Whitney in Charge (23 page)
Authors: Diane Craver
Tim laughed. “Women will love seeing two hunks on the air.”
“Have you thought anymore about taping a show on the worst first dates
?” Regan asked.
Whitney put her arm under the table and put her hand on Jack’s knee. After she squeezed it, Jack grinned at her.
“Hey, Whit, you aren’t answering,” Regan said.
Casey gave a mischievous smile. “What’s going on with you two? Are you playing footsie under the table?”
“What’s footsie?” Lily asked. “Is that when you kick someone?”
Whitney shook her head at her little niece. “No, honey. Your dad’s being silly. What’s the question?”
“I asked if you had thought about putting the worst first dates on. I think guys might like to see what to avoid,” Regan said.
What had she started with her innocent knee squeeze? Jack’s fingers stroking the inside of her thigh stimulated her sexual awareness a bit too much with her family present. At this rate they better skip dessert, so they could leave the restaurant faster. “I might. Ben doesn’t seem to care if I do.”
“Have you air lifted any other beautiful women, Jack?” Tim asked.
“Not since Whitney,” Jack said.
“I think you should talk about silly things people do to food,” Lily said. “Daddy puts ketchup on his potato chips.”
Casey arched his eyebrows at his daughter. “It’s not silly. It’s like putting ketchup on fries. You put ketchup on your macaroni and cheese.”
“I think we have a budding host here,” Regan said.
Tim grinned. “Jack, isn’t it hard to eat with one hand?”
Jack removed his hand from her leg and placed it back on the table. “I had to scratch an itchy leg.”
Shannon rolled her eyes. “Tim used to get itchy legs when we dated.”
Caitlyn groaned. “Please don’t share your dating stories with us.” She put her fork down. “Before school starts, you should have some high school kids model clothes. Everyone likes to see what to buy for a new school year.”
“That’s a great suggestion.” Whitney took a bite of her enchilada.
“I’ll see if we can get a few stores to donate the clothes,” Regan said.
“We could also do makeovers for a few teachers,” Shannon suggested.
“Oh, I get it.” Regan stopped eating her Mexican rice. “You want to be one of the teachers to get one.”
Shannon frowned. “But I won’t be teaching any college classes.”
Their show better be a success. She never thought Shannon would actually stop teaching. “I thought you might still substitute at the high school or teach one class at the college.”
Shannon nodded. “I’ll substitute if it doesn’t interfere with our TV schedule.”
“Since you three are celebrities now,” Tim said, “is it going to be okay if I take my woman away for ten days next month?”
Brandon gave his dad an alarmed glance. “Where are you two going?”
“I’m taking your mother on an Alaskan cruise.”
“I thought you wanted to surprise her,” Whitney said to Tim.
Tim shrugged. “I did but I decided she’d like to know where we were going.”
“And he couldn’t keep it a secret.” Shannon looked directly at her. “I know it’s not the best timing, but I’m so excited about going to Alaska. I’ve always wanted to go.”
“Why can’t Caitlyn and I go too?” Brandon asked.
Caitlyn smiled. “They want alone time.”
“We’ll usually tape ahead. Since we only…” she had trouble focusing on her words because Jack was so drop-dead handsome. He had to be the sexiest guy eating Mexican food.
“I think she has another itch. You better scratch it for her,” Casey said.
Her cheeks burned hot. “I was going to say that since our show is only on Tuesdays and Thursdays, you might only miss three shows.”
Caitlyn’s cell phone rang. After she got it out of her purse, she said to her mom, “I need to take this. It’s from the new soccer coach. Excuse me.”
As Caitlyn moved her chair to leave them, Regan said, “When do you think we can do the secret desire contest?”
“I’m thinking we can get that contest started after we have the Gatlinburg Contest winners on.” Well, maybe not, she thought. They’d needed money first to make someone’s dream possible. “Actually I need to check with the CEO about the budget for this contest expense.”
Jack said, “Speaking of secret desires—”
“Your desires aren’t exactly secret, man,” Casey said.
Jack laughed. “Not mine. Whitney’s been working on hers. She started taking drum lessons.”
Shannon sipped her water. “How do you like playing the drums?”
“I’ve only had one lesson but I’m sure I’ll like it.”
Regan twirled an auburn curl around her finger. “Don’t get too good on the drums. We don’t want to lose you to a band.”
Caitlyn returned to the table. “I won’t be able to babysit Lily tomorrow. I have soccer practice.”
“Maybe Lily could go with you when you tape,” Casey said.
“We’re going to tape more than one show,” Regan said.
Lily said, “Mommy, ask Grandma or Josie. They love me a lot.”
“I love you, too, Lily.” Whitney glanced around at the table.
Her family
. She felt an immense love for each family member. She’d never felt closer to her sisters. They’d chosen their husbands wisely and had given her remarkable nieces and a nephew. She wouldn’t be surprised if Regan got pregnant soon.
It’d been two years since Rob was killed, and she finally felt peace in her heart. Regan was right. He’d be so proud of her, but more importantly, he’d want her to move on. And it was pretty special that Rob and Jack had known each other in Iraq.
She was ready to let go of him. She’d never forget Rob, but it was time to live with no regrets.
