Cindy Gerard - The Way Home

“We’re going to fix that right now. Come on. Sit in her with me.”

“And you won’t take off?”

“Not unless you say it’s OK.”

Because she didn’t want to disappoint him and because she trusted him, she let him help her out onto the float, grabbed the wing strut, and climbed up into what could loosely be called a cockpit. She slid under the yoke in the pilot’s seat and into the shotgun seat.

He climbed in after her, shut the door, and settled in.

“What do you think?”

“I think it’s a relic.” The leather in the two front seats was worn and split. The instrument panel looked like something out of World War I, and the four passenger seats in the back practically sat on the floor. “I see a lot of duct tape.”

“She’s nicely broken in.” He grinned at her horrified look. “OK. So she’s a fixer-upper. But it’s all about the engine, and the guy who owns her has kept it in excellent shape. She’s got a lot of hours, but with a bird like this, that’s a good thing.”

“Um, Ty.” She craned her neck to her left, then her right. “We seem to be floating away from the dock.”

“That’s because I cast off before I got in. Don’t worry. I’m only going to scoot around on the water, let you get a feel for how she moves.”

“And then you’re going to try to talk me into taking off.”

“That would be the plan, yeah. Relax. You’re in good hands. But you might want to buckle up.”

She was about to spout a comeback when he cranked the engine. It hiccupped and coughed, then engaged and revved like a rubber band on a bicycle spoke, before really kicking in and negating any chance of talking.

He reached above him, grabbed a pair of headsets, and handed one to her. Following his lead, she put one on, fastened the seat belt, then groped for something to hang on to as he maneuvered away from the dock and out into open water.

For several long moments, they did exactly as he’d promised. Jess couldn’t shake a mental image of a damaged dragonfly skimming along the water’s surface.

“How ya doing?” he asked into the headset.

“We’d better go back. I think I left something cooking on the stove.”

“Come on, Jess.” He reached over and squeezed her thigh. “Have a little faith. It’ll be fun.”

She pinched her eyes shut and, because it was so important to him, gave him a quick nod.

“That’s my girl!”

He didn’t give her any opportunity to change her mind. He throttled back, and the plane responded, picking up speed, and finally, with a dip in her stomach, they were airborne.

“Don’t pay any attention to the vibration,” he told her. “It’s only wind resistance. It’s all good.”

“What about the groaning?”

She heard him laugh. “I thought that was you.”

“It is me. Oh, my God, I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.”

“Open your eyes. Look at this view.”

On a deep breath, she forced herself to look. And while the sight of the lake with its many fingers, bays, and islands a few hundred feet below them had her gripping her handholds tighter, she had to admit, it was stunning.

Gradually, she relinquished her white-knuckle grip and, to her amazement, started enjoying the flight, even pointing out landmarks to him and discovering bays she hadn’t realized existed. That didn’t mean that every time the plane hit a little air pocket and they dropped a few feet, the butterflies didn’t take flight again.

“Do you love it?” Ty crowed through the headset.

What she loved was his excitement. “Love is a strong word. But yes, it’s growing on me.”

“What about me? Am I growing on you?”

Oh, yeah. He was not only growing, he’d taken root and was flourishing.

“Depends on if you get me down from here safely.”

“I can do that,” he promised, and fifteen minutes later, after one last buzz of the lake, he did.

The pontoons kissed the surface of the lake with a swoosh of parting water in a soft-as-silk landing.

She couldn’t help but grin as he expertly taxied the little plane back to the dock and gently beached it.

“You did great, Jess.” Ty beamed at her after they’d unbuckled and stowed the headsets. “Sit tight. I want to tie up before our wake washes in and lifts her off the sand.”

He stepped out onto a pontoon, grabbed the wing strut for balance, and expertly plucked a tie line out of the water. After securing it to the strut, he walked to the back of the pontoon and did the same.

He helped her out and up onto the dock, then followed. “So what do you think?”

“It was fun. I admit it. But I still don’t understand why you’d want to buy it.”

He took her hand and led her to a log bench that faced the water. “What if I said I wanted to start a fishing charter business up here?”

