Flight (15 page)

“
It’s really too bad Jeff couldn’t come to dinner.” Eva Brison said after dinner. “I even made his favorite pie.”

Charlie
felt bad about it. She wanted to invite Jeff for dinner, but wasn’t sure if it would be a good idea. She didn’t want him to misconstrue her invitation as something more. But she knew it was time to tell her parents about Jeff. Maybe they even guessed the truth since he had been absent for their Sunday dinners for a few weeks now.

“
Mom, about Jeff,”

“
Why don’t you bring the pie to him tomorrow?” Eva suggested. “I’m sure he’ll enjoy that.”

“
Okay, Mom, I’ll bring the pie to him at work tomorrow.” She agreed. “I do want to tell you…”

Eva sighed as the phone started ringing.
“Sorry, darling, can we talk a little later?”

“
Sure, Mom.” Charlie sighed inwardly. “I’ll see you later. Thanks for dinner and have a good night.”

“
Goodnight, darling.” Eva said as she quickly went to answer the phone.

John
Brison dropped his daughter off at work on Monday morning in his freshly tuned car.

“
Thanks for the lift, Dad.” Charlie said, getting out with her work bag as well as holding the box that contained the homemade pie for Jeff.

“
You’re welcome, honey. Have a good day.”

“
You too, Dad.” She waved as he drove away.

She was walking towards the doors when Ryle walked up beside her.

“Hey you,”

“
Hey,” She smiled, her eyes skimming over his attractive face.

Ryle looked down at her like he wanted to kiss her. He took a glance around and turned back to her, bending his head to kiss her.

“Ryle,” She protested half-heartedly even as she responded to his kiss.

“
How are you this morning?”

Missing you; she wanted to say. Instead she smiled.
“Good. How are you?”

“
If we find somewhere private, I’ll show you.” He said huskily.

“
Ryle!” She muttered, hiding a smile of pleasure.

“
Did your dad drop you off just now?” He asked her.

“
Yes.”

“
You should’ve called me if you needed a lift.”

“
Thanks, I didn’t want to take you out of your way.”

“
It’s not, if it’s for you.” He said simply.

“
My dad was coming this way to meet friends for coffee, anyway.”

“
What’s that?” Ryle nodded to the box she was holding so carefully.

“
It’s a pie. For Jeff.” She added.

“
Heh.”

“
My mom made it for him; it’s his favorite. She thought he would be going to the Sunday dinner, but since he didn’t she wanted me to bring it to him.”

“
Hey, you don’t have to explain.” He said softly, bending to give her another quick kiss.

They walked into the building together. After the security checkpoints, she headed to her office while he went to the lockers.

It was early still, but she saw Jeff at his office as she walked by. She walked up the metal steps toward his office area. He seemed engrossed in his work, and she knocked lightly on his door.

“
Charlie, hey,” He said, surprised to see her.

“
Good morning, Jeff.”

“
Good morning.”

“
How are you?” She asked. He looked tired. And sad.

He shrugged.
“Okay.”

“
How’s the E series coming along?”

“
It’s coming along slowly.” He admitted. “We’re stuck at the wind tunnel testing.”

“
Oh.”

“
And you? Is the testing program going well?”

“
So far we’re on target.”

“
So you’ll make it for this year’s Toulouse reveal?”

“
We’re hoping.” She said.

“
Good luck.”

“
Thanks.” She smiled. Then remembering the box she held. “I have a delivery for you.”

“
What is it?” He asked, intrigued.

She handed it to him.
“Your favorite cherry pie. Homemade.” She added.

“
Your mom?”

“
Yes.”

He put it on his desk and opened the box.
“It looks really good.”

“
I’m sure it tastes good too.” She grinned. “She made it because she thought you would be coming to Sunday dinner. She saved this for you since you weren't there.”

Jeff laughed.
“I guess I should call and thank her.”

“
Yeah, I’m sure she would like to hear from you. In fact, I’m sure my dad would too. They really liked you.” Charlie said.

“
I liked them too, they're good folks.”

“
Jeff, you know, you’re still very welcome at Sunday dinners, any time.” She told him lightly.

“
Thanks.” He smiled.

“
And don’t be a stranger, come and join my team for lunch when you get the chance.” She said.

“
All right,”

“
I’ll talk to you later.”

“
Yeah.” He murmured, watching as she walked away.

Today Ryle was working in Bay 8, just across from where
Charlie was working with her team. It was a large area, but she still caught glimpses of him once in a while. When she and her team went to lunch, they walked by Bay 8. Ryle winked at her as she walked by and that put a happy smile on her face for the rest of lunch.

She and her team were starting lunch when Jeff and a couple of other guys from his team joined their table.

