Page 57 of Too Much In Common
Pollyanna tilted her head. “I thought pilots were boys.”
“Not all of them.”
“Can I fly with you someday?” asked Peter.
Tian looked at Candace and waited for a subtle nod before answering. “I think that can be arranged.”
“Yo! I get to fly an airplane!” Peter immediately splashed his sister.
Pollyanna ducked and sent him a frown. “I can fly too, can’t I, Mom?”
“You will all fly on an airplane, but the pilot will be flying it.” At Candace’s clarification, the boys lost interest in the conversation and swam off.
“Will you fly Mom’s new plane? It’s for sick kids.”
“I fly for Legacy Air.”
“Oh.” Her face fell, and she swam off too.
“The children have been very excited about getting planes to transport terminally ill children and their families to Robyn’s Place. It’s a theme park for seriously ill children.”
“That sounds exciting.” Tian had heard about the monumental project on a podcast.
“If you ever want to jump ship—or plane—let me know. I’m on the hunt for pilots who want to do something a bit out of the ordinary. The ride itself will be part of the adventure for these children, so the pilots need to be open to lots of questions and some on-the-ground flying lessons. The cabin crew are pediatric nurses in disguise. I’m hoping to have everything in place by June when the planes should be ready. Camouflaging medical equipment takes time.”
“I assume there would be no seat-commandeering passengers with their pets onboard.”
“Thor is not invited. We may fly some service dogs. Well-behaved, of course. And all the seats are first class.”
“No irate passengers? Pilots must be lining up for this job.” An amazing opportunity for someone. The competition would be fierce.
“I hope so. I’ll let you two go.” Candace looked over Tian’s shoulder to Chris and waved goodbye.
Tian turned. “I didn’t know you were there.”
“I wanted to see if you had dinner plans.” He held open the door to the hallway.
Tian pushed the elevator button. “My place?”
“Sounds good to me. What time?”
“About an hour?”
“That should give me enough time to beat up my roommate.” Chris’s smile indicated that Javier wasn’t in any real trouble.
“Hit him once for me.”
They separated at the elevator. Thoughts swirled in Tian’s head. Most were about Chris and the kiss. How could she end a relationship she wanted so badly?
* * *
“Jerk move with the intercom.” Chris chucked his damp towel at Javier’s head.
“It was either that or have the Ogilvies walk in on you. I don’t think they’d appreciate you giving the kids an up-close and personal human relations lesson.”
“We were only kissing.”
“Um-hmm.” Javier threw the towel back.
