Page 21 of Plane Passion

She slowed and circled low over the crowd. The passenger in the front cockpit stood.

He grasped Vera’s knee.

The woman climbed out onto the wing, seating herself with her feet dangling.

Madness. Utter madness.

Ernie squeezed.

“Ow,” said Vera.

He let her go and mumbled, “Sorry.”

One circuit and then another.

The crowd went wild. Everyone was standing and screaming their cheers. He found himself on his feet right along with everyone else.

On the third circuit, the woman on the wing climbed back into the cockpit.

Millie flew up for one last loop-the-loop and dropped down for the softest landing he’d ever seen. Relief flooded him seeing her safely on the ground, followed by inexplicable exuberance.

She climbed out of her plane along with the passenger, and they both took a bow. The crowd gave them a roaring standing ovation. He clapped as hard as he could and hooted right along with everyone else. Vera climbed up on the bench so that she could see, leaning on his shoulder for balance.

Millie and her stunt woman bowed again and again. People threw bouquets of flowers onto the field. Millie waved and smiled.

Even with the show over, Ernie’s heart pounded double time. He was lost in the moment, caught up with the crowd. Which was why he failed to object when Vera said she needed Millie’s autograph. Again. She said she had something better than a silly old cocktail napkin for Millie to sign.

Stealing out of their seats as the applause went on, they climbed down and joined a growing line of well-wishers bent on seeing their heroine up close.

He waited in a daze, utterly floored by her performance. Why would she want to fly the mail when she could do this?

But he knew the answer. Impressive as all of this was, she wasn’t setting records. She didn’t only want the adoration of a roaring crowd. She wanted to be remembered. Applause wasn’t enough. She needed to go down in the history books. Just like him. Damn it all.

The line crept forward. Streams of people headed back to their cars.

What was he going to say when he got to the front of the line? How could he possibly explain his presence? And she was bound to give him trouble about Vera, who had been looking at him with worryingly hopeful puppy-dog eyes of late. Despite her protestations to the contrary, she gave every impression that she was hoping for more. But that was something to worry about later.

As they got closer, he decided the best policy was silence. He would let Vera do the talking. Surely, Millie would be kind in her presence. She’d wait until they were in private to give him trouble.

Millie caught his eye as they approached the front of the line, and her eyebrows rose as high as they could go.

Oh, no. This was going to be deeply embarrassing.

He turned his eyes to his shoes.

When it was their turn, Vera strode right up to Millie, waving.

“Hello again, Miss Aldrich! Ernie and I just loved your show. Isn’t he a sweetheart for bringing me?”

Millie’s smile tightened. “He sure is!”

“I know I have that wonderful, autographed napkin already, but would you mind signing this photo of Ernie and me?” She pulled a rigid envelope from her purse and slid a picture from their first date out of it. They were standing in front of an airplane at the county fair, and the stars in Vera’s eyes were unmistakable. This was no good at all. “Make it out to both of us. We’re going to treasure this for the rest of our lives.”

Damn it. He’d tried to pretend he and Vera were on the same page about their relationship, but obviously, they weren’t. There was no ignoring the weight of her expectations now. But he really liked her, and he didn’t want to have to break up with her so soon. And if he did, he’d be proving Millie right, which was unacceptable.

“Of course, Vera,” Millie said with a kindly smile.

“You remembered my name!” She squeezed Ernie’s arm. “Ernie, she remembered me!”