“I would love to see the next farm you’re showing your clients,” I told my mom.
She got the right idea, and I slid into the back seat with the husband.
“Hi. I’m David,” I said as an introduction.
◊◊◊
While Mom showed them the next farm, I turned my phone back on. I made it a habit to turn it off when I flew so as to avoid any distractions. I had a slew of voicemails and text messages. Of course, I called my girlfriend first.
“Thank God!” Brook said when she answered. “I thought you might be hurt.”
God seemed to get a lot of credit today.
“Roy took over when we had to land …”
I had to relate the story three times. Once for Brook, then Cassidy, who conferenced in Fritz, and finally Roy’s wife.
◊◊◊
I was talking to the wife in the kitchen while my mom showed the husband the barn.
“I’m not sure I want an electric stove.”
“There’s always propane,” I suggested.
“I don’t want to have the view out my kitchen window marred by one of those ugly tanks,” she objected.
“They can bury one for you. When my mom gets back in, she can explain how that works.”
That seemed to satisfy her. She smiled brightly at me and walked back into the living room. The wife clearly had advanced to the point where she was trying to figure out where to put her furniture. I hated to be the one to tell her husband, but they’d bought a house. He just didn’t know it yet.
The back door banged open, startling me. Brook ran in and launched herself at me. I about fell down but managed to keep my feet as she wrapped my neck tightly and began to cry. Cassidy wasn’t far behind and made it a group hug.
My mom and the husband came in, and I pointed to the living room. Mom rolled her eyes and shook her head. From her expression, I dreaded the talk we would have later when she didn’t have clients around. I just prayed that my flying days weren’t over.
“I was afraid I’d lost you,” Brook finally got out.
“Oh, Baby. I was with Roy. He has to be the calmest person I know. If he hadn’t been there, I might have panicked when the engine died. With him in the cockpit, I never felt we were in danger,” I said to try to reassure her.
“The way his wife acted, we were sure you’d crashed,” Brook said to explain her reaction.
I was able to get loose of her and led Brook and Cassidy outside so we wouldn’t mess up my mom’s potential sale.
When we got outside, Brook wrapped her arms around me again and looked me in the eyes.
“I love you, David Dawson. I think I’ve taken you for granted the last few weeks. The thought of losing you told me that I need to mend my ways. I just couldn’t imagine our story ending this way.”
“Everything works out in the end,” I told her.
“That sounds too much like a fairy tale. What if it doesn’t?” Brook asked.
“Then it isn’t the end.”
She blinked at me.
“You really believe that?”
I gave her a kiss and smiled.
“Of course I do, because I love you too, Brook Davis.”
Cassidy had a big smile on her face and tears in her eyes. The last person I expected would get emotional was her. She was my tough little ninja. Ninjas didn’t have girl feelings. Brook, on the other hand, was all girl.
“Take us home, Cassidy. I bet he’s hungry, and I need to get my emotions under control, or he’ll never get a chance to eat,” Brook said.
That was a tough call. In the end, my stomach won out.
◊◊◊
When I arrived home, I watched the latest episode of our documentary with Brook and Cassidy while we ate. DVRs were a gift. I could zip through the commercials and watch what I wanted when I wanted. Now, if they would do that automatically, they would have something.
I smirked when Jeff caught Brook and Destiny’s fight.
“It must be ratings week,” I said.
“Why would you say that? That was terrible,” Brook complained.
“I think it’s also shark week. You might be right,” Cassidy said.
Jeff also showed Alan and his misdeeds, along with comments from several of my teammates. Jeff had bunched all the bad actions into one episode. Brook was upset. Channeling my PR agent, I told her to just be glad they got her name right. I think my earned karma from almost dying had balanced out in Brook’s eyes. I contended that everyone told me to man-up when this kind of stuff happened to me.
◊◊◊
Chapter 45 – Score! Friday November 11
For my photography class, we’d been assigned a new project. We were to create a photo album that had a theme but also showed different photographic techniques. When Brook spotted the photo album I was creating, she wanted to see it.
“‘A Moment in Time’?” she asked.
“Too corny?” I asked, and she rolled her eyes. “I thought it was clever. What’s a photograph if it isn’t a split second of frozen time that I capture through the lens of my camera?”
She ignored my questions and turned to the first two pictures; they were side by side. Both were pictures of the walnut trees on my farm, the river, and the bluff I someday wanted to build a house on. I’d set up the camera on the other side of the river, facing back towards where the farmhouse was.
She looked up at me in confusion.
