home, sitting outside on the deck, sipping a beer. “How many of those have you had?” she asked, pointing at the beer in his hand. They couldn’t waste another minute.
“Only one,” he answered indignantly, appalled she had the nerve to ask such a question. In defiance, he finished the beer, opened the cooler next to him, and pulled out another. Lily snatched it out of his hands before he had a chance to open it.
“Whether I drink another beer or not, young lady, there’s no way I can take you.” His voice had grown stern, and even though he still felt bad, all trace of apology was gone.
That’s when Lily realized she wasn’t going to win this argument. She reluctantly handed the beer back to him.
“Gus, I can’t believe you’re backing out on me at the last second. I scheduled this trip two months ago. I already paid for it.” Lily leaned against deck railing, flustered. She had to get to Hoonah by noon. How could he not recognize the situation he was putting her in? “You can’t just leave me hanging. People are waiting for me. I need to get there…”
“You don’t understand,” he said, talking over her now. “I really can’t take you. I would if I could, but I sold the business. I don’t have a plane anymore.”
Lily stopped mid-sentence, not sure she’d heard him correctly.
“You sold the business?”
“That’s what I said, isn’t it?” He popped open the bottle and took a long swig. “I’m retired now.” Lily heard a bit of satisfaction in his voice at his last statement.
“Well, who bought it?”
“Mason.” Gus grinned. “He’s back, you know.”
“Yeah, I know,” Lily said dryly.
That certainly put her in a bind. She absolutely needed to get to Hoonah. She was set to teach the drama workshop. More than a dozen people had already signed up and paid for the course. She couldn’t back out now, the day of the event. Not when they were expecting her in just a few hours.
But since Gus no longer owned a plane, Mason was the only one who could fly her there. Mason, the boy who broke her teenaged heart. The boy who had grown into a cold-hearted, bitter man. The man she’d been avoiding for the past week and a half. It hadn’t been easy. After she saw him in the pub, Lily made up her mind not to cross his path again, at least not if she could help it. She was successful only because she kept away from the south end of town where he lived and she spent most of her time at the community building working on the fall production.
“Don’t worry,” she heard Gus saying. “Mason will get you there. Contractually, he agreed to take over all of my scheduled flights.” He kept talking, but Lily barely heard him. He said something about Mason’s plans to expand the business, hiring another pilot. She didn’t catch the details. She was too preoccupied with the unsavory idea of spending part of the day with Mason.
“Fine,” she said, resigning herself to the fact that she would have to ask Mason to fly her there. The thought of spending nearly an hour in a cramped plane with Mason was not appealing. But there was nothing she could do about it.
Lily turned. As she walked away, she heard Gus holler at her, “I’ll call ahead and let him know you’re on your way.”
“Great,” she mumbled, reluctantly heading toward the air-taxi dock and debating whether she should call and cancel the workshop. In the end, she knew she couldn’t cancel. Too many people were counting on her. She wouldn’t let them down.
Mason was already at the dock, prepping the plane, when she arrived. As she approached, Lily plastered on a smile. She wasn’t going to let Mason know how much he’d hurt her all those years ago, and she certainly wasn’t going to let him see it still bothered her. So, she tried her best to sound friendly.
“You didn’t tell me you were a pilot,” she said as she approached him, the fake smile already beginning to make her cheeks sore.
He was crouched down, inspecting one of the floats on the plane. He looked up at her, but didn’t smile back. “It’s not like we sat down and had a catch-up session.”
“You’re right,” she said, finding it harder to maintain her smile. But she was determined to act her usual cheerful self. “I guess we’ll have plenty of time for that up in the air. How much longer before you’re ready to leave?”
“She’s fueled up and ready to go,” he said, standing up and wiping his hands off on a handkerchief.
“Great.” Lily smiled even more broadly, overcompensating for the awkwardness between them, and handed Mason one of her tote bags. It was filled with old props she planned to share with the Hoonah Drama Club, along with some scripts they’d be using for acting exercises.
Mason took the bag and loaded it into the cargo hold.
Lily stood there for a moment, waiting for Mason to open the door for her. When she realized he wasn’t going to bother helping her into the passenger seat, as Gus usually did, she climbed up into the cockpit on her own.
She watched through the window as Mason checked the door to make sure it was latched securely and then walked around to the other side of the plane. Before climbing in, he turned a little knob on the floor of the cockpit, pumped it a few times, and then turned it back into place. A second later, he was in the pilot’s seat, strapping on his seatbelt. He put on a headset and then turned to her. “You ready?”
Lily nodded her head, more enthusiastically than was necessary. She was overcompensating, she realized. Trying to prove to Mason, and to herself, that he didn’t still have an effect on her.
