Flight Risk (Antiques in Flight) (17 page)

Trevor lifted another twenty-four pack of water out of his trunk and hefted it into the kitchen of the Canteen. His limbs were heavy with fatigue, but he ignored it. Em and Callie had been exchanging worried glances over him all week, but he pretended he didn’t see. It was the only way he knew how to get through one day and then the next. Ignore everything but what had to be done, and hope the answer to all of his problems would fall into his lap at some point.

When he returned from the Canteen, Callie and Em had their heads together but stopped talking when he got within earshot. He didn’t react and picked up the boxes of soda from his trunk, repeating the process of dropping them off in the Canteen.

When he came for the last load, Em was gone and Callie was sitting on his trunk.

“You’re going to have to move.”

She shook her head. “Nope.”

“I’ve got one load left. Then I have to go to town and get all the barbecue stuff and then I’ve got to pick up the cake.”
And then I’ve got to fling myself off the nearest tall building or mountain. Except, oh hey, there aren’t any of those around Pilot’s Point.

Callie hopped off the trunk but didn’t get out of his way. Instead, she stood defiantly in it. “You look like hell.”

“Thanks.” She looked pretty and fresh as she hadn’t had a chance to get all mucked up with engine grease yet. Both the jeans and the T-shirt she wore were tight enough to show off every slight curve. “You look hot.”

She frowned a little. “It’s not hot out here.”

“That’s not what I meant.” He took a step closer, feeling like he was standing on some kind of ledge. A breeze ruffled through the air and he could smell what he assumed was her shampoo, a hint of coconut.

She tried to create a disapproving look, but it came out half-assed when she didn’t fight off a smile.

It eased some of the edges, but left a strange feeling in its wake. A recklessness he didn’t know what to do with. He reached out and touched her ponytail, rubbing the ends between his fingers.

“Back off, Steele.” She gave him a light push so his hand dropped. “You’ve got too much on your mind right now and it’s making you crazy. You need some sleep.”

“You’re damn right I’ve got too much on my mind,” he muttered. He could feel the snaps on his control unlocking one by one. It was rare, and it felt freeing. Control and doing the right thing was apparently overrated.

“I know you’re hurting. You’re letting all this guilt eat you alive. Shelby’s pushing your buttons on purpose. Don’t let her.”

He grabbed Callie’s wrist and backed her against the car. “It’s not just about Shelby.” The guilt was, but the edginess wasn’t. Being around Callie every day added another layer to all the twisting emotions inside of him.

“Come on. This is about graduation and Shelby and her wanting you to stay, and you not belonging here.” She wrestled her hand free, though he kept her caged against the car. “Instead of letting her get to you, you need to be clear. You need to make her understand Pilot’s Point can’t be your home, and she can’t be selfish enough to demand it. You have to—”

“You know what, Callie, this new leaf is wonderful. But back the fuck off, okay?”

Her face immediately changed from friendly and earnest to something he recognized. A flash of hurt quickly covered by a slash of anger. “So, you’re allowed to give advice, but you won’t take it?”

“You think that because you’re finally getting your life together ten years too late you have any kind of insight into what I’ve got to deal with?”

He should have backed off. He should have kept his mouth shut, but there was an anger inside of him that had to be unleashed or he was going to explode. Losing control might have felt freeing, but danger lurked in all that freedom.

“Taking a shot at me make you feel better?”

“You would know.”

“Fine. You want to take your anger and frustration at the situation out on me. Do it.” She angled her chin like she was expecting some kind of blow. “You want to take all that guilt Shelby is laying on you and throw it in my face. Have at it. If it’ll make you feel better, go ahead. Unlike your sister, I—”

Trevor’s hands curled into fists and he took that last step toward her so their bodies were pressed together. When he spoke, his voice was little more than a growl. “Stop pretending like half of what I’m dealing with isn’t wanting to get you naked right this very second.”

