Mile High Love Page 2

  Cassie sat in her car, staring out the front windshield at the edge of the McNary Field air strip. She refused to let herself look up, knowing all too well the sights, and sounds of an air show. She only let go of the steering wheel when her aching hands couldn’t grip it any longer. The drive from Portland to Salem had been easy enough, but as she sat, motionless, unwanted memories crept up on her.

  She remembered looking up, as always with pride in her heart as her husband flew by. He was a great pilot, with a license to fly just about anything, but it was the little stunt planes he loved best. The way a plane maneuvered and twisted in the midst of a stunt was far more challenging than commuter flying. She’d never really understood it, but his confidence always touched her, and made her feel more at ease when she watched. She had absolute faith in his promise never to put himself needlessly in danger just to pull off a difficult stunt. Her eyes welled with tears as she bent her head bent forward to rest on the steering wheel. She never should have returned to an air show and placed herself in such a vulnerable position. Earlier today she was so sure she could handle it, that nine months was more than enough time to forget about a crumpled heap of metal, bursting into flames, taking the last of a lifetime of hopes and dreams away from her. She knew she was lying to herself again, trying to force something that was never going to right itself. She looked over at her purse as she started the car and remembered the picture of her daughter. “Dammit.” She hit her hand against the wheel and turned the engine back off.

  This business is the only thing I have left. If I run now, what kind of future will Abby have?

  “I can do this.” She tried to give herself a pep talk, and wiped her red rimmed eyes clear. “Andrew was right, I just need to focus on the work.” She opened the door and walked quickly, not allowing herself any extra time to change her mind. Her heart leapt through her skin when the show planes did a sweep directly overhead, but she kept her eyes forward, glued to the crowd for a sign of either one of her newly acquired partners.

  Wes must have recognized her instantly, she decided, since she’d only just reached the edge of the seating area when he showed up beside her. “Is everything okay?” He asked casually, “I mean, are you sure you’re all right with this?”

  Cassie was familiar with his voice, but it didn’t stop her from jumping when he touched her shoulder. “Of course, why?” She tried to play dumb but it was obvious by his reaction that he knew about her husband’s accident. “Okay,” she continued, more deliberate than before. “I guess if we’re bearing our souls... if I felt I had any choice at all, this is the last place I’d be.”

  Wes looked around and shrugged. “Well, everything’s pretty much under control for now, so there’s really no reason for you needlessly upset yourself by coming here.” He paused, noting by the look on her face that she wasn’t all that impressed by his new found concern for her. “What I mean is that we could meet anywhere, at your convenience, but it doesn’t have to be right now or here.”

  At least he had the good manners to try and correct himself she thought wryly. “I think enough things have been seen to without me being around if you know what I mean,” she winked at him, letting him know she wasn’t about to be put off. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you didn’t want me here, now why is that?”

  “I have no idea,” he threw his hands up, and flashed her that fake smile she was so fond of using on everyone else.

  “Enough small talk, where is he?”

  “Up there.” Wes pointed to towards the sky, but Cassie wasn’t about to look up.

  She could tell by the spectator’s faces that the show was nearing its end, and she knew in a matter of minutes each of the specific planes would do a finishing trick, and land one at a time on the strip before her as if taking a unique, final bow. It wasn’t until one plane after another made a safe landing that she began to relax a little, but then she heard a collective gasp that made the hair on the back of her neck rise.

  “Oh God, no!” She flung herself against Wes, clutching his shirt, knowing full well she would fall if he let her go.

  “Cassie it’s okay,” She could hear the fear in his voice at how quickly she’d unraveled, like he wasn’t really sure he could calm her back down. “Gunnar likes to finish all of the shows with a little something extra, you know, something for the crowd.”

  She heard his voice, and she forced herself to lesson her grip. “Something for the crowd,” she repeated without emotion. “How nice of him.” She let go of his shirt and tried to smooth out the wrinkles she’d made. “I’m sorry,” she breathed, tucking her hair behind her ears, and hoping to regain at least a little of her lost composure.

