Page 43 of Cowboy Stolen Kiss for Christmas

Hearing the woman he loved thanking God for him in what might be the last few minutes of her life was the most profound thing Ames had ever experienced. He gritted his teeth with renewed determination to give his attempt at an emergency landing his finest efforts. He didn’t intend to give up before the last drop of fuel seeped out of their fuel tank, or the engine failed.

“Get your seatbelt on, darling,” he shouted as the detour runway lights came into view. “We may be in for a bumpy landing!” The wind was picking up, rattling the jet like a rag doll. Unfortunately, they were flying straight into it.

As she scrambled to buckle into her seat in the cockpit, he caught sight of flashing, rotating emergency lights below them. First responder vehicles were converging on the runway as he got the jet into position and started to descend.

“Coming in hot,” he muttered. Though he wasn’t a military pilot in a fighter jet, he was heavily armed with faith, hope, and love.

And the greatest of these is love.

He replayed that short passage of scripture over and over in his head as he lowered the landing gear and performed a rapid descent. Knowing his fuel supply would shut off at any moment, he had to make each remaining second count.

Approximately twenty feet above the runway, he closed the throttles and tilted the nose of the jet upward. He touched down the main landing gear first with a light bump. The nose gear touched down next. Though a wave of exhilaration shot through him over being back on the ground, he knew it was too soon to celebrate. He applied the brakes, and the engine coughed.

And died.

“Brace yourself, Laura!” He reached for her hand, since there was nothing else he could do.

The runway turned into a taxiway as the jet flew blindly into the wind. The wind slapped head on into the nose of the aircraft, acting like a giant hand swooping from the sky to slow their speed. They reached the end of the runway and skidded past the warning lights. Once they rolled into the grass on the other side, they quickly came to a stop. The tree line was still a good fifty yards or so out. Ames knew with certainty that if it weren’t for the buffeting wind, they would’ve kept going until they crashed.

He sat there for a moment in reverent silence, gripping Laura’s hand. It was a miracle they were alive.

“Thank You, Lord.” Laura whispered the words.

They went straight to his heart. He lifted their joined hands to his lips. “Yes. Thank You.”

The emergency crew surrounded them the moment they stepped from the plane.

“Nice landing!” He lost track of the number of times he was high-fived and slapped on the back.

Laura gave a breathy chuckle at his elbow.

“What?” Not caring who witnessed it, he kept an arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders, unsure if he was ever going to let her go again. They were alive. It was still sinking in.

“They keep using your favorite word on you.” She snickered. “I know how much you love the word nice.”

He turned his head to press a kiss against her cheek. “Guess you’ve used it on me so many times that it’s growing on me.”

They were led to an ambulance, examined for injuries, and pronounced in perfect condition considering what they’d been through. Ames took the opportunity to text an update to his brothers.

We made it. Thanks for praying. I’ll call when I can.

A pair of police detectives strode their way wearing grim expressions. “We’d like to ask you a few questions.” One of the policemen remained standing by the back door of the ambulance to speak with Laura, while the other policeman walked with Ames out of earshot.

It dawned on him that something must be wrong, since the lawmen were clearly attempting to keep him from corroborating his story with Laura’s story. “What’s going on, officer?”

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out, Mr. Carson. Have you ever experienced the desire to harm yourself?”

“No.” He gave the guy an incredulous look. If he was suicidal, he’d have just kept flying his plane until it crashed.

“What about the woman you were traveling with tonight? To the best of your knowledge, is she prone to bouts of anxiety, depression, or thoughts of self harm?”

“No. She went through a rough breakup about a year ago, but I wouldn’t describe her as depressed. Just sad and angry, but she’s getting through it.”

The officer nodded and typed something into his electronic notepad. “Can you think of any reason anyone else might be trying to harm you or Miss Lee?”

Ames’ breath huffed out of him. “What’s this about, officer? Did you find something wrong with my jet?”

“Your fuel tank may have been tampered with, sir. Do you have any idea who would do such a thing?”

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