Rebel Pilot Texas Ranger

by Eve Gaddy

  Still, the game room was a work of art. The room was massive. Besides the poker table, there was a monster flat-screen TV with leather couches and chairs placed strategically for prime viewing, a state of the art surround sound system with a few of Levi’s inventions added to make it one of a kind, an antique pool table to rival the Kellys’ masterpiece, and a fully stocked bar. There was even a dartboard. Levi liked to work out the kinks in some of his inventions while throwing darts.

  Even though Travis was not in a sociable mood, he forced himself to go. Otherwise he’d have sat home and brooded, and nothing was more pathetic than a grown man moping around over a woman. It was a reasonably large group this time. Levi, Zack, Nathan, Harlan, Xander Blue, Trey Kelly, and a couple of subs Harlan worked with were all there.

  The old saying, lucky in cards, unlucky in love, applied tonight. Travis couldn’t lose. He finally quit, three hundred bucks richer. The rest of the guys razzed him, wanting a chance to get their money back, but Travis was firm. “Sorry. I’m flying tomorrow.”

  “I’m out too,” Nathan said. “I’ll see you in the morning, Travis. Thanks, Levi.”

  “Glad you could come.” Levi waved them both out.

  “Deal me out,” Harlan said and followed Travis.

  “Travis, wait up,” Harlan said.

  Travis sighed and stopped before getting in his car. Damn, he didn’t want to talk to his brother. Harlan still didn’t know he and Tobi had broken up. Unless Savannah had heard and told him. “What?”

  “I heard about you and Tobi. Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine. You know what they say. Easy come, easy go.”

  “You don’t look fine,” his brother said bluntly. “In fact, you look like shit.”

  “Thanks. How about you mind your own damn business?”

  Harlan grinned. “Sorry, can’t do it. Why did I have to find out about you two from Laurel?”

  “How did Laurel know?”

  “Beats the hell out of me. You know the grapevine in Whiskey River. Seriously, Travis, what’s going on?”

  Travis stared at Harlan, then shrugged. “Tobi broke it off.”

  Harlan waited a minute then said, “Because of her plane crash?”

  Travis had told Harlan that they’d been right about a plane crash. “She says she can’t live with my job.”

  “Damn, that sucks.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “There’s nothing I can do. Except quit flying.”

  “That’s no solution. Did she ask you to quit?”

  “No. In fact, she told me not to even think about it. She said she didn’t want to be the cause of me not doing something I love.”

  “She’s right, you know. If you quit because of her you’d come to resent her.”

  “Maybe. But if I don’t, then I can’t have Tobi.”

  “Has she had any counseling?”

  “She says she had it twice. Her exact words were, ‘it didn’t take.’”

  “There’s no way she can learn to live with you flying?”

  “I don’t think so. No, actually, she doesn’t think so.” Which was worse. Because if Tobi didn’t think she could come to terms with him flying, then it wouldn’t happen.

  “And you can’t quit.”

  He shrugged and leaned back against his truck door, hands in pockets. “Say I did. What the hell am I supposed to do for a living? Flying is all I know. It’s all I ever wanted to know after my baseball career went down the tubes.”

  Harlan put his hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “I’m sorry, Travis.”

  “Yeah, me too. Look, I don’t want to talk about it anymore. It just makes me depressed.”

  “Okay. But if you want to talk or even if you don’t, give me a call.”

  “I will.”

  But he wouldn’t. Because talking didn’t help. He couldn’t think of anything that would.

  *

  Tobi spent the next week castigating herself. And stopping herself from calling Travis and begging him to…to what? Take her back? Not when she couldn’t deal with his profession. She wanted to. But she didn’t know how.

  Tobi was in the middle of seeing a patient with a persistent cough when her cell phone buzzed. She kept it in her pocket on silent so she could answer it if necessary between patients. It buzzed several more times, which she ignored, but she started to worry.