“Yep.” She grabbed the spare headset off the dash and put it on. The headset muffled the sound of the loud engine and enabled communication between the two of them. She heard him announce their departure over the radio as the plane pulled away from the dock, making its way out into the inlet. With a clear path ahead of them, the plane began to pick up speed, skidding along the surface of the water. They bounced along for a few seconds and then Mason pulled up and the floats lifted off from the water.
They sat in silence at first, as they climbed in altitude. Mason was so serious, Lily noticed, watching him pilot the aircraft. He checked the gauges, trimmed the flaps, and checked the gauges again. So intense.
It shouldn’t have surprised her. He always had been a bit serious-minded, even as kids. He was the studious type. A bit of an introvert. It took him longer to loosen up in a crowd. In that sense, they had complemented each other. Lily was an outgoing child. She still was, with her cheerful demeanor and positive attitude. She’d he
lped him come out of his shell. She didn’t let him sit on the sidelines. Together, they’d been a perfect match.
As Lily watched him, she reached the conclusion that if they’d stayed together, Mason might have grown into a different man. The intensity might have still been there, but Lily would have made sure he lightened up a little. She wouldn’t have let him always be so serious. Instead, he’d become stiff and reserved. Harsh.
“You need to loosen up.” She hadn’t meant to say it. Sure, she’d been thinking it, but she hadn’t intended to say it out loud. It was one of Lily’s bad habits, spitting words out before she had a chance to think them through.
Mason glanced over at her. “You need to take things more seriously.” Then he flashed a quick smile at her, almost apologetically. He didn’t want to be so uptight, but when he was around Lily everything out of his mouth sounded cross. “Sorry. I’m always a little tense on the ascent. Don’t know why,” he explained, trying to not to appear so bad-tempered.
A few minutes later, the plane leveled off and Mason loosened his grip on the controls, relaxed the tension in his shoulders.
“That’s better,” Lily said, leaning back in her seat and stretching her long legs out as far as she could in the cramped cockpit. If she could have, she would have propped her feet up on the dash. “Kick back and relax.”
“Someone has to fly the plane.”
“You call this flying?”
Mason shrugged.
“Think you could do better?”
He was smiling now, remembering how Lily always did put him at ease, no matter the situation.
“That sounded like a challenge.” She smiled easily back at him. For the first time that day, she didn’t have to force it. Mason noticed it, too. He’d known her well enough to be able to tell when she was genuine and when she was faking it. He was glad she was beginning to feel comfortable around him again, in spite of the fact that he’d been a complete and utter jerk to her when they ran into each other a week earlier.
Now, with Lily stretched out in the seat next to him, only inches away, their close proximity brought back memories of a time he’d tried so hard to forget, of the girl he never stopped thinking about. She still looked as beautiful as the 17-year-old girl he remembered. Except now, there weren’t tears in her eyes. She’d moved on, and that was a good thing. Wasn’t that the whole point, anyway? His parents had wanted them to grow up and pursue their dreams instead of making the mistake of getting married too young. It would have been a mistake, he’d told himself so many times over the years. But seeing her there, stretched out beside him in the plane, he wasn’t so sure.
She was wearing a pretty flowing skirt with a slit in the side that exposed a glimpse of her gorgeous long legs. The feeling in the pit of his stomach at the sight of her pale skin caught him off guard. He’d worked so hard to push those feelings aside. And in an instant, they all came back. He remembered lying with her beside the shoreline, staring up at the sky, hand in hand, dreaming about their future. He recalled the way her smile lit up her eyes when she looked at him. And he remembered the way she made him feel like he was the only man on the planet. He’d never felt that way before… or since.
Mason forced his attention back to the task of flying, checking the instruments and making sure they were still on track. It took a great deal of effort and wasn’t entirely successful. His eyes kept straying back to the sliver of skin peeking out through the slit in her skirt. If he remembered correctly, there was a small birthmark just a few inches higher on her thigh. He wanted to reach over and pull the skirt up just a bit to see if he was right, but he resisted the urge. It would be ridiculous to think they could pick right back up where they’d left off. Too many years had passed. He wasn’t the same person. Neither of them were the same.
When Lily shifted in her seat a moment later, the glimpse of skin disappeared from view. It was a good thing, too. Mason needed to focus on flying, and with that distraction gone, he was able to turn his attention back to the instrument panel.
The flight would be short. Although Hoonah was a four hour boat ride, it was only about 30 miles away by air. There was barely enough time to ascend to an appropriate altitude before they’d begin their descent into Port Frederick. They were already halfway there.
Involuntarily, Mason tapped his fingers on his knee to the beat of a song in his head. He’d always done that, Lily recalled. She used to think it was cute. It still was.
Maybe he wasn’t such a stiff, after all. There were still traces of that boy in the man beside her. For a moment, Lily forgot about all the years that had passed. It felt like the old times.
