Runway Romance (Love in the Air Trilogy) Read online

  Runway Romance

  Merri Hiatt

  Copyright 2013 Merri Hiatt

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. All characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Cover image credit: CITL/Shutterstock.com

  Visit Merri Hiatt’s website! http://merrihiatt.com

  Chapter One

  “Always a pleasure working with you, ladies.” Captain Isaiah Jones gave the two flight attendants a nod before heading toward the terminal with his co-pilot.

  “You, too,” Jenny Collins said.

  “Likewise,” Betty McDonald said. “You ready?”

  “Definitely. I love the smell of hot tarmac late in the afternoon, but my feet haven’t been on solid ground for more than a couple of hours in days.”

  “Back-to-backs?”

  Jenny nodded. “And a layover.”

  “That’ll do it. I was… “

  A baggage cart whizzed by so quickly, it almost knocked the flight attendants off their feet.

  “Idiot!” Jenny yelled, scowling at the bumper of the vehicle. “What kind of fool drives like that? He almost ran us over!”

  “He wasn’t even picking up luggage from our plane.”

  “Did you get the license number?”

  “No. I was too busy trying not to fall. Did you?”

  “Same.” Jenny shook her head. “We’re not even safe crossing over to the terminal anymore.”

  “Come on. We’re both tired. Every time I agree to work a private flight I end up grumpy and irritated.”

  “That’s because people who have power and wealth make such ridiculous demands.”

  “You mean you didn’t think Celeste Carmichael’s insistence that we call her Celestial Body of the Stars every single time we approached her was cute?”

  Jenny wrinkled her nose, grimaced and pouted all in one fell swoop. “You were lucky; refilling her diet soda glass every five minutes. I was the one massaging her feet all afternoon. Did you see those toenails? Wicked sharp. More like talons. Maybe there’s something to all the hocus pocus astrological brouhaha she spews.”

  “People sure buy her books and DVDs. I see her face everywhere.”

  They were almost at the flight crew entrance to the terminal when Betty said, “Watch out. Here he comes again.”

  “Why is he so close to the building?” Jenny let go of her carry-on handle and began running toward the luggage truck.

  “What are you doing?” Betty shouted. “You’re right in his path.”

  “Stop!” Jenny yelled as she approached the vehicle. She waved her arms and yelled again. Now that she was closer, she could see that the gentleman driving had some kind of head gear on. Isn’t that illegal, Jenny wondered. “Stop!”

  She managed to capture the man’s attention and he slowed down, rolling down his window as the wheels came to a halt. “Afternoon. What’s up?”

  “You almost ran us down a few minutes ago. Why weren’t you paying attention?”

  “Why weren’t you paying attention?”

  “We were just standing still. You were the one who almost hit us.”

  “Almost being the key word there. Are you and your friend okay?”

  “Yes, we’re okay, but that isn’t the point.”

  “Seems like it’s the point to me. Have a good day.”

  “Wait! We’re not done. Aren’t you going to apologize? Why are you driving so close to the terminal? Why did you almost kill us when you weren’t even delivering baggage to the plane we were near?”

  “You sure ask a lot of questions. If you have a problem with my driving, contact my supervisor.”

  “And who might that be?”

  “Mark Hutchins. You know him? He’s a great guy; organized, punctual and fair. You’d like him. If you don’t already know him, I mean.”

  Jenny was a bit disarmed by the man’s smile and his good-natured attitude in the face of her angry outburst. His skin was tan, probably from spending so much time outdoors in the sun loading and unloading luggage.

  “Was there something else?”

  “Isn’t it illegal to where something on your head that blocks your ability to hear when you’re driving?”

  “It’s required. We’d bust an ear drum or something if we didn’t have protection with all the jet engines around here.”

  “I suppose.”

  No ring on his left hand. Mr. Baggage Truck Driver was single. Well, at least he wasn’t married.

  “I gotta run. Nice talking with you.” The man smiled warmly, replaced his head gear and drove off.

  “You really told him,” Betty said from a few feet behind her.

  “I’m not sure what happened. I started out fine, but he sort of took all my sputter away.”

  “Why’d he try to hit us?”

  “I don’t think he was trying to hit us. Maybe it’s just the way he drives. He gave me the name of his supervisor.”

  “Good. Let’s go find him. What’s his name?”

  “Clark. No, Park.”

  “Would that be his first or last name?”

  “McCutcheon. Hm… that doesn’t sound right either. Clark McCutcheon. Park McCutcheon. Maybe it wasn’t even McCutcheon. I know there was an h in the last name.”

  “Come on. I can see we’re not going to get anywhere this way.” Betty took Jenny’s hand and led her back to where their luggage was sitting.

  “Did you see his eyes? Sort of blue-green, like the ocean waves when the sun hits them.”

  “You’re the only one I know who can fall in love with someone who almost killed her.”

  “Well, he didn’t really almost kill us. We were standing quite a ways from the plane and, hey, I never said I was in love. Where’d you get that idea?”

  “Call ‘em as I see ‘em.”

  “Betty!”

  They picked up their carry-ons and entered the terminal.