  As she was finishing up the receptionist came in. “Dr. Robinson, your mother is on the line. She says it’s urgent.”

  Her mother? “Sorry, I have to take this,” she said to her patient. “Karen will finish up for me.”

  Tobi went to the office and picked up the landline. “Mom? What’s wrong?”

  Her mother burst into tears. Her mother, the calmest, most even-keeled, stoic person she’d ever known was crying so hard Tobi couldn’t understand her.

  “Mom, slow down. Take a breath. I can’t understand you.”

  Tobi heard her take a shaky breath. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I don’t know what to do.”

  “What happened? Are you all right? Is it Dad?”

  “Your father had a heart attack. He’s in the hospital. Oh, Tobi, they aren’t sure he’s going to make it.”

  For a moment she froze, holding the phone. Then her training took over. “Which hospital?” Her mother mentioned Taos’s main hospital. “Have they stabilized him?”

  Her mom was crying again and completely unintelligible. “Mom, let me talk to one of the nurses.”

  Thankfully, the nurse who answered knew something about what was going on. Tobi learned her father was in the ICU and critical, but that was as far as her knowledge went. After leaving her cell number and asking the cardiologist to call her when he could, she spoke to her mother again.

  “I’ll be there as soon as I can. He’s in the Cardiac ICU, which is exactly where he needs to be. I’ll call you when I find out more details.”

  She would have to fly. She had no choice if she wanted to get there as quickly as possible. She asked Karen to call the other doctors and see if one of them could take over for her. Then she got on the Internet to find the quickest way to get to Taos from Whiskey River.

  There was no quick way. Between having to drive to Austin, San Antonio, Houston, or Dallas, catch a flight to Albuquerque, then drive to Taos, she wouldn’t get there until the next morning, and that was if she was lucky.

  Lucky. She’d have to board him. Unless she could find a dog sitter and she didn’t have time to search all over for one. And her house. The fence was up but the renovation of the house was just getting started. She’d have to call Harlan and ask him to put everything on hold until she could sort things out.

  She had one other option. She could ask Travis to fly her there. He’d do it, she knew. And she’d have to suck it up, conquer her fear and fly in a private plane to Taos. Through the mountains.

  She could hardly think of a worse scenario. But if she had to fly, and she did, then she had to trust Travis to get her there safely. Unless he already had a client.

  She dialed his number. He answered with, “Tobi?”

  “Yes, it’s me. I need your help.”

  “Name it.”

  “Can you fly me to Taos? As quickly as possible?”

  He was silent for a long moment. “You want me to fly you to Taos?”

  “Yes. My father had a heart attack and I need to get there quickly. Can you do it?”

  “The jet’s having maintenance. It won’t be ready until tomorrow. But I can take you in my plane.”

  “That’s fine. When can we leave?”

  “Half an hour.”

  “It will take me a little longer. I have to take Lucky to the kennel.”

  “I’ll see you when I see you. Tobi? Are you sure you can do this?”

  “I don’t have a choice. My father might not make it. My mother needs me.”

  “Do you have any anti-anxiety medicine?”

  “I co
uld get some but I can’t afford to be out of it when I get there.”

  “I can drive you to the hospital.”

  “Thank you. But I still need to be alert and aware. My mom—oh, Travis, she’s a mess. I’ve never heard her like this. I couldn’t even understand her, she was crying so hard.”

  “Whatever you think is best then. I’ll see you soon.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Travis knew Tobi would show up. It was how she would react after she arrived that worried him. Tobi had always been close to her parents and he suspected that hadn’t changed. So she would show, even if it killed her.

  Tobi arrived with a small suitcase and a backpack. She wore jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, and had a jacket over her arm. She looked normal, from a distance. Up close she made him want to take her in his arms and comfort her. But that wasn’t what she needed right now. She needed matter-of-fact, no-nonsense. Get in the plane and let’s go.