“Hey,” Jeff said, sitting down beside her.

“
Hey,” She smiled.

It was a relaxing lunch. Jeff seemed more like his old self, friendly and easy-going. For dessert, Jeff shared the cherry pie with everyone.

“Yum! This is really good pie!” Julie said.

“
Yeah, the best cherry pie I’ve had.” Leo said and the others all nodded.

“
Where did you get this? I want to pick one up.” Julie said.

Jeff grinned.
“A very special friend gave it to me.” He said, giving Charlie a little smile.

After lunch, the group left the cafeteria together.

“That pie was a hit, huh?” Jeff said, falling in step beside Charlie.

“
For you.” She teased.

“
Well, I could share the credit…”

“
It’s okay, as long as everyone loved it, I’m sure my mom will be happy.” She said.

“
She is a good cook with a big heart.” Jeff grinned.

“
Very true. And at least I got a piece. She wouldn’t bring out the pie yesterday because you weren’t there. She said it was your favorite and we’re not eating it unless you were there.” She told him and they both laughed.

They were still talking and laughing when Ryle walked into the cafeteria and headed straight towards them.
Azure blue eyes narrowed slightly as they took on the happy picture Charlie and Jeff made, the two of them walking close together and smiling.

Charlie
met Ryle’s eyes briefly, but looked away as they passed each other. She was tempted to turn around and go back to the cafeteria with him, not so much to explain, but just to be with him. She sighed. It was hard to pretend she didn’t care when she did.

The rest of the day went by slowly. She didn’t see Ryle again, and it wasn’t until she was packing up to go when he called.

“Hey, do you need a ride?”

Her heart sped up at that suggestive question.
“Let me think about it.” She answered as coolly as she could.

“
Ten minutes, in the parking lot.” Although his words were soft, his tone was commanding, but she didn’t mind. When he sounded authoritative like that, it was actually very sexy.

“
All right.”

Ryle was waiting outside the doors when she left the building ten minutes later. He had changed out of his overalls, and was wearing his staple T-shirt, jeans and
the lambskin leather jacket.

“
Hey,” She started to say, but he didn’t give her a chance to finish her greeting.

He dragged her against him, pressing her back to the wall beside the door, and kissed her passionately. She was too surprised to push him away. Instead, she grasped the soft
material of his jacket, holding herself up as her legs seemed to have turned to jelly by his passionate assault.

“
Ryle! Someone might see!” She gasped only after he finally released her mouth.

“
Good.” He muttered possessively, nuzzling against her neck.

She wiggled out of his arms. But her heart was bursting with happiness at the thought that he could be jealous.

“Can we go? I’m getting cold.”

He sighed,
“My car’s this way.”

They were going to Ryle’s place to spend the rest of the evening there.

“Did you have a good round of golf with your grandfather yesterday?” Charlie asked as they drove towards his place. It was close to the plant; less than ten minutes by car.

“
Yeah. He might be eighty, but he can still play a hell of a game.” Ryle said, grinning.

“
Wow, he must be very fit.”

“
He’s been taking more care ever since my grandmother died of a heart attack twelve years ago.” He told her. “He took an early retirement; and was more careful with his fitness and diet.”

“
Twelve years? He would’ve been sixty-eight. That’s hardly early retirement.” She stated.

Ryle laughed,
“Believe me, to my grandfather, that is early retirement. He still works a little bit now, even though we all tell him to take it easy.”

“
He sounds like an energetic man.”

“
He is. He gave us a scare a few months ago when he had an attack. We thought it was a heart attack. But it was angina.”

“
Thank God,”

“
Yes.” Ryle said it with such heartfelt emphasis that she smiled.

“
You love him very much, don’t you?” She watched his face, loving every plain and angle of it.

“
Yes. He’s the closest family I have. And he’s my mentor. “ He said. “I have uncles and cousins, but my grandfather is the closest link to my mother.”

“
Your parents…?”

They had arrived in front of Ryle’s bungalow. He switched off the engine, but they didn’t immediately get out of the car. He seemed deep in thought and
Charlie had to suppress the urge to hold him.

“
My parents died in a boating accident eleven years ago.”

“
I’m sorry,” She whispered, she reached out to touch his hand that was still holding the gear shift.

“
It was just a year after my grandmother passed away, so it was especially hard for my grandfather.” Ryle murmured. He lifted the car keys to show her the gyroscope dangling from it. “This was a present from my parents. It was attached to the keys of a car they gave me on my sixteenth birthday.”

“
They sounded like amazing people.” She murmured, gently touching the gyroscope and spinning it. She didn’t get a very good look at it the other day when he gave it to Megan to distract her. But now that she had a better look at it, she could see that it was made of sterling silver and intricately detailed.