Page 38 of Soaring Sweethearts

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Heart pounding a mile a minute, Constance attempted to compose herself before opening the back door. No one knew she’d kissed Jack, and she wanted to keep it that way until she’d had a chance to talk things through with him and understand where things stood. Because even as his searing kiss still tingled on her lips, and the sweet and smoky taste of him lingered on her tongue, her emotions were as twisted up as ever.

She had thought it would make things better if she could just know for certain whether he had feelings for her, but it only made things one hundred times more complicated. He was just as bad an idea as he ever was. He was still a pilot with all the risks that entailed. There were a hundred ways he could break her heart, even if he didn’t mean to.

And what were his feelings? They hadn’t exactly talked about them. Maybe it didn’t mean that much to him. After all, he’d probably kissed lots of women. Maybe he was just humoring her. Maybe it was a pity kiss.

The mere thought made her clench her fists and take a deep breath.

No, that wasn’t a pity kiss. Even she could tell that, inexperienced as she was. But if he meant it, if he craved her as much as she craved him, where did that leave them?

It was all too much to think about when she had to face her family. She fished the key to the back door out from the flowerpot where they hid it in case anyone ever locked themselves out, unlocked the door, and put the key back in its hiding place. Hand trembling ever so slightly, she turned the doorknob and let herself in. The kitchen was dark, but there was a light in the front parlor.

Treading softly, she found her mother dozing in an armchair in her faded floral housecoat, a cup of tea on the small table beside her.

“Mom,” Constance murmured, just loud enough to wake her.

Her mother jerked awake, and her arm flailed, knocking over the cup of tea, which shattered on the rug. “Constance, you scared me half to death! Where have you been?”

“Just in the back yard, Mom. I climbed up in the old tree house to think.” It was the best excuse she could come up with on short notice. When she was a kid, she’d hidden up there all the time. Of course, she wasn’t a kid anymore and hadn’t done it in years, but at least it was plausible. “Let me help you clean that up.”

She hurried to the kitchen closet to find a broom and dustpan and returned to start sweeping up the shards of pottery, grateful for the excuse not to meet Mom’s gaze. “I’m sorry I scared you.”

“Sweetheart, we were all so worried for you. Your father and Ernie are out searching. They thought you wandered away. I know you were upset about Doug, but what in heaven’s name possessed you to leave the house?”

“I don’t know.” That was the truth. “I couldn’t sleep, and I needed to get away and clear my head.” Also true, even if she was omitting a few things. She’d never been a good liar, having done it so rarely, but hopefully Mom would be too relieved by her return to notice.

She carried the dustpan full of shards to the wastebin in the kitchen and emptied it, then returned to the parlor to do one more pass to get any little splinters she might have missed.

“Well, don’t you worry about Doug. Your father is going to have a talk with him tomorrow. I’m sure whatever happened between you can be mended.”

Constance doubted that very much, and at that moment, she didn’t particularly want to patch things up with Doug, even though it meant the end of all her carefully laid plans for the future. Both she and Doug deserved better than a tepid marriage based on practicality rather than love. If the day had shown her anything, it was that her heart wasn’t in that relationship, no matter how much she willed it otherwise. “No, we should let him be. I don’t think Doug and I would have worked out in the end. He was right to break things off.”

Doing a final check of the carpet, she carried the dustpan and broom back to the kitchen, emptied the dustpan, and put everything away. There was still the spilled tea to deal with. If she didn’t clean that up, it would stain, so she got a metal mixing bowl, filled it with soapy water, and grabbed a dishtowel and scrub brush.

As she kneeled on the carpet to start scrubbing, her mother reached out and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have to keep a stiff upper lip with me. I know what high hopes you had for Doug. I’m sure this is all a misunderstanding. Jack was just being protective of you and didn’t mean anything by his behavior. He’s a good boy, but sometimes he takes things too far. I’m sure he didn’t mean to scare away Doug, but the way he was acting, I’m not surprised Doug took it wrong. Don’t you worry, though. Your father will set things straight.”

She looked up into her mother’s face, so full of love and care, and she couldn’t muster the energy to argue any further. The last thing she wanted was for Doug to return, especially when she hadn’t sorted things out with Jack yet, but exhaustion descended like a heavy blanket. It was the middle of the night, and all she wanted to do was go to bed and sleep. Hopefully, her roiling emotions would settle into clarity by morning.

At that moment, the front door burst open, and Ernie and her father came tromping in followed by Jack.

Constance staggered to her feet, not at all eager to face the barrage of questions she knew were coming. Jack tried to catch her eye, but she avoided looking at him, focusing instead on Ernie and her father.

“Where in God’s name have you been?” Ernie put his hands on his hips and glared at her. “We’ve been worried sick. We were ready to call the police, but Jack said we should check one last time at home before we did anything rash. What were you thinking disappearing like that?”

Thank heavens they didn’t call the police! What a mess that would have been. “I went out to the old treehouse to think. That’s all. I’m sorry I worried you.”

“You’re damned right you worried us,” Ernie bellowed.

“Language,” Mom scolded. “And keep your voice down, or you’ll wake the twins.”

Ernie took a deep breath and let it out. “Sorry, Mom. I was just worried about Constance. We all were.” He turned back to Constance. “Don’t disappear like that again. You scared us half to death.”

Exhausted as she was, a little spark of indignation ignited within her. “I am sorry. Truly, I am. But I am a grown woman, and I think I have proven many times over that I am responsible enough to take care of myself. You should know me better than to think I would go off and do something desperate and reckless.” Though, truth be told, going to Jack’s house had been both desperate and reckless—not because she didn’t trust him but because she didn’t trust herself.

She stole the briefest of glances at Jack, and the slightest hint of a smile curled his lips. The sight sent a little thrill straight to her core. Mercy, that man was irresistible.

Pop let out a heavy sigh. “Well, all’s well that ends well. I just thank the Lord that you’re safe. Jack, you should go home and get some sleep. Thank you for your help. We should all get to bed. We can talk about this in the morning.”