Page 6 of The Cloud Catcher

CHAPTER TWO

1991

Jay Maverick never tired of the view from his office window — forever changing, and always at the mercy of Mother Nature and her sometimes stormy mood swings. As a little boy, he’d always loved his toy airplanes, as a teenager he’d dreamt of one day becoming a pilot, and as soon as he’d left school, that’s exactly what he’d gone and done. Just like his father had, and his father before him — although his grandfather had been more of the fighter pilot kind who had miraculously lived to tell his harrowing tales. Jay, now a few months shy of turning thirty-one years old, had been calling the skies his headquarters for twelve wonderful years.

And he hoped and prayed that there were many more to come.

Surveying the sky stretched out like a canvas, painted with strokes of cobalt blue and plenty of sea-foam white, he honed his sight on the endless horizon as his steady hands guided the massive 747 jumbo jet through pockets of turbulence. It was a dance between man and machine, a symphony of trust and skill — he took every passenger life put in his hands extremely seriously. Beside him, Mark Johnson monitored the intricate instruments with an ease that came from his years of experience. With his sandy hair neatly combed, and his hazel eyes conveying the analytical mind behind them, he’d occasionally offer Jay a nod or a brief comment, but it was the unspoken communication that was proof of their deep friendship made as seven-year-old boys then developed over hundreds of thousands of miles covered side by side as pilots.

‘Looks like smooth flying all the way to Brisbane now we’ve pushed through that, buddy,’ Mark eventually remarked through the headset, his voice even and calm.

‘Yep, I reckon we’ll have perfect conditions from here on in,’ Jay replied, his piercing blue eyes focused on the instruments before him. ‘It’s really nice to know we’re on the homeward stretch.’

‘Damn straight it is, although I’m not sure what side of Kelly I’m going to get when I land.’ Mark’s tone had thickened.

‘I feel for you, mate, I really do.’ Knowing just how much his loyal friend had put up with, Jay grimaced. ‘She’s lucky you’re still hanging in there. I don’t know if I could ever forgive a partner for cheating.’

‘It’d be different if we didn’t have a baby on the way, Maverick, but I’m trying my best to move through it all.’

‘Well, all I can say is you’re one hell of a good man, Johnson,’ Jay concluded.

Then his mind swirled back to Zara Monroe.

Her sweet name whispered within him, conjuring up images of her long, curly brown hair and those dreamy honey-brown eyes. Ever since he’d been lucky enough to lay his eyes on her, she’d been filling his thoughts. Recollections of her laughter and her cute, freckled nose crinkling as she’d looked up from the pieces of the ceramic plate he now owned came to him, but they were fleeting instants that dissipated like clouds in the sky as he fought to remain focused on the here and now. He’d been a fool not to ask for her phone number, or at least given her his, but at the time he’d thought it would have been rude of him to do so. Now he was kicking himself. Big time. He, of all people, knew just how boundless this world was, and the chance of them ever crossing paths again was miniscule. Her Australian accent might have lessened the scope, but only minimally.

‘Maverick?’ Mark’s voice cut through Jay’s daydreams like a lightning bolt. ‘You’ve gone quiet on me. Everything all right?’

‘Sorry, yeah, I’m fine,’ Jay assured him, though his voice lacked conviction. How could he explain the distance between himself and a woman he’d only briefly met, and how every coordinate on their screens only reminded him of how far apart they now were?

‘Thinking about her again?’ Mark asked perceptively.

Jay chuckled without humour, his gaze remaining on the panel in front of him. ‘Is it that obvious?’ He fiddled with a dial, a futile attempt to ground himself in the present.

‘To someone who knows you, it sure is,’ Mark said, giving him a knowing look. ‘You’ve got it bad for this mystery woman, Jay. She must’ve really been something, given you only spent five minutes talking to her.’

‘She really is something,’ Jay agreed wholeheartedly.

‘Ha.’ Mark’s chuckle resounded in the cockpit. ‘And the fact you bought that plate and are bringing all the pieces home to glue back together, in the hope that it might magically bring her back into your life …’ His voice trailed off. ‘Don’t set yourself up for another bout with heartbreak, my friend. You know what happened the last time you decided to end your uncommitted days.’

Jay sighed, conceding the truth in Mark’s words. Up until now, after being destroyed by a woman he’d thought would be his forever two years earlier, he’d steered clear of anything to do with the ladies. But for some odd reason, as if it were completely out of his control, he just couldn’t stop longing for Zara in a way he’d never longed for a woman before. It was as if he knew her, inside and out, and he trusted she’d never hurt him. And that was crazy thinking, he knew that too. Groaning at his uncharacteristic runaway train of bizarre thoughts, he tightened his fingers around the yoke, mimicking the ups and downs of his emotions, feeling torn between his duty as a pilot and the tumultuous sea of feelings that Zara had stirred within him. It was a sea he’d never swum in before.

‘Stay focused,’ he muttered to himself while trying to push away the memories that threatened to distract him. This cockpit was his domain, where love had no place. But as they flew towards their destination, homeward bound, he couldn’t ignore the gravity of what he felt for the captivating Miss Monroe.

‘Hey,’ Mark began gently, placing a reassuring hand on Jay’s shoulder. The contact anchored him to the present. ‘Who knows, maybe you aren’t a crazy man, and the winds of romance will shift in your favour.’

‘Thanks for the vote of confidence, mate,’ Jay said with a half-hearted smile. ‘Time will tell, I suppose.’

‘It always does, Maverick, whether we like it or not.’

As the contours of Australian soil appeared beneath them, a vast, vibrant expanse of hope and possibility, Jay couldn’t help but wonder if his best mate was right, and fate would guide him back to Zara against all odds. Miracles did happen. Sometimes. Rarely. But they did. And he was a believer in such things. And even though he was thousands of feet in the air, his heart was already charting a course back to her. And he carried this sensation with him as they brought the plane to a smooth landing, finished off their jobs in the cockpit, and then headed into the arrivals lounge of Brisbane Airport.

‘Catch up for a couple of beers over the weekend?’ Mark asked as they stopped outside the front sliding doors.

Jay nodded. ‘Yeah, sounds good to me.’

‘Great, I’ll give you a buzz.’ Catching sight of his wife pulling into the pick-up area, Mark gave her a wave. ‘Catch ya, Jay.’

‘Yeah, catch ya,’ Jay repeated as he smiled at Kelly. True to form, she ignored him and gestured for Mark to hurry, a frustrated look on her face.