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“She would be number ten. But, hey, ten planes in fifty-four years ain’t too shabby.” My dad shakes his head and sighs. “Never gonna