Page 55 of Truth, Lies, and Second Dates
Nope. Not once. While she slept, he’d worked through the night, made sure she was feeling well enough to fly, helped her pack, then dropped her off at the airport in time to return for check-in. It was an oddly domestic scene… she’d rarelyspent the night with a man in a hotel room andnothad sex, so she had no idea how to behave the morning after.
Anyway, she wasn’t thinking about him. This particular moment didn’t count.
Totally out of my mind. Tom, that is. Yep.
So.
Twenty-Eight
“Why is there a tiny hole in all the windows?”
“That’s a breather hole. See how there are actually two windows? The breather hole regulates pressure between both so the outside window takes most of the pressure in case of an accident.”
“But why are all the windows round?”
“Because corners are inherently weak, and air pressure increases that weakness. Round or oval windows spread out the stress and are fundamentally stronger if there’s a pressure drop.”
“Oh. So the likelihood of a fatal catastrophe is lessened?”
“Yes.”
There was a low cough behind him and Tom turned to see a flight attendant with a name tag that read G.B. “Love all the science, but maybe a little less fatal catastrophe chit-chat?”
“I apologize. I didn’t mean to make the other passengers uneasy.”
“Yeah, I don’t care about that. You’re makingmeuneasy.”But he smiled, a perfectly friendly grin that Hannah cautiously returned. G.B. was such a large man—a lifter, clearly, and quite tall—Tom briefly wondered if he had to turn sideways before going through doorways. “Let me guess—the MAGE conference?”
“What gave it away?” Tom deadpanned. MAGE, the Massachusetts Association for Gifted Education, was having their annual conference in Boston tomorrow. This was Hannah’s first year. Tom had had to make sustained efforts not to boast about that at work.
G.B. bent to speak to Hannah directly. “Y’know, our captain would be glad to let you come up and see the cockpit once we’re at the appropriate altitude.”
“We don’t want to interrupt her work.” Tom said this with some reluctance, as he would have liked a peek at the cockpit of an Airbus A319. And a private chat with the crew. They were bound to have interesting stories about death in the sky. And of course, it would be wonderful to speak with Ava again, this time wearing her captain hat. Literally.
He forced his mind back on track in time to hear Hannah. “Because distractions increase the potential of a fatal catas—of a thing you don’t want us to talk about,” she added anxiously.
G.B. smiled. “It really doesn’t. And she does it all the time. Let me know if you want to take a look later.”
“Really?” Hannah looked delighted. “Thank you, Flight Attendant G.B.”
“You’re welcome, passenger 22B. Why don’t you guys have a seat and get buckled in?”
“All right.” There was a decisive “snap” as Hannah complied, then got back to business. “Uncle Tom, why do we have to board the plane on the left? I don’t think that’s veryefficient. And for the jumbo planes, why not board both sides at the same time?”
Nuts.He had tried to anticipate all Hannah’s questions and researched accordingly. Alas. But G.B., who had been moving past them, replied over his shoulder, “It keeps you bums out of the way of the ground crew. They always fuel on the right.”
“I like flying,” Hannah replied, wriggling in her seat a little. “It’s so interesting. And even if something looks inefficient, it isn’t.”
“Wait until we’re actually flying,” Tom said. Meanwhile, Abe had gotten himself buckled in and had handed Hannah a tablet with which she immediately busied herself. Tom leaned back and caught his eye over her bent head. “Thank you again for coming.”
“You kiddin’? Who’d miss it? It’s my first genius conference.”
Hannah made a noise that sounded suspiciously like “well, duh,” but kept her gaze on the screen.
“And I haven’t been back to Boston for years. I’m gonna show you all my old stomping grounds when the kiddo isn’t dazzling geniuses with her supergeniusness.”
Hannah stopped midswipe to look up at him. “Grandpa, a lot of people there are going to be smarter than I am. You should be resigned.”
“I’ll decide when to be resigned,” Abe retorted. “And yeah. In theory there will be bigger geniuses there.Maybe.But I won’t believe it until I see it.”