  “Would you hold up for a minute? I never said anything about being in love.”

  “You didn’t have to.”

  “You’re being silly.”

  “We’ll see.” Betty gave Jenny a knowing look. “We’re working together on a flight to Phoenix later in the month. I expect a full report when I see you again.”

  “There won’t be anything to report. I don’t even know the man’s name.”

  “A little thing like that never stopped you before.”

  “Go home. You’re getting delusional.”

  Betty grinned. “We’ll see who’s delusional in a few weeks.”

  The two women made their way to the Ballinger Air flight lounge, submitted their paperwork, then headed for home.

  Before she left the airport, Jenny stopped by the main desk. “Stacy, is there a list of all the baggage handlers who drive the little luggage carts?”

  “I’m sure the airport has one, but I don’t have access to that information.”

  “Don’t you have to keep track of which luggage goes to which plane?”

  “Someone does, but that’s not my department.”

  “Do you know whose department it is?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “No reason, really, just curious.”

  “Fess up. Why do you care about luggage all of a sudden?”

  “I don’t care so much about luggage as I care about a particular man handling the luggage.”

  “Now we’re getting to the juice. It’s about a guy. Well, I’m all about the l
ove. Let me make a couple of calls. Did this gentleman deliver baggage to the plane you were on today?”

  “No. I was on a private flight today.”

  “I’ll put my sleuthing skills to work, but you haven’t given me much to go on.”

  “I know. Can we keep this between us?”

  “Naturally. It’ll cost you.”

  “I assumed. How much?”

  “Two dozen molasses sugar cookies. No store bought. Make ‘em with your mom’s recipe.”

  “Ooh, good choice. Those are delicious. All right, you’ve got a deal, but only if you deliver the goods.”

  “For those cookies, I’ll deliver.”

  Chapter Two

  “We need t.p.” Jenny shut the cupboard door and pulled the shower curtain aside. “And shampoo and conditioner. Don’t get the cheap stuff this time.”

  “I like the cheap stuff.” Patricia Ruskin added the items to her ever-growing list. “Why do we always seem to be out of everything when it’s my turn to shop?”

  “Because we’d both rather die in a raging fire than spend an hour at the store.” Kate Boudreau closed her laptop lid with a curt snap. “Get frozen fruit. We end up throwing away most of the fresh stuff because no one’s here to eat it.”

  “And it reeks when it gets rotten. Bad.” Jenny joined her roommates in the living room.

  “Before I go shopping, let’s sync up our calendars. I don’t want to buy too much if we’re not even going to be here.”

  When they all had their schedules up on their phones, Kate pulled up the Excel spreadsheet she used to record their flights.

  Jenny started. “I’m all over the place this month. I don’t know what happened to my regular routes. It was steady for two months and now I’ve got red-eyes, back-to-back runs and somehow I got booked on a flight to Iowa.”

  “Iowa?” Kate looked up from her screen. “What’s in Iowa?”

  “People,” Patricia said.

  Kate rolled her eyes. “I know there are people in Iowa, but we’re the Navy Seals of flight attendants. New York, Paris, Maui, the Caribbean, Australia; those are our destinations.”

  “That’s why you had a week layover in Colorado, because you’re one of the elite?” Patricia asked.

  Kate snagged the nearest pillow and tossed it at her friend of six months. It landed on her recently pedicured toes. She knew it would cause a reaction, making her sky blue eyes shine, ready for a fight.

  Patricia was the perfect image of a flight attendant with her quick smile and friendly demeanor. She even made reciting the emergency instructions interesting.

  “Hey!” She kicked the pillow up to her lap with her toes. “I needed another pillow anyway.” Patricia repositioned herself, hanging her legs over the edge of the recliner, allowing them to dangle. She placed the pillow behind her bare waist. Seattle was having a rare heat wave, causing them all to feel sticky.

  Jenny’s normally smooth blonde locks seemed to be a conduit for static as her hair puffed out a good two inches all the way around. Even with the unusual humidity, nothing could erase the beauty of her creamy skin and joyful smile.

  Kate’s dark chocolate eyes and cascading hair to match were quite a contrast. As usual, she was dressed in jeans and a black tank top. It could be hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk, and she’d still be wearing black leather boots. She only owned one other pair of shoes, and they were for work.

  “Well, I’m barely going to see you guys this month. I’m bouncing between Seattle to New York and New York to Ireland. Round and round and round,” Kate said.

  “Do we know anyone in Ireland?” Jenny asked as she searched her memory.

  “Haverschmidt,” Patricia said.

  “Hans! Oh my, I haven’t thought of him in weeks.”

  “Can’t.”

  Jenny and Patricia glanced at one another.

  “When?” Jenny asked with astonishment in her voice. “We were only there twenty-four hours.”

  “It doesn’t take that long.”

  “Spill,” Patricia said.

  “After breakfast, when you two headed into town and got stuck behind those sheep.”

  “But you only date pilots,” Jenny said.

  “She doesn’t date anybody,” Patricia clarified.

  “Yes, I’m the FA tramp. I know it. Get over it.”

  “When did you start branching out?” Jenny asked.

