Page 28 of A Spot of Tea
“Don’t they call big gamblers ‘whales’?”
Eliza laughed. “Oh. They do. Is that part of your theory now? That this guy has a gambling problem and he’s robbing banks to fuel that?”
“Yes. Based on nothing, that is my theory.” He nodded, then turned to her. “Are you ready to be amazed?”
She realized she was gripping her seat tightly with both hands. She let go. “Yes!”
They picked up speed, zipping along the water. Eliza held her breath as the plane popped into the air without any sort of fuss, the shore shrinking beneath them.
She leaned over to look through his window. “I can see my house from here!”
He glanced down at her before pointing. “And there’s the tea shop!”
Her excitement made her forget herself. She sat back up. “Very cool.”
They flew over San Juan Island, Eliza glued to her window, trying to trace the streets she knew through the sea of green.
“Last report was the whale was surfacing right by the lighthouse,” Joey said.
They did several passes but had no luck spotting the whale.
Eliza didn’t care. It would’ve been nice to find a humpback, but seeing the park from this angle was enough of a treat.
She had thought it was stunning from the water that time Mom and Russell had convinced her to go kayaking, but this? It was unreal, the world unfolding beneath them as they glided in the golden sky.
The plane dipped, Eliza’s stomach along with it, and she once again clung to the edges of her seat.
“Sorry, I was adjusting,” he said. “Nothing to worry about.”
“Have you ever crashed before?” she asked, loosening her grip.
He turned to look at her, eyebrows raised. “Do you really want to talk about crashes right now? It’s bad luck!”
“I’m sorry!” she put her hands up. “Carry on.”
After ten minutes, they gave up on the humpback and flew south toward Portland.
Joey didn’t speak again until there was nothing beneath them but a sea of blue. “I did crash once.”
She shot him a look. “No, you didn’t.”
He nodded. “I did. It was early on in my career. I’d just gotten my license.”
“What happened?”
He was quiet for a moment. “I made some mistakes.”
Oddly vague for him. “Was everyone okay?”
“They all lived, yes.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re messing with me.”
He looked at her and shook his head. “I’m not.”
“Does Russell know?”
“What? No!” Joey laughed. “He didn’t ask.”
