“I can assure you that I have my pilot’s license. I’m completely certified.” His tone was calm and soothing, but it wasn’t working on her at all. If anything, it annoyed her. “You need to trust me on this, Peyton.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to counter that she couldn’t, but…she’d be lying. After their initial falling out over her property, she’d come to realize that Ryder was a man of his word. Over the last two weeks he’d reached out to get her input on numerous things and always took her suggestions into consideration. And on top of that, it seemed like everyone in her family couldn’t say enough nice things about him. That meant no matter how uncomfortable she was right now, she owed it to him to trust him.
With a curt nod, she walked over and took one of the seats, closing all the window shades as she went. She immediately buckled her seatbelt and pulled out her phone.
And began to search for flights to Denver.
Okay, so maybe she didn’t truly trust him with just this one thing.
Looking up, she saw him in the cockpit with his headset on as he quietly talked to someone on the other end.
This is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong…
Her words only amped up her anxiety, which then doubled when she saw there were no available local flights to Denver today. If she got off the plane and didn’t fly out until tomorrow, she’d miss the first day of the show and potentially cause Ryder to miss out on seeing things as well.
Dammit, I hate being empathetic.
But right now, she hated Ryder more.
They had talked on the phone just about every day since their meeting at his house. She had sent him several menu ideas, and they talked décor and theming and even about the show, and not once did he mention that he was going to be the one flying them to Denver. It was something they were going to have to discuss because she did not appreciate being blindsided like this. If they were going to work together, then he was going to have to be way more transparent about the things he planned–especially when they involved her.
Of course, that wasn’t going to happen right now. There was no way she was going to argue with him or distract him when she needed him to fully focus on flying them safely across the country.
“Just take some deep, cleansing breaths,” she murmured to herself. Doing her best to get comfortable, she pulled out her tablet and figured she could settle in with a good book and do her best to pretend she was on a 747, except…
“Ryder?”
“Hmm?”
“Is there anything to drink?”
“One moment,” he replied before standing and stepping out of the cockpit. Peyton watched as he walked over to a small cabinet and pulled out two bottles of water and then a small basket. “I had this made for you. Hopefully there’s something in there you’ll like.” He handed her the basket before placing one of the waters in the cupholder beside her. “Enjoy.” And with a confident smile, he went back to his position in the cockpit.
For a minute she felt like a kid on Christmas morning. The basket had all of her favorites, and she didn’t know what to touch first. There were fresh strawberries, mini chocolate chip muffins, pretzels, and a small assortment of chocolate truffles. It literally had everything she could want for a trip–sweet and savory. She had to hand it to him. The man thought of everything.
Except to tell her they were traveling in a plane equivalent to a VW Bug.
Within minutes the airplane door was shut and locked, and Ryder checked on her one more time. “Do you have everything you need? It’s going to be a little while before I can do anything. There are more beverages in the cooler, the lavatory is behind you, there’s Wi-Fi, and outlets for any electronics you want to use. Just wait until I give you the okay to use them.”
Mutely, she nodded.
This is it. I’m going to fly in the tiny plane…
“You are welcome to join me in the cockpit at any time…”
“Yeah, no. I’ll just sit right here,” she told him, and he must have sensed her discomfort because he didn’t push. And with a nod of his own, he took his seat in the cockpit.
As soon as they started to move, Peyton’s hands gripped the armrests hard. Her knuckles were white as her nails dug into the soft leather. Her eyes slammed shut as she immediately began to pray and hated the fact that she hadn’t reached out to her family to tell them she loved them. The plane picked up speed and her stomach clenched as she felt them take off. Part of her wished Ryder would talk to her, but she heard him talking softly to someone. She knew nothing about pilots or flying a plane, but she assumed he was talking to someone in air traffic control.
And prayed they knew what they were doing, too.
Time passed. She knew it did, but she had no idea how long it was until Ryder told her she could use the Wi-Fi and could stand up if she wanted to.
Um…no thank you.
Still, she forced herself to relax and breathe. She turned on her tablet and pulled up the new book she had just started–a cute rom-com about a cheery baker and an uptight CEO. Taking a sip of her water, Peyton opted to try the mini muffins and before she knew it, she was on chapter three of the book.
“You’re awful quiet back there,” Ryder called out. “Everything okay?”
“Just reading,” she replied, hating the interruption. Out of the corner of her eye she could see he was turned around and looking at her. “Shouldn’t you…you know…be watching the sky?”
His laugh was low and deep, and at any other time, Peyton knew she’d appreciate it.
Just not right now.
“Seriously, Ryder, can you please just watch the sky?” her voice shook slightly and she could tell he was torn between doing what she asked and being what she needed.
Ultimately, he turned around and focused on flying.
They were two hours into their flight when the first real bout of turbulence hit. Ryder called back to her to stay seated and buckled, and she quickly tightened her seatbelt. After that, things didn’t get better.
The turbulence was awful and because the plane was so small, she knew it probably felt worse than it actually was. But it was powerful enough that her basket fell over, her purse spilled, and her bottle of water went flying. There was no way she was going to call out to Ryder and disturb him, but if things didn’t settle down soon, she knew she was going to freak out.
She was back to having her white-knuckled grip on the armrests, with her eyes shut and praying. Right now she’d give anything to be on the ground. Hell, if they lived through this, she was never going to fly again. She’d drive from Denver all the way back to Magnolia Sound before she got back on a plane!
Please let me live…please keep us safe…please stop the turbulence…
It was bizarre how it felt like they were on the ground, off-roading, rather than in the sky. It felt like hours, but she was sure it was only minutes. Either way, whatever the problem was, it wasn’t easing up.
“Peyton!” Ryder called out authoritatively. “Things are about to get even bumpier! We’re going to make an emergency landing!”
She nodded, unable to speak.
There was a loud booming sound and suddenly things got quieter. She heard him curse, but didn’t dare ask what was going on. If she was going to die, she didn’t want to know how.