That knocked some of the fight out of her, but her fists didn’t loosen any more than his did. “You’re being a jackass on purpose.”

His eyes took a slow tour of her body, tormenting himself with what he knew he shouldn’t have. “Are you so sure about that?”

“Yes.” Her voice was strong, but the breath she exhaled afterward wasn’t steady. Still, she met his gaze and let him crowd her. “Taking it out on me doesn’t change your reality. And I’m not sleeping with you so you can blow off a little steam.”

The words deflated him because that’s what it had sounded like, and maybe that’s even what he’d meant. Hell, he didn’t know anymore, but with the power of his anger gone he felt defeated and lousy and like one sorry son of a bitch.

As if she could read all of those feelings in his face, she reached out for his hand and uncurled his fingers with hers. “You need some sleep.” Her voice was soft and comforting. Either new Callie was really good about not holding a grudge, or he was such a pathetic mess Callie felt sorry enough for him to let go of anger. “Come on.” She took his hand and she pulled him through the Canteen and then the main office.

“There’s a lot of work to do.”

“Em and I are used to a lot of work. If you’re going to be any use to us tonight, you need some sleep.”

“I will. Tonight. Today there’s too much to—” She stopped in front of the stairs that led up to Fred’s old office.

“Up,” she instructed, pointing.

“Callie.”

“You be a good boy and maybe you’ll get a reward.” She smiled and batted her lashes at him, and if it hadn’t caused such a disturbing electrical current he might have asked her what kind of reward. Instead, he turned and took the stairs.

“Now, go lie down. We’ve got a pillow and blanket all set up. Take a bit of a nap. Em and I will take care of some things, and then we’ll wake you up in time to go get the cake. Deal?”

He didn’t want to lie down, didn’t want to face all his swirling problems. If he was running around getting crap together for the party, he could at least partially pretend he wasn’t a man torn into a million different pieces. “And what do I get if I follow orders, ma’am?”

“What do you want?”

She stood with her hands on her hips, chin angled up like she was daring him to answer honestly. He stood next to the makeshift bed and managed his best reckless smile. “I can’t have what I want.”

She pushed him down onto the window seat and then leaned over him to pull the curtains closed. It made the room murky, though not quite dark.

“Then I guess your reward is a few hours of rest.” She pulled a blanket on top of him though it wasn’t cold enough to warrant it. “This is a magic sleeping place. All your problems disappear for a few hours. And when you wake up, you’ll know exactly what to do.” Her voice was soft and dreamy, like a mother telling a fairytale to her child.

“Really?”

“No.” She smiled down at him, and if he weren’t so tired, if he hadn’t been such an ass to her this morning, he would have pulled her down on top of him. “But a few hours’ sleep might bring back the Trevor I know, not the bastard currently invading his body. That
would
be magic.”

“I’m sorry for what I said.” He wanted to reach out and tuck the stray strand of hair behind her ear, but he knew she’d move away from him if he did. “Not the getting naked part, the ten years too late part.”

She shrugged, plumped up the pillow under his head. “It was true.”

“No, it wasn’t. And it wasn’t fair to judge you when I’m such a fucking nightmare right now.”

She studied his face with a look he couldn’t read. “I figure I’ve lashed at you plenty. You owe me. We’ll call it even. I bet when you wake up, you’ll feel a million times better.”

He wanted to believe a little sleep would cure it all, wanted it to be possible. “Are you taking care of me?”

She looked at the hem of the blanket rather than his face. “Maybe.” Then she brushed her lips across his forehead. “Get some sleep, Trev.”

Before she’d even gotten down the stairs, he was asleep like the dead.

Callie hopped out of the Stearman. For looks purposes, it still needed a few tweaks, but she’d gotten the plane itself up and running in time for Shelby’s graduation party and, to soothe Em’s frugal soul, she’d been offering rides to the party-goers for five bucks a pop. She’d made a small fortune off of Dan and his brother and cousins and couldn’t keep the smile off her face.