  “No, I’m sorry.” Wes continued to hold the back of her elbow, acting as a brace in case she needed it. “I should have arranged a definite meeting, instead of forcing you to come looking for us.”

  His last words were drowned out by the wild cheers of the crowd as Gunnar’s plane came to a stop on the tarmac. No one could possibly miss his plane, with its splashy bright red and white colors shouting out their presence, drawing every eye to the Pits Special SI-T, a timeless classic among airplane aficionados. She watched, nearly suspended in time as he lifted himself easily out of the cock pit, and jumped to the ground.

  “Gunnar,” she whispered, letting a slow, tender smile spread across her face at the sight of him.

  He took his time removing his hat and goggles, and when he was finished he let his hands glide along the

  smooth lines of his crisp, black hair, rewarding the groupies that had formed around him with a blinding, picture perfect smile.

  The sweet smell of candies, a whisper in the dark, a thousand mermaids, and all things magical,

  she mused, re -living the way she’d always described his beautiful, big brown eyes. It used to make

  him laugh every time he caught her staring at him, and he even went so far as to make her swear never to tell another living soul, for fear he’d die of embarrassment if anyone ever found the poem she’d wrote about him. A romantic goof is what he’d called her after he’d read it, but he kept it tucked under a picture of his father in his wallet, and there was nothing more precious to Gunnar than the memory of his father. She knew she should move, or at least make her presence known, but she couldn’t stop drinking in the sight of him. How he still used his hands to emphasize a point when he spoke, the way his eyes lit up when he told the worst of all possible jokes, and how much confidence he seemed to have gained over the years. He was nothing short of gorgeous, she marveled, something she hadn’t fully noticed when they were younger. In fact it was just her luck, she reasoned, eight years after he cut off all contact with her that she was going to have to face him now. She was going to have to be the one to take the initiative, with him looking better than any man had a right too, and her looking and feeling like absolute...dirt.

  Suddenly she was painfully aware of how her hair, wet and sweaty from the hot sun, stuck to the side of her face like some overcooked strands of spaghetti, and how she’d managed to dress herself this morning as if she didn’t have a clue how to put two colors together.

  “Do you really want to do this now?” Wes gave her hand a quick squeeze and brought her back from her private reflections.

  “Oh yes,” she tried to sound sure of herself, but she wasn’t.

  “In that case,” he relented like a man who knew he’d been beat. “What are we waiting for?”

  “Oh I don’t know.” She watched one of the many females around Gunnar practically drape herself against him like a second shirt and winced. “Maybe a makeover, a pair of four inch heels, or a slinky black cocktail dress.”

  “What?”

  “Oh nothing.” She patted him on the shoulder, ignoring the- my new partner’s a raving loon, stare he was giving her. “It’s now or never, so lead the way.” She motioned for him to go first, but stopped him as soon as he took a step. “Wait. I have one more question.”

  “Yes?” His voice was odd, a bit more strained than before.

  “Does he always have this many...admirers,” she did her best to be vague.

  “You mean does he always have this many women crawling all over him?” He never did let her gloss things over.

  “Ah, yeah.” She scratched the back of her head. “I guess that’s what I meant.”

  “Always.” He shook his head and laughed. “I don’t know what the grand attraction is, but ever since he got his pilot’s license and started booking shows, women just can’t get enough of him. I know he keeps himself more fit than he used to, but really, you’d think women would see past that macho fly boy thing, and be more attracted to the brains behind the operation.”

  “I see.” She played along. “And just who might that be?”

  He bounced his brows twice in reply, before putting his arm around her and forcing her to go that last little bit. “Come on you, quit stalling. You said it yourself. It’s now or never.”

  She wasn’t sure, but he sounded as if he was dreading this moment almost as much as she was.

