Page 79 of Landing Love

“Oh? So if I call up Pritchard and ask⁠—”

“Well, everyone that matters, that is.”

“And who matters?” she asked, putting her chin on her hand and leaning in, eyebrows raised.

“You, me, the good Lord above.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I know nothing about flying and can’t opine on the matter, and the cheek of suggesting God thinks you’re great is too much to bear. That leaves you.”

“And who knows me better than me?” He stood up and walked around to her, putting his hands on her shoulders. “You’re safe with me. I’d never let anything happen to you.” He kissed her on the head.

Junior cooed.

“See? Junior agrees with me.”

“I already agreed to go with you. I’m just nervous is all.”

“Perfectly understandable.”

She finished the last bite of her breakfast and began gathering the dishes to take to the kitchen.

“Now all we have to do is drop off Junior with my mother, and we can be on our way. I already packed the picnic basket.”

While Ann cleaned up the breakfast dishes, he cleaned up Junior and took him up to his new nursery to put on clean clothes for Grandma. It was a charming room, painted in robin’s egg blue. Ann had painted a border of stenciled yellow ducks around the ceiling. A mobile with tiny, stitched forest animals hung above the crib. Ann made it herself, just as she made all his crib bedding and the stuffed animals piled in the corner.

Bill put Junior in a tiny blue sweater and brown velveteen pants to keep him warm on the crisp November morning.

Heading back down the stairs, he waited for Ann in the sitting room where he went through his daily ritual of showing Junior all the pictures on the mantel and telling him who they were, including one very special picture with Grandma Randall and his father, Roger Prince. “You see he was your father, and I’m your papa. And we both love you very much.”

Junior yanked a lock of Bill’s unruly hair. “Such a grip, my wee one.” Bill carefully loosened the tiny fingers.

“I’m ready,” said Ann, sweeping into the room, pulling on her coat over the flowing pants he’d advised her to wear. She took Junior so that Bill could put on his coat, and then they were ready to go. They walked down the newly refurbished, bright white steps of their front porch and put Junior in his baby carriage. All was well with the world.

Ann’s heart threatened to pound out of her chest as she rounded the corner of the hangar and saw the plane waiting on the grass runway. It was large and fully enclosed, as promised, but she had to tamp down the urge to run right back into the hangar and stay.

“This is the Lawson C-1 that Hank and I are planning to buy. She’s the plane we’ll be flying today. You’ll be in the back in whichever of the passenger seats you choose.”

He gestured for her to climb the steep rolling stairs beside the plane. This was it. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to climb up and into the body of the airplane. It was more spacious than she expected, and the armchairs for passengers looked quite comfortable. If only there weren’t so many windows.

Look away from the windows, Ann. This would be fine. Nothing bad would happen. Bill would keep her safe. He was right behind her. There was nothing at all to worry about. Not plummeting from the sky, not the engine dying, not crash landing and leaving Junior an orphan…

“Come here.” He wrapped his arms around her. “Everything is going to be all right. Take a deep breath.”

She complied.

“You’re safe with me. You’re always safe with me.” Tightening his arms around her, he kissed her on the cheek.

She nodded against his shoulder, knowing full well she would be perfectly safe on this flight. Hadn’t she watched birds with envy when she was young? If they could fly, why couldn’t she? Besides, Bill did it several times a week, and no harm had come to him.

“Can I help you to your seat?” he said, gallant and suave as a maître d’.

Summoning all her courage, she picked a seat at the front with a clear view of the cockpit. Once settled, she heaved a sigh of relief. This wasn’t so bad. There were walls around her and a roof over her head. It would be like a Ferris wheel, up high but perfectly safe. She settled into her seat and consciously stopped herself from gripping the walls.

A man stepped up to start the propeller. Then Bill started the engine. She vibrated like a tuning fork as the engine roared to life. The plane began to move, slowly at first and then faster and faster and… She closed her eyes at the moment of takeoff, too terrified to look out at the nothing that was holding her up.

They were airborne, and suddenly their motion grew smooth. There was a weight on her chest from the acceleration that eased as they climber higher. She opened her eyes a crack, checking that the reassuring walls of the fuselage were still intact around her. Opening them wider, she took in the blue of the sky and the small buildings below, looking like a child’s playthings. Then fascination overcame fear, and she turned from side to side, marveling at the sights she was seeing. She truly was a bird in the sky.

The world opened below her. She could make out familiar landmarks—the airfield, Nassau Hospital, the Long Island Railroad tracks. She thought she could even see their house from here.