“What song is that?”
“What do you mean?” He looked over at her questioningly.
“The one in your head,” she said, grinning at him. “You’re tapping your fingers to something.”
His fingers stopped tapping his leg. “Sorry. I didn’t realize. Is it bugging you?”
Lily chuckled and shook her head. “Not at all. So what song is it?”
“Bob Marley,” he said. “No Woman, No Cry. It’s been stuck in my head for the past three days.”
“Good song.”
“Yeah, it is.”
She turned a little in her seat, leaning against the door, so she could get a better look at him. His eyes were focused on the horizon, his brows knit in concentration.
“So, what have you been up to all these years,” she finally asked.
He glanced over at her briefly. “Air Force.”
“The entire time? You’ve been gone for ten years.”
“Finished high school. Went to the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, then Undergraduate Flight Training. Learned how to fly. Did a tour overseas. Decided I’d had enough. Got back a little less than a year ago. Spent some time in Anchorage. Now I’m here.”
His answer was brief. He offered no details.
“Careful. You might talk my ear off.”
Mason glanced over at her again.
“Sorry.”
“Must be tiring.”
“What?”
“Constantly apologizing.”
“I don’t…”
“Yes, you do,” Lily interrupted. “You take piloting seriously. There’s nothing wrong with that. But when I mentioned it, you immediately apologized. And then when I asked what you’ve been up to, you answered. You didn’t give a lot of information, but you answered. So why are you apologizing to me?”
Mason thought about it for a second. “You know, it’s not a bad thing to admit when you’re wrong.”
“You’re right. But don’t apologize for being yourself. You’re a private person. It’s who you are. You shouldn’t apologize for it.”
“I thought you always wanted me to be more open.”
“I did… I do. But if you keep on apologizing for being yourself, eventually you’re going to really believe there’s something wrong with you.”
“So I should stop saying I’m sorry.”
“No.” Lily sighed. “Absolutely say you’re sorry if you’ve done something wrong. But don’t think you need to apologize for not being as talkative as me.”
“You know, Lily, you’ve changed a lot since we were kids. But in some ways you’re exactly the same.”
She smiled at him. “How so?”
“I still don’t understand what you want,” he answered, shaking his head. “You’ve got to be the most confusing woman I’ve ever met.”
“Good,” she laughed. “And I’m not the slightest bit sorry about it.”
Mason laughed, too. Without even realizing it, he was loosening up around Lily again. It came naturally. He didn’t feel the least bit uncomfortable, Mason realized.
He looked over at Lily. Her lips were still turned up at the edges in a smile, but her eyes were closed and she rested her head on the back of the seat. She looked beautiful, content.
“Hey,” he said, breaking the silence. “I know I came off as a bit of a jerk the othe
r day when we ran into each other.”
“You did,” Lily agreed. She didn’t sound upset about it, though.
“Well, I’m sorry. I know I’m not supposed to apologize anymore, but I really am sorry.”
Lily smiled pensively. “You should be sorry,” she said. “And so should I.” She looked him straight in the eye, wanting him to see she was sincere. “I was wrong to judge you after talking to you for just a few minutes. I misjudged you and I’m sorry.”
“I wouldn’t say you misjudged me,” Mason said. “You were right. I’m not the same person I was. But I’m trying to fix that.”
“I know.”
She’d already seen the pride he took in his plane. Gus had told her the plans Mason had for the air-taxi business. It was clear he was trying to build a better life for himself.
Spontaneously, Lily reached out and touched Mason’s hand. She’d only meant to offer a bit of encouragement, to let him know she believed in him. But when he took her hand and held it, a spark of excitement coursed through Lily’s body. He still had the power to set her body on fire, to ignite something inside of her that had long laid dormant. Her heart raced with anticipation… only to be disappointed a few seconds later when Mason lightly squeezed her hand and then let go.
His hand went back to the controls.
He’d felt it, too. The flash of heat deep in his core at the slightest touch. It was too much for him, at least for now. And so he returned his attention to the plane.
Lily’s hand felt cold at the absence of his touch. Maybe she’d misread the situation. Maybe she was the only one who felt anything when they touched for that brief moment.
Unsure of how to resume conversation, Lily decided to ask Mason about his family. She was curious what had become of them. She knew his parents were still in Anchorage, but she hadn’t heard anything about Dalton’s whereabouts.
“Does Dalton fly, too?” she asked.
Instantly, Mason’s jaw clenched tight and Lily knew she’d said the wrong thing.
“No,” he said, looking away from her. He focused his attention out the pilot-side window in an attempt to hide the pain, and the shame, he felt. “Dalton’s dead.”
Sky High (Alaskan Frontier Romance Book 2) Page 5