  “Hey buddy.” Wes pushed his way through the crowd, and stepped in front of Cassie, blocking Gunnar’s view. “You are never going to guess who I ran into today.”

  After naming about ten people, some of which were old friends sooner forgotten, Cassie got annoyed and stepped forward. She might have been able to speak, but she was barely able to breathe under the scrutiny of his loaded glare. A chilled, black silence hung around them as he stood motionless, his eyes hitting her again and again. First with curiosity and confusion, then for the sheer pleasure it gave him to size her up. The smirk on his face when he was done was enough to show everyone how thrilled he was to see her looking so lousy.

  “Hi.” She finally mana
ged, making a mental note that this day would go down as one of her all time worst.

  “Cassandra.” He finally acknowledged her. “What’s the matter did you run out of old friends to look up? Need a shoulder to cry on?” His voice dripped with a heavy dose of sarcasm.

  The verbal attack drove Cassie right out of her distraction over his good looks, and pricked her anger. She forced herself to remember him as the boy who used to follow her around like a lost puppy, not the other way around. “No need to be purposely cruel,” she boldly met his gaze. “I humble myself before your obvious greatness.” She returned with a little sarcasm of her own.

  “That’ll be the day,” he conceded, and then dismissed her as if she was too insignificant to waste any more of his precious time on.

  She was too angry to take the hint and just leave it. He was probably the one person in the world who knew how much she hated being ignored, and the fact that he was using that as a weapon in front of at least a dozen onlookers made it even more obnoxious. “Excuse me,” she cleared her throat after a few minutes. “I really do need to talk to you, it’s- it’s about our business, and I’m sure if you could force yourself to play the adult for just a few minutes we could clear some things up.”

  He was still trying to act as if she didn’t exist when the meaning of her words sunk in. “Did you say business?”

  “Yes, I’m talking about the business of mine that you forced your way into?” She could almost believe he didn’t know what she was talking about. She stole a quick glance at Wes, but he was looking the other direction, avoiding Gunnar’s eyes as well.

  “He’s the pilot, and I’m the brains, remember.” Wes was barely audible but Cassie heard him loud and clear.

  “Lady, you must be out of your mind if you think I would ever force my way into anything you had to offer.”

  “Are you kidding me?” She bent forward enough to make eye contact with Wes. “This is classic,” she started to laugh, feeling like a giant weight had been lifted from her shoulders. “Wesley, did you forge your partners name on the legal documents, because if you did, we are soo done here.” She waited for a reply that didn’t come.

  A cry of relief came from her lips, “Yes!” she hissed, and pointed at Wes. “No wonder you didn’t want me to meet with you yet, your partner didn’t even know what was happening, and it looks to me that if he had, none of this would have gone down in the first place.” She placed a stiff hand to her head, and saluted Wes first, and then Gunnar. “Well gentlemen, it’s been fun,” she turned on her heel and headed straight for her car. “You’ll be hearing from my lawyer,” she called over her shoulder on her way out the gates. Finally, she breathed a sigh of relief as she left the air show and that arrogant, preening bully behind. Something had finally gone right!

  “Cassie,” she heard him call out and picked up her pace. “Cassandra wait!” Gunnar caught up to her right as she was about to pull her car door shut. “I wouldn’t celebrate just yet.” He wedged himself between the door and her seat and knelt down. “Wes has my power of attorney, so my not knowing about this doesn’t make it null and void, it just makes it more annoying,” she heard the irritation in his voice as Wes caught up to them.

  “I’m sorry,” she put the key in the ignition and turned to face him, “Are you speaking to me now?” She pointed to her chest and looked around behind her. “Cause a moment before I let you in on “the brain’s” big secret over there, I was sure you were completely ignoring me.”

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself,” he rested his arm casually on the edge of her seat and leaned towards her. “You’re not that easy to ignore,” he whispered in her ear and remained close.