She hadn’t fully processed the implication of his words when her heartbeat spiked, her hands started to tremble, and a light-headedness hit her hard enough to make her dizzy.

He was talking about much more than purchasing a rickety six-seater float plane. He was talking about a commitment. He was talking about a future.

“Whoa. I recognize that look. Take a deep breath. Let’s back up a second.”

Now she was confused. He wasn’t talking about a commitment?

“Look. I’ve blindsided you twice. Once in the dead of winter. Once in July when I showed up again unannounced. It’s not my intention to do it again.”

“Too late.”

He smiled and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “OK. So I have a little trouble in that area. But there’s no pressure here, Jess. I want you to know what’s on my mind. And I want you to think about how you feel about it.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “I want to make a life up here. With you.”

Heart racing, she looked up at him.

“I want to marry you, Jess. I love you. I think I fell a little bit in love with you the first time I saw you.”

Her voice got trapped somewhere in the wellspring of emotions knocking around inside her. Elation. Fear. Excitement. Fear. Joy. Fear.

She didn’t want to be afraid. Not of him. Not of them. And yet… was she ready for this? Was she capable of this?

“Like I said, I didn’t want this to be another blindside, but sweetie, I’ve tried to make it clear that I’m crazy about you.”

He tipped her face up to his, and she could tell he was doing his best not to laugh at her.

“Not talking, huh? That’s OK. I know you need some time to process the idea.”

She needed more than time. She needed oxygen.

“So… I’m going to fly the plane back to Vermillion, OK? I need to get her back before sundown, and it’s about a thirty-minute flight. How long is it going to take me to drive back to Kabby? Hold up your fingers if you can’t talk.”

“Thirty-five… forty minutes,” she said numbly.

“OK, then. I’ll see you in a little more than an hour. I’ll stop and pick up something for dinner, so don’t cook. Jess?” he added when she stared at him. “See you in an hour?”

She nodded, leaned in to him as he pressed another kiss to her forehead, then watched him walk to the plane.

She was still watching the sunlight glint off the wings in the far, far distance when Shelley walked up beside her.

“Hey,” Shelley said in that quiet way she had of hinting that she knew something was up.

“Hey.”

“You OK?”

She breathed deeply and looked at her hands clasped together on her lap. “I’m not sure.”

Shelley sat down beside her. “Is that a good not sure or a bad not sure?”

She looked at her friend. “Not sure about that, either.”

“NO TALKING.” TY GRABBED HER hand when he finally arrived at the store shortly after closing time and led her straight up the stairs.

It had taken him more like two hours to make the drive from Vermillion to the store. Judging by the look on his face, she suspected he’d timed it that way.

He wanted to be alone with her. He wanted her in bed.

“No talking,” he growled again, dropping their takeout dinner onto an end table and walking her to the bedroom, where he stripped off his clothes and hurriedly helped her out of hers.

“Only this,” he murmured, lowering her onto the bed and covering her naked body with his. “Only this.”

Only, however, did not belong in the same breath with the this he had in mind. Because he didn’t only make love to her. He didn’t only drive her to the brink of madness, then shove her over the edge into free fall. He didn’t only do anything.

He destroyed. He possessed. With his hands. With his mouth. With the strength and the fire of a man who would do anything to please his woman.

When he knelt between her thighs and ran his hungry hands from her breasts to her belly and finally to the heat of her, he demanded, “Open for me.”

A thrill shot through her, and she opened her legs and let him pull her to the edge of the bed, let him drape her thighs over his shoulders as he knelt down to the floor. Let him devour her with his mouth and his passion as he brought her to a lush and powerful climax that both shattered and restored her and had her screaming his name as pleasure so exquisite it scared her fired through her body.

She was still coming down when he dragged her to the floor with him, positioned her over his heat, and took her there again, only then giving in to his own release.

WHEN THEY’D RECOVERED enough strength to move, they crawled back into bed and burrowed under the covers, wrapped in each other’s arms.

Several long, luxuriant moments passed while their breathing settled and their heartbeats slowed.

“OK,” he whispered against her hair. “You can talk now.”

“Easy for you to say.”

She felt his smile before he tipped her face back so he could look into her eyes. “Hello.”