Page 86 of Life To My Flight

“That doesn’t make any sense. Why the heck would he want to buy stuff for the company? And aren’t helicopters like…a million dollars? What was wrong with the old one? I seem to remember hearing the ER talking about that a couple of months ago. They’d just gotten a new one around four years ago, right?” Rue asked me.

I shook my head. “I don’t know. I started working within a week after getting the new bird.”

“Where do they house the old one, or is it still used?” Silas asked.

I shook my head. “Not anywhere that I know of. We use just the one.”

Silas sat back in his chair, looking out the window thoughtfully.

Silas lived almost directly across the same lake that Kettle and Sebastian lived on; Silas’ house was much smaller, though. It was a nice place, but there wasn’t much to it.

Which I guess suited Silas. And also explained why he was able to afford buying a company like it was no skin off his nose.

I wasn’t doing badly, but I wasn’t a millionaire, either.

I made an honest living, but I lived paycheck to paycheck just like the rest of the world.

No one would think by the way Silas lived that he had the kind of money to throw around like that, either.

“I’ll do some looking into it. In the meantime, just go about doing your job. Keep an ear out, though. You never know what you’ll hear,” Silas said before standing, which was our cue to leave.

Rue stood along with me, and we all started walking towards Silas’ front door.

I opened it, interrupting a woman’s attempted knock.

“Oh!” The woman exclaimed. “You scared me. Is Silas- Oh! Hey, Silas! I wanted to see if I could trouble you for a cup of beer.”

I blinked.

Well that line was original.

I’d heard of asking the neighbor for sugar…but beer was definitely unique.

“Oh, sure thing Reba, darlin’,” Silas said as he disappeared into the kitchen.

We all stared at each other.

Rue and Reba looked at each other quizzically for long moments before they both came to a realization at the same time.

“Reba!”

“Rue!”

They both yelled each other’s names and then started laughing.

“I take it you two know each other?” I asked dryly.

Rue nodded. “Yep. She’s a float nurse. Reba, this is Cleo. Cleo, Reba. I don’t see her all that often. I knew I’d seen you somewhere.”

The last statement had been directed towards Reba who’d held out her hand for me to shake.

Reba nodded. “Yep. I don’t like being in one place too long. It’s a good way to keep out of the drama that goes on with each floor.”

“I know that’s right,” Rue agreed. “Sometimes when I’m working, I swear it feels like I’m in high school. Whispering about other people behind the other’s back. Groups of popular kids, the jocks, and then the loners. We don’t even sit at the same table when we have lunch together.”

I’d never experienced that in high school.

When I was sixteen, I was in the work program and at work once lunch time hit.

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