  His eyes were doing their thing, dancing and playing with her, making her intensely aware of his ability to make her feel like the center of the universe. He had always done that, completely unraveling her every time she even remotely tried to close him off. That is, until he decided to close her off. “Why?” She smelled the fresh scent of newly applied cologne and had to remind herself to focus on the conversation. “Why, if you had no prior knowledge, and you’re now aware it involves me would you want anything more to do with it? You made it very clear that you didn’t want anything to do with me a long time ago.” She tried to remain aloof, but she looked away when the words came out.

  “Maybe it’s time to move on.” He toyed with a lock of hair resting above her ear. “Maybe, I think not hating you for a while could prove to be far more interesting.”

  Cassie was starting to lower her guard. She shivered when her eyes met his, and was shocked to find that she was wondering what it would be like to have his lips brush against hers. She caught herself leaning towards him, and shook her head free of such a ridiculous notion. “That’s it?” She knew there had to be something more.

  “Well that, and the fact that I’ve never known Wes here to make a bad financial move in all the years we’ve been in business together, so if he bought half of your company, then he must have had a damn good reason for doing it. Even if I didn’t know anything about it till now.” The irritation was back, and so was the look he gave Wes.

  “This means nothing to you.” She felt the heavy weight return to her shoulders. “To you everything’s just a big game. But this is my life Gunnar, and I don’t want you two in it, even if it was my husband that initiated the sale.”

  She watched him close up, saw it the moment the comment left her lips. “This isn’t high school anymore, you can’t dictate what does or doesn’t take place,” he stiffened. “In fact, that’s what really gets to you about this doesn’t it?” he shook his head. “You can’t control everything out here in the real world and it terrifies you.”

  She looked over to Wes, who had been quietly watching their every move, and then back to Gunnar. “Look, it’s obvious this nightmare is just beginning, and there’s no way out of this for me, so I’ll just say what I came here to say and be done with it.”

  “This ought to be rich.”

  It took everything she had to ignore him, but she vowed not to stoop to his level. “You may have succeeded in pushing your way into my business when I was too vulnerable to fight, but I own fifty one percent of the stock in our business, and as CEO of the company, you two had better not make any more decisions, on any level, without consulting with me first.”

  “That’s ridiculous.” Gunnar looked to Wes, instantly disliking the look he got back.

  “Go ahead, ask “the man,” over there.” She motioned in Wes’s direction. “I own the controlling stock, and if you want to make any more moves, you have to clear them through me first.”

  “The hell I will,” he growled.

  “Like it or not God’s gift, those are the rules.” She leaned in close, just inches from his face.

  “I forgot what a mouth you had on you.” He turned the tables on her by staying put. “It’s gonna get you into trouble one of these days,” he smiled, completely knocking her off guard. “I told you a long time ago I could find a much better use for it.” He ran his finger across her lips.

  “And I remember telling you I wasn’t interested,” she pushed his hand away, shut the door and started the car. She was going to just drive off, but he knocked against the window, making it obvious he wasn’t finished.

  “Just where is the love of your life anyway? Did he get tired of your wicked little mouth and decide to leave you, is that why he offered Wes half your company?”

  She heard Wes groan in the background, and saw him give the cut sign to Gunnar, but he was too far gone to notice. He wanted the last little jab, but Cassie wasn’t about to give it to him. “You could say that,” she started to reply and saw the look of triumph pass across his angular, tanned face. “You see, he died nine months ago, and I just didn’t have the energy to deal with his death and fight for the company at the same time. That’s how Wes got away with half the shares.” Finally, she’d managed to wipe that annoying smile from his face, and shut his mouth. She thanked Ben for that, and looked up one last time at a pair of chocolate brown eyes she could easily lose herself in if she stayed any longer. “Remember what I said.” She started to pull forward but he still had his hands on the car. She waited for what was sure to come but he just stood there motionless, daring her to look away. “See you in California,” she broke the contact, and started to drive. She could see him in her rearview mirror eyeing Wes angrily, and she could hear him call out after her.