  “If the mood is right and the guy is…”

  “Breathing,” Patricia interrupted.

  “George Michael sang it best: ‘Sex is natural, sex is fun. Sex is best when it’s one-on-one.’”

  “George Michael is your sexual point of reference? You do know he’s gay, right?” Patricia said.

  “Gay, straight, whatever. My point is that sex is fun and as long as I’m not hurting anyone, it’s nobody’s business but mine.”

  “Pretty soon we’re going to run out of guys to hang out with on layovers.”

  “Let’s get back to our schedules. Kate won’t be around…”

  “Shaun O’Leary. You haven’t slept with him yet, or have you?” Patricia said.

  “He’s almost seventy-five years old!”

  “Is there an age limit on sex?”

  “Good sex, yes.”

  “Have you slept with him?” Jenny asked.

  “No, I haven’t slept with him. And I don’t intend to.”

  “He could be your go-to guy in Ireland. He has that big house with all those…”

  “Cows. How can one man have so many cows? They creep me out. They just stand there and stare at you while their mouths sort of chew in a circle. It’s freaky.” Patricia shuddered at the memory.

  “I’m sure he’d be happy to have you stay over. I think I have his e-mail still,” Jenny said.

  “If anyone has it, it would be you.” Kate pulled her hair up off her neck. “Could it be any hotter in here?”

  “A flight to Alaska sounds pretty good about now.” Patricia scanned her schedule quickly. “The only cool place I’m heading this month is Portland and it won’t be much cooler. Almost all my flights are local. I have apparently descended from the lofty status of the Seals.”

  “This is the second month you’ve had a lot of local flights. What’s up?” Jenny asked.

  Patricia shrugged. “Maybe the boss has it in for me.”

  “Or maybe he likes you and wants to keep you nearby.” Kate raised an eyebrow. “Is there something you’re not telling us?”

  “Don’t worry, I’m not challenging your Sex Goddess of the Skies title.”

  “Ooh, I like that. Maybe I should get that tattooed on my ass.”

  Jenny shook her head, her small belly jiggling as she laughed. “I’d give a million dollars to have your confidence.”

  “You have confidence.”

  “Not like you. I’ve never seen you second guess yourself.”

  “I know what I want.”

  “That’s what I’m saying. You have confidence; you know yourself and what you want. I take forever to make a decision, and even after I’ve finally made it, I still wonder if I did the right thing.”

  “If it’s what you want, it won’t be wrong. Trust your gut.”

  “You make it sound so easy.”

  “It is.”

  “Not for me.”

  “I don’t have a confidence problem, but I do have a time problem. Jenkins Grocery closes up shop in half an hour.” Patricia stood up, grabbing the shopping list. “We’ll have to do this later. Someone could come with me.”

  “It’s your turn,” Kate said.

  “Sorry, you’re on your own,” Jenny said.

  “You’re the one who’ll be sorry when you reach for the toilet paper and there’s none to be found.”

  “You’d never do that to us,” Jenny said.

  “Those kinds of threats only work when you’ve followed through with a consequence once or twice. You’ve never let us down,” Kate said.

  “There’s always a fir
st time.”

  “Now you have twenty-nine minutes to get to Jenkins,” Jenny said.

  “You could go to the big grocery store on Sixth,” Kate said.

  “They don’t sell real food, they sell ‘product.’” Patricia wrinkled her nose indignantly. “Plus, they mark all the prices up. Jenkins has a much better quality of food.”

  “We don’t eat toilet paper,” Kate said.

  “Where’s that pillow? Instead of throwing it at her, I think we should tape it over her mouth.”

  “Add duct tape to the list,” Jenny said.

  “I was just kidding.”

  “Oh, I know. We actually need some. It’s for Kate when she has her ‘special time’ with Shaun.” Jenny put her hands in the air to catch the pillow she knew was heading her way. She caught it on the first try.

  Chapter Three

  When the alarm rang and Jenny opened a sleepy eye to greet three o’clock, she groaned. “Early flights are evil.” She passed by her neatly packed bag as she made her way to the shower. “Need caffeine.”

  After her shower, she dragged a hand towel across the steamy bathroom mirror. “You look tired,” she said to her reflection.

  You’d look tired, too, if you’d only had two hours sleep.

  Jenny placed soft pink rollers in hair, attempting to create curls instead of the humidity frizz she was becoming used to. “I either want curls or my straight hair back. Anything but finger-in-a-light-socket hair.”

  She padded her way to the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee into her oversized “Have you kissed a flight attendant today?” mug, thankful for automatic coffee makers. She closed her eyes, allowing the steam to float by her nose as she inhaled deeply. The scent was half the pleasure. She signed as the aroma seemed to spill into her veins.

  “You’re going to be late,” Patricia said, slipping beside her to pour a cup of coffee. “Where’s my mug?”

  “Flight attendants do it in the air?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Kate used it to put hydrangeas in.”

  “My coffee cup?”

  “Yep.”

  “She could have used her own damn cup. No reason to use mine.” She fumbled through the wide array of mugs in the cupboard. “Where’s her cup with the fancy K on it?”