  He’d already discussed the flight plan with her. They would fly to Santa Fe and then go up the valley to Taos, avoiding flying over the mountains. It would take a little longer than flying directly to Taos, but she wouldn’t have to fly over mountains. And since thanks to Mrs. A he knew her crash had occurred in the mountains, that seemed like the best plan to him.

  “Hey,” he said, taking her bag. “Did you get Lucky taken care of?”

  “He’s at the vet. They have a kennel, you know.”

  He hadn’t known but it made sense. “I can take care of him when I come back, assuming you’re going to stay.”

  “Thank you, but I don’t know how long I’ll need to be there. And you can’t keep him at your apartment.”

  “I’ll keep him at your house.” He stowed the bag, then her backpack and started to hand her in.

  “That’s very sweet of you. And, Travis—” she put her hand on his arm and squeezed “—I can’t thank you enough for doing this. I don’t know when I’d have gotten there if I’d had to fly commercial. Driving would get me there sooner.”

  “It’s a long drive.” She was still hesitating to get in. “Tobi, we can’t leave until you get in.”

  She took a deep breath and blew it out. “Right.” She climbed inside to the copilot’s seat.

  Travis went around to the pilot’s side and got in. He put on his headset and gave Tobi hers. He gave her the required passenger briefing, but didn’t think she heard a word. She white-knuckled it through takeoff. “You okay?” he asked once the plane had leveled out.

  She nodded. Travis pointed out some of the controls, hoping it would give her something to think about other than the actual flight. After that he put on some soothing music, figuring it might help her relax. He reached over and patted her knee. “We should be there in less than three hours, depending on the winds. Did you get any more information about your dad?”

  “Yes. I talked to my mother again and he definitely had a heart attack. She said they did a coronary arteriogram. He needs an angioplasty and a stent. They had just come to take him when I talked to her. He should be back in the Cardiac ICU by the time we get there.” She was quiet a minute. “I’ve never heard my mother so upset. She’s always so calm and collected. Even in emergencies, she was always the rock. But this has really thrown her.”

  “Your parents have been married a long time, haven’t they?”

  “Thirty-five years. Their anniversary is in a couple of weeks.” She looked out the window. “I worked in an ER for seven years, off and on. I know how to handle a crisis. But it’s different when it’s someone you love. When it’s your family.”

  “Of course it is. The people in the ER are strangers. This is your father we’re talking about.” He glanced at her and added, “You’re doing great.”

  “I’m all right now. I don’t want to throw up. At the moment, anyway. At least this way we don’t fly over the mountains.”

  He still didn’t know details, but he didn’t ask her to explain. If she wanted to talk, she would. “We’re about to hit some turbulence.”

  “Thanks for the warning.”

  It wasn’t a bad spot, thank God. He looked at Tobi again, but other than being a little paler, she looked okay.

  “Do you ever wonder why I went into medicine?”

  “You said it was because you volunteered at a hospital and liked it.”

  “That’s true to a certain extent but it wasn’t the motivating factor.”

  “What was?”

  “The plane crash.”

  He glanced at her but her gaze was averted. “How so?”

  Tobi sighed. Her hands clenched and unclenched in her lap. “Remember that picture you saw of my friend? The one I said died? My first roommate in college was a girl named Shannon. Shannon Waverley. We became best friends almost immediately, even though on the face of it we didn’t have a lot in common. Shannon was from a well-to-do family. Coming from the Barrels, I expected her to be a snob, but she wasn’t. Not at all. Shannon accepted people for who they were. She couldn’t have cared less about money and society, or anything like that.”

  Whatever had happened, there was no happy ending. And clearly Shannon and the crash were tied together somehow. But he remained silent and let her go on.

  “We visited each other over holidays—I’d bring her home with me or we’d go to her parents’ place. We roomed together again our sophomore year.”

  “That’s when you changed your major.”

  “Yes, but not immediately. Not until…after.” She looked at him and he could see tears threatening but she held it together. “Some of Shannon’s friends were going skiing over spring break. One of the boys’ families had a private plane and they offered to fly several of us to Vail. We were going to stay at the same boy’s condo. His name was Keith.”

