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He drives us to the small airport on the outskirts of Crystal River – a tiny strip of an airport that only has one runway. A tiny airport for a tiny town. I peer out the window and squint at the tarmac, wondering what my boyfriend has in-store today.
What is he thinking in that pretty head of his...
“Is this my surprise?” I ask August from the passenger seat beside him. “I’m not going to be jumping out of an airplane a million miles in the air, am I? I would hate that. I hope you know I would really, really hate that. Please don’t let me do that.”
August chuckles knowingly. “Nope. I wouldn’t dare throw you out of a plane, Emma.”
“Good to know.”
“Just wait and see and be patient,” he says. “You’re always really patient, why not today?”
“Because I’m terrified of what surprise you have in store for me,” I retort.
August rests a steady hand on my thigh. “Trust me, Emma. You’re going tolovethis. And I promise there’ll be no parachute in sight.”
“I really hope I love it, August. I’m placing my life in your hands.”
He parks alongside the main hangar before ushering me out of the car and inside the building. There is a whole long row of stored planes in here. I gawk around at all the vehicles. I’ve never seen so many planes gathered together in a place like this before. I don’t think I’ve ever even beenona plane before; the only way Mom and I traveled through my childhood was on super long bus coaches across endless cornfields.
But August seems totally at ease in a place like this - he ignores all the parked planes and walks right up to some middle-aged man standing with a clipboard inspecting a propellor. He and August must know each other because they immediately shake hands and get to talking. I blunder over to be introduced by August. Turns out this man is some kind of engineer at the airport. I don’t knowhowhe’s familiar with August, but I don’t ask any questions. I just stand by my boyfriend’s side as he chats business with the man. It’s all talk about planes with sentences full of acronyms and other strange words I have no clue how to decrypt.
When the engineer finally leaves, August turns to me.
“How do you know him?” I ask.
“I’ve been here a lot recently,” he replies. “Plus, my family kinda...half-ownsthis airport.”
“Ah, I should’ve guessed the Penmaynes had money tied up here,” I say sagely. “I bet you guys own most of the planes in this hangar as well.”
“Maybe one or two,” he replies with a wink. “It's hard to keep count sometimes.”
“I am always awed by your family, you know that?”
“Forget about my family,” he says with a smirk. “Here comes the killer question I’ve been waiting to ask you all day – are you ready to go flying?”
I gulp.
“In one of these planes?” I question.
“Not... exactly. It’s something a little different. You ready?”
“Not really,” I murmur.
August offers me his hand. I take it.
“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine,” he replies. “I’mflying us.”
My mouth drops open. “What? You’reflyingflying?”
“I’ve got my license, Emma,” August explains. “I’ve done plenty of hours in the sky. You’ll be in safe hands.”
“You’re only, like, eighteen,” I remark. “You can’t fly.”
“Yeah, old enough to learn to fly a plane. Follow me.”
He takes me down the hanger to some two-seater. Even me, with my very, very limited knowledge of aircraft, can tell that this is a plane designed to land on water. If it’s not clear enough, the plane has giant floats attached to the bottom of the fuselage.
“This is what we’re flying?” I ask him. “A seaplane? Where are we going to? What’s our destination?”
