“Overkill with the flowers?” Nolan asked, a crooked smile forming ever so slowly.
“No! It’s only. Well, you’re so…”
A single brow rose as he asked, “So?”
I swallowed hard then shook my head. “Nothing. Come in.”
Nolan walked into the house and handed me one of the bouquets of flowers. My mother walked up and gasped. “Nolan, sweetheart.”
When she hugged him, I took a step back. I wasn’t sure why I was surprised by their closeness; my mother had just said Nolan had spent a lot of time at the house.
Nolan handed my mother the roses. “You look beautiful, Amy.”
She blushed. She actually blushed. My father then walked up and shook Nolan’s hand. “You staying safe, son?”
Son?
“Trying my best, sir.”
“What planes are you flying now?” Dad asked as he and Nolan fell into the easiest conversation ever.
“Right now it’s been the F-22 Raptors.”
I made a mental note to look that plane up and learn what I could about it.
“How many missiles does that one hold?”
“Six on the main weapons bay, the side weapons bay holds one each.”
My father grinned like a little boy. “There’s a gun on there, correct?”
Nolan chuckled. “M61A2 20-mm multibarrel cannon. Holds four-hundred-and-eighty rounds.”
“Nice,” my father said with a nod of his head as I rolled my eyes. I was pretty sure my mother did as well.
“Yeah, it’s a fun plane to fly.”
“I’d love to see that baby in action.”
Nolan pulled out his phone. “I’ve got a video of me flying one.”
I nearly ran over to where they were standing. Too much? Probably. But I didn’t care.
“Let me take these and put them in water,” my mother said as she took the flowers out of my hand.
“Thank you, Mom,” I said as I watched Nolan flip through his phone. I wasn’t going to lie, I was also looking to see if there were photos of any women on there.
My father stood on one side of Nolan, and I stood on the other. Nolan hit play, and I watched a fighter jet taking off down a runway. It had barely gotten into the air before it immediately went straight up.
“Wow!” my father and I both said.
It turned upside down and started to fly straight back down. Then, it twisted three times and I grabbed onto Nolan’s arm as I gasped.
The next video showed the jet go up, and then it damn near looked like it stopped in mid-air and started to fall before it turned and began flying again.
“How many Gs will it pull?” Dad asked.
“Max, nine-point-six, but the most we pull is nine.”
“Nine?” I asked, completely stunned at how nonchalant he acted.
Nolan nodded, then looked back at the video when my father called, “Holy shit!”
“Why are you flying…so…” I stuttered.
“Crazy?” my father said.
“It’s my job. I have to push the jet to its limits. Trust me when I say this is nothing. This plane can do a hell of a lot more than this.”
“You’re falling!” I said as I gripped his arm harder.
He looked at me and smiled. “No, I’m not, Linz.”
Then it showed someone standing under the plane as it came in and landed.
“I’ve also got one of me flying from inside the cockpit,” Nolan said.
“Let me see it!” I said as I shook his arm, clearly nervous and excited about watching another video of him in action.
With a laugh, he pulled up a video. I stood there in awe as I watched him soar up and then rotate the plane. “How do you not get dizzy?” I asked.
“How in the hell do you not pass out?” my father asked.
Another shot of Nolan going straight up, and then he leveled out and the horizon looked beautiful.
“I bet it’s beautiful up there,” I whispered.
Nolan nodded. “It is.”
“So, kids, what’s on the agenda today?” my mother asked as she walked back over to us.
Nolan quickly pushed his phone into his pocket as I let go of his arm. He grinned like a schoolboy trying to charm his teacher. It was adorable. “I thought we’d go for a ride.”
“Oh my God…yes! In a plane?” I asked, my voice filled with excitement.
The three of them froze. They literally froze. Nolan’s face went white as a ghost, and for a moment I thought for sure he was going to pass out.
“What’s wrong with y’all?” I asked as my eyes bounced between the three of them.
My mother was the first one to speak. “Ah, um, nothing, nothing at all. Nolan, what other plans did you have?”
I could feel my brows draw in the more confused I became. Nolan looked like he was about to be sick.
“Nolan?” I asked, reaching out and touching his arm. He jumped and then looked at me. “Are you okay? You looked so far away.”
“What?” he asked, his voice slightly shaky. “No. Sorry. We’re going horseback riding. On my family’s ranch.”
It was clear the mood needed to be lightened—and fast. “I just said to Saryn I needed to get on a horse soon, so this is perfect,” I said with a smile. “I haven’t been riding in I don’t know how long.”
“That’s wonderful,” my mother said, a forced timbre to her voice.
Daddy smiled and gave Nolan a light slap on the back. “You still got that stallion old man Peters kept asking to buy off your daddy?”
Nolan cleared his throat and laughed, but everything about the moment seemed so forced. I turned to look at my mother, and she winked at me, then reached for my hand and squeezed it. She leaned in and whispered, “Bad memory, I’m sure. He lost both of his parents.”
“Oh,” I whispered as I wondered if they had died in a plane wreck. I leaned in so only my mother could hear me. “Plane?”
“No, car.”
I stepped back and tried to figure out the connection. I gave up when Nolan turned and looked at me. The light was back in his blue eyes. When he smiled at me just then, I seemed to forget everything.
“Ready?”
“I am.”
Nolan gave me a once-over and asked, “Do you have a jacket to bring? The temperature might drop.”
“I do! Let me go grab it upstairs.”
And off I went to grab a coat, my mind still questioning what in the world just happened in that room.
Nolan
THE SECOND SHE ran up the stairs, I reached out for something to hold onto. It just so happened to be Steve.
“It’s okay, Nolan,” he said.
“Oh, Christ,” I gasped as I rubbed my chest. “God, I’m so tired of this.”
Amy stood in front of me and reached for my hand. “I called Dr. Overton. I told him what was happening.”
I glanced back over at the steps.
“He seems to think if she hasn’t regained any memories yet, she most likely won’t. Especially since she saw you.”
“She knows we were more than friends,” I whispered.
“I know. But we’ve come this far, Nolan.”
I swallowed hard and gave Steve one quick nod of my head to let him know I was okay.