* * *
On a hot, humid July day, Whitney, clad in shorts and a T-shirt, glanced at Jack in his skydiving suit. She still needed to put hers on, but wasn’t quite ready. She needed some time to get her brain into the jumping mode. With razor stubble on his chin, Jack was even sexier than usual. If that was possible. She rubbed his chin, liking the roughness. “I guess you were so anxious to see me this morning, you didn’t have time to shave.”
“I thought I’d skip it. I shaved last night before we went to dinner. Sorry.”
“No, I like it. My dad used to rub my face with his rough chin when he hadn’t shaved for a day or two to tease me when I was little. I’d gripe at him but I really didn’t mind.”
He grinned. “I’m not sure that’s good I remind you of your dad.” He leaned down and planted a kiss on her lips.
“Well, soon we’ll be in the air.” She sighed, feeling butterflies in her stomach. And they weren’t just from being near Jack. “I think I need another kiss for strength.”
He kissed her deeper this time, teasing her with his tongue. “Are you ready now?”
She nodded.
He handed her an orange suit. “Here put this on. I know you’ll like skydiving.”
After her suit was on, they made their way to the airplane for takeoff with other nervous first-time jumpers. Once in the place, Whitney’s heart pounded as the aircraft climbed in the sky.
Jack attached her to the special tandem harness. “Okay, you’re strapped securely to me.”
She gave a weak smile to Jack. “That’s good.”
He squeezed her hand. “You’ll be fine. I promise you’ll be safe with me. After a few tandem jumps, I can see you going solo.”
The plane climbed steadily and then leveled off its cruising altitude of 10,560 feet. Jack tightened the straps and yelled, “Are you ready to skydive?”
She couldn’t breathe. If she couldn’t inhale now, how would she ever breathe in the sky? She might go into shock. Was it too late to tell Jack she changed her mind about skydiving? No, Jack had taken off work to be with her. She couldn’t back out on him. Once she made a commitment to anyone, she carried through on her promises. She made her head nod yes.
“Come on, you can do better than that.”
She hollered, “I’m pumped. I’m excited. Is that better?”
Jack laughed. “You bet.”
They moved over to the door and together they cleared the plane. For about sixty seconds, Whitney thought she was in a wind tunnel. She gasped when the parachute opened. With Jack strapped to her back, she enjoyed floating in the sky. Two extreme feelings, she thought. First, the rush of falling thrilled her, but now seeing a beautiful view from the sky was inspiring. With an awesome sense of peace and quiet in her heart, she smiled at the universe.
“Whitney, I love you.”
His voice nearly disappeared in the rush of wind past them, but she heard it nonetheless. She looked over her shoulder at him, smiling when she saw the grin on his face.
Jack loved her. She knew it was love on her part weeks ago, but she’d been waiting for him to say these magical words first. Since they met on a helicopter, it seemed appropriate he announced his love to her in the sky. What a story they’d have to tell their children.
“I love you too,” she said.
After six minutes of floating, Jack steered the parachute to landing right back where they had started. They were on the asphalt when she freed herself from the chute. Whitney exchanged a jubilant high-five with Jack before moving off the runway.
Suddenly people were around Whitney to congratulate her and someone said, “You rock, Whitney.”
Jack hugged her. “You did great.”
“That was so incredible after the parachute opened—”
“See, I knew you’d love it,” Regan said.
Whitney turned and saw her sisters grinning at her. “I should have realized my two big sisters would want to see me fall out of a plane.”
“And guess what?” Shannon didn’t wait for Whitney’s answer. “We purchased the commemorative video of your jump.”
She was sure they’d want to air it on their TV show and make a big deal about her skydiving. She didn’t care because Jack loved her. Should she tell them? Sure, they had a sister pact, after all.
“Why are you grinning so wide?” Regan asked. “Was the jump really that great?”
Whitney bounced on the balls of her feet, looking from her sisters to Jack and smiled when she saw the glimmer in his eyes. “While we were on top of the world, Jack told me he loved me.”
Her sisters squealed and Whitney went into Jack’s arms.
Diane graduated with a degree in English and Speech Education from The Ohio State University. Before writing her books, she was a schoolteacher and play director. She met her husband, the love of her life, while teaching at an orphanage. While raising their six children in southwestern Ohio, Diane started writing nonfiction. Several nonfiction articles of Diane's have been published in
Woman’s World Weekly
,
The Catholic Telegraph
,
Virtue
,
Down Syndrome Today
,
WritersWeekly.com
, and several other publications. Her nonfiction is published by Booklocker.com Later, she decided it would be a nice escape to write fiction.
Diane has published through a variety of houses, including Samhain, Whimsical Publications, Publishing by Rebecca J. Vickery, Booklocker.com and Victory Tales Press. She writes fun and inspiring stories filled with memorable characters. Diane gives thanks to God daily for all her wonderful blessings and for the recent birth of her first grandchild. Her dream vacation is going to the beach. Her husband is supportive of her writing career as well as her awesome children.
Other Books by Diane Craver
Inspirational Romance
No Greater Loss
Marrying Mallory
Chick-Lit Mystery
A Fiery Secret
Contemporary Romance
Whitney in Charge
Never the Same
The Proposal - as a short and also in A Christmas Collection:Anthology
Your Place or Mine
Historical Fiction and Inspirational
A Christmas Gift
Visit Diane online!
Website and Blog:
http://www.dianecraver.com/blog
http://www.jewelsofthequill.com
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