  And here it was. A private plane in the mountains. During a snowstorm? He’d never heard her tell the story. That made it different. Personal. “What happened?”

  “Getting there was fine. On our way home we ran into some weather. A snowstorm. I don’t know what happened. There was turbulence. The pilot said not to worry. There wasn’t a copilot. We started losing altitude. The pilot was on the radio yelling Mayday. That’s all I remember before we crashed in the mountains. I was the only survivor.”

  Travis took her hand. “I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine how bad that must have been for you.”

  She nodded. “But that’s not the whole story. Shannon and Keith survived the actual crash. Everyone else died on impact. But…we were in a remote place and the same storm that brought us down hadn’t let up. They didn’t find us for hours. By then both Shannon and Keith had died from their injuries.”

  “But you survived. Thank God.”

  *

  “Yes, I survived,” Tobi said. And had suffered survivor’s guilt ever since. After the crash she’d had therapy, and again a few years later, but no amount of therapy could assuage her regrets. “Why did I survive but they didn’t? Why was I the only one to survive?” She closed her eyes. “Every once in a while I’ll have the nightmare. The same one I had for months afterward. I’m trying to help, trying to stop the bleeding, to keep them warm. No matter what I do, though, they still die.” She looked at him. “I couldn’t save them. They’re dead. I thought I’d die too. But I didn’t. The rescue team found us in time to save me.”

  “That’s an awfully heavy load to carry. But why are you blaming yourself?”

  “I’m not.” But she did blame herself, no matter how much she denied it. The crash hadn’t been her fault. Why did she feel so responsible for her friends’ deaths?

  “Sure as hell sounds like you are.”

  “The doctors told me later that there was nothing I could have done to save them. Even if help had come sooner they would have died. He said their injuries were too severe.”

  “But you didn’t believe him,” Travis said.

  “No. At the time I didn’t. I thought he was only trying to make me feel better. I still wonder what the truth was. Maybe if
I’d had medical training I could have saved them. But I didn’t. And so they died. Shannon—” she fought back tears “—Shannon died in my arms.”

  He patted her leg again. It felt oddly soothing.

  “I’m so sorry.”

  She nodded, trying to gain control.

  “How badly were you injured?”

  “Pretty bad. I had a broken leg, a broken arm, some broken ribs. And a concussion. But they were all things I knew would heal.”

  “It must have been hell trying to help your friends with all your injuries.”

  She shrugged. “It was hard. But I lived. They didn’t.”

  “This is why you went into medicine.”

  “Yes. And why I worked in the ER for so many years. It’s been a little strange working in Whiskey River at the clinic. Severe injuries go to the hospital. Unless there’s no time to get them there.”

  “Why are you telling me all this now, Tobi?”

  Why was she? She’d never told anyone other than her parents and her therapists the details of what had happened. But she thought Travis deserved to know. “I want you to understand why I have such a problem with flying. With you flying.”

  “I knew that before you told me the details. It’s not surprising that a person who was the only survivor of an airplane crash would have issues with flying.”

  “You don’t understand. It isn’t just that.”

  He waited but she didn’t elaborate. “Explain it to me, then.”

  “Shannon was my best friend. I’d never been close to girls before. I don’t know why but in high school I had you, Zack, and Levi. And that was enough. The girls didn’t dislike me, I don’t think. And I didn’t dislike them. We just never had much in common. I had acquaintances, but never a best girlfriend.”

  “Until Shannon. Yet you said you and Shannon had nothing in common either.”

  “Not on the face of it. But we clicked. Isn’t that what happened with you, Zack and Levi?”

  Travis grinned. “Not exactly. We met in grade school. The three of us got in a fight and were sent to the principal. Nobody would rat on who started it. Zack and I got suspended and grounded. Levi didn’t get grounded but you know what his situation was.”