“You’re selling yourself short,” Hunt said. “You’re the one who thought of me. I didn’t do anything spectacular. I just flew a chopper…like I do all the time. You people are the ones who gave the little guy a chance.”
“Can you come inside for a couple of minutes? Dr. Quick wanted to meet you and thank you himself.”
“Yeah, sure,” Hunt said, and took her by the hand as she walked him back into the ER.
“Everybody! This is Hunt Knox, the pilot who flew Davey to Savannah,” Ava said.
Before Hunt could even say ‘hello,’ he was inundated by staff, all wanting to talk to him.
He recognized an orderly as someone he’d gone to school with, and one of the custodians was a neighbor from his childhood. And then everyone was talking to him, telling him they’d helped care for his mother and thanking him for stepping in for the pilot.
Then Dr. Quick came out of an exam room and went straight to Hunt. Ava made the introduction. “Dr. Quick, this is Hunt Knox. Hunt, this is Dr. Quick, our ER doctor.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir. Thank you for stepping up,” Quick said.
Hunt shrugged. “I’m glad I was able to help,” he said, and shook the doctor’s hand. “Nice to meet everyone…but this appears to be a busy place. Looks like I need to evacuate so you all can get back to work.”
“I’ll be right back. I’m going to walk him out,” Ava said, and walked Hunt out of the building and then back to his Harley. “Will I see you later?”
“Count on it,” Hunt said, then slid an arm around her waist, pulled her close, and kissed her. “This must be getting old to you. So far, our entire relationship has consisted of eating, or going to eat, or making love. But there are a thousand things I can’t wait to show you when we get back to Houston.”
Ava slid a hand up the side of his cheek.
“Hunt, you forget. In my eyes, we’re old friends who just fell in love. I have memories of all kinds of things I did with your family, you included. I ate half my meals with you then. The fact that we’re still doing it just makes everything right. And the plus side of it is you finally fell in love with me. That’s all I ever wanted. We both have responsibilities. If our time off revolves around an evening meal, then count me in.”
He grabbed her hand, pulled her forward, and kissed her again.
“Consider yourself counted. I’ll either bring food to your place, or I’ll pick you up and we’ll eat somewhere here in town. So do you want me to bring food to you, or do we go eat out? My place is a mess.”
“What do you want to do?” she asked.
“Eat and make love to you,” he said.
She laughed out loud, then threw her arms around his neck.
“Then we better eat out first,” she said.
He grinned. “Pick you up at six?”
She nodded. “I’ve got to get back to work. See you later.”
He started up the Harley and rode away.
* * *
Emma was at the Crown getting groceries when Lilah, one of her friends from church, came running up to her.
“Lord, lord, Emma! What a miracle your brother was for the Randolph family. I know you must be proud of him!”
Emma frowned. “Which brother are you talking about, and what happened to the Randolphs?”
Lilah’s eyes widened. “Oh my! You haven’t heard? Little Davey, their seven-year-old, was hit by a car in front of the elementary school!”
“Oh no! I did hear sirens, but I never knew what was happening,” Emma said.
“They said he was hurt real bad. They called Medi-Flight to take him to the med center in Savannah, but the pilot flying the chopper had a heart attack just after landing here. He couldn’t fly Davey out, and the child was so critical there wasn’t time to wait for another chopper. Then Ava Ridley told them about Hunt, so they called him. He flew the chopper back to Savannah and helped save that little boy’s life!”
Emma was speechless. Knowing Hunt could fly choppers was one thing, but hearing him put his skill to a use that saved someone she knew was humbling.
“That’s good. Real good. I’m glad he was able to help them out,” Emma said.
Lilah nodded. “Well, when you see Hunt, tell him we’re all really proud of him.”
Emma swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Yes, yes, I’ll do that.”
She hurried up with the rest of her shopping, then cried all the way home because she couldn’t just pop in and see Hunt and hug him…or praise him. She couldn’t face him, because the secret and the lie were still between them.
* * *
Birdie was at work when her boss, Dub Truesdale, stopped in the doorway of her office.
“Hey, Birdie… Tell your brother Hunt he did good today!”
Birdie looked up from the invoices she was posting and smiled.
“What are you talking about?”
“He stepped in for the Medi-Flight pilot this morning. The pilot landed, then had a heart attack. Ava Ridley told them about Hunt, and he showed up and flew a little kid to the med center in Savannah for emergency surgery,” Dub said.
Birdie gasped. “What? When did this happen? What little kid? Why am I the last to know anything around here?”
Dub proceeded to tell her what he’d heard, then ended his story by praising Hunt. “You must be real proud having a brother who can do that,” he added.
She nodded, but now she was remembering the chopper coming in and going out, and she’d just heard another one come in and go out, and all that time had no idea Hunt had been involved in any of it. She wondered if he was back, then sent him a text.
I just heard about your morning flight. I’m so proud of you, Hunt.
She hit Send, then got up to get a can of Coke from the mini-fridge before going back to work.
* * *
While everyone had been frantically trying to save Davey Randolph’s life, Richard Borden, the man who’d been driving the car that hit him, was devastated. All he kept thinking was if he hadn’t pulled out of line—if he’d waited like everyone else for his turn to drive away—Davey would have been in class, settling in to the new semester.
Chief Pittman had given Borden several citations, all relating to failure to obey and unsafe driving, with warnings that if Davey Randolph did not survive, further charges, including involuntary manslaughter, could be added.
Richard Borden was so distraught that he refused to get back in his car. Chief Pittman called a tow truck to get the car home, then called Borden’s wife to come get her husband.