Page 69 of Burning for You

“What?” she says.

“I can’t fly.”

She cocks her head. “Really?”

“It was my dad’s plane.”

“Well. I’ll fly the damn thing, then!”

She flies planes? Was that why she went to the hangar that afternoon? It didn’t occur to me. I thought she was just there to try to get to the radio. I had hidden her cell phone at that point, and you have to know the spots where you can get reception here.

“If you must know, I volunteered with the East Coast Flying Doctors to fly their planes.”

So she wasn’t kidding when she was about to hop on that Cessna.

I hold on to Jesse and load him into the plane. Carolyn, every bit a pilot, runs a series of checks.

“Gimme my phone!” she shouts.

I toss it to her and point at the spot where she can get reception. She makes calls to the Bozeman Airport asking for clearance, and for an ambulance to meet us there. Obviously, being a former Flying Doctors pilot, and also well known to the Bozeman Airport community, she is the best person to be around right now.

When this is over, I will talk to her properly, get to know her better. She’s more than just the daughter of Albert Meyer, or the CEO of a high-end retail empire. Look at her—she is trying to save my brother’s life after all he’d done to her. She is with me all the way, even after what I’ve done to her.

“I thought you were just desperate and trying to pull off a stupid stunt that day, when Jesse found you at the hangar,” I say as we’re up in the air.

She scoffs. “I forgive you for thinking that.”

I smile at her while my hands grip Jesse’s shoulders. “You’ll be okay, brother,” I say to him.

Carolyn glances behind, checking on us. At the same time she’s looking for something from me.

I observe the darkening sky. “You’ve got this,” I say, leaning forward and stretching my arm to squeeze her shoulder.

She touches my fingers, kisses them, and then looks ahead. “We’ll have a little bit of a crosswind. Hang on.”

The plane sways, but the weather doesn’t sway the magnificent pilot flying my father’s pride and joy.

“Almost there, gents,” Carolyn says as she steadies the plane.

I wish my dad was here. Never in his wildest dream would he have thought a woman would fly this machine, let alone land it safely during a crosswind. I’m sure he would’ve been damn proud.

* * *

An ambulance meetsus on the ground, and the first responders tend to Jesse. They immediately stabilize him, and we arrive at the hospital in no time.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asks as we wait just outside the ICU.

“About what? Jesse?”

She shrugs.

I say, “He’s been an addict since he was a teenager, following our sister’s death. She drowned in the river near that shed I took you the first time.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Lucy was only seven. I was supposed to babysit her, but I wanted to cook with my mom that afternoon. She was making Dad’s favorite. So Jesse played with Lucy.” Articulating the event pierces my lungs. Deep down, I always wanted to confess it to someone. Now there’s no better listener than the woman sitting next to me.

“You know, Carolyn, I blame Jesse for her death. I always have, even though I know it was an accident. It didn’t help that my mom never talked to Jesse again after that.” Carolyn touches the top of my clasping hands. “I loved my sister. I was much closer to her than to Jesse. Jesse has always been a loner, the rebel.”

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