It had been too long since she’d flown. Wrapped up in the day-to-day of AIF, working on the Stearman, prepping the big house for Lawson’s impending arrival. It had been months since she’d taken to the sky. Part of her had forgotten the simple joy in maneuvering a small plane over the world below. She was above it all, in control. Nothing gave her quite the same rush as flying.

Well, almost nothing. Trevor was making his way through the crowds of people, toward her. Ever since he’d gotten some sleep, he’d returned to the normal Trevor, not the broody, miserably guilt-ridden, depressed Trevor who had been going through the motions ever since Shelby’s graduation.

Hell, he was smiling now as he crossed toward her, and that was some kind of miracle.

It didn’t seem fair he looked so good in baggy khaki shorts and a blue polo shirt that brought out his eyes. She was sure she looked the same as she always did, dressed in jeans and a black shirt, probably dirt on her face and her hair a mess from flying around most of the evening. What could he possibly find alluring about that?

There were half a dozen women drooling over Trevor as she watched him continue to cross to her. They all looked put together, clean, charming.

But he was walking to her, his eyes focused on her, and she knew that he wanted
her
.

Dangerous ground. Her mind always seemed to be traveling there. Somehow she’d turned over the new leaf and completely lost the ability to block out any attraction to Trevor.

“Hey.” They were far enough away so the crowd was a low buzz, so they could be hidden by the plane or the darkening sky.

“Hi. Want a sunset ride? It’ll cost you double.”

He looked at the plane suspiciously. “Nah, I’m good.”

Callie shook her head. “You face down criminals with guns and you’re afraid of a little flying?”

“I’m not afraid of flying. I’m afraid of hurtling to my death in a tiny piece of scrap metal.”

“Wuss.”

“Besides, you’ll cut the engine halfway through, pretend we’re crashing until I’m about to puke, and then laugh the rest of the damn flight.”

“Dan and his cousins loved it.”

“Better men than me, I guess.” He grinned and leaned against the airplane, facing west and the setting sun. They couldn’t have had better weather for Shelby’s party, and now the sunset was the perfect capper—a riot of purples and blues and oranges and pinks, the kind of sunset that made the biggest cynics sigh.

“I haven’t had a chance to thank you for this morning. I don’t know what was wrong with me, but I needed that sleep. Or I’d probably be around here snarling at everyone.” He reached out and took her hand in his, squeezed. “You’re a life saver.”

Callie shrugged, squinted at the disappearing sun. “I guess it was my turn. You’re usually the one saving my ass.”

His fingers linked with hers and she had to fight the urge to curl them around, to hold him there in this perfect moment.

“You know, right now, watching this sunset with you, this is the first time in two months I’ve wondered what it might be like to stay and the answer is, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.”

Her hand dropped from his. Hearing him say it, watching his profile glow in the orange swath of fading light, had her heart doing an uncomfortable dive in her chest.

Not with hope. No, she refused to call it hope, but it was something akin to hope and it was tempered with a very large dose of fear.

What if he did stay? Didn’t that put the events in her grandparents’ basement into a new and very possible light?

Fear multiplied. Her fingers curled into her palms, as if she could fight her way out of this blinding new fear.

No. He was just talk. A trick of some sleep, a great party and a beautiful sunset. She’d lose him in the predictable way—on a flight out of Pilot’s Point with everything as it should be. She wouldn’t have to be crowded with worry. She’d lose him to Seattle, the way she was supposed to.

He turned to face her then and everything shifted inside of her; the fear gave way to unknown warmth. He cupped her face with his hand and she tried to step away, but his other arm rested on her hip and pulled her toward him.

“Let me kiss you, Callie. Just for a minute. Or two.”

His lips skimmed hers, a feather-light touch. There was such a big part of her desperate to give in to it. Give in to him. She was so certain it was going to happen sooner or later. Why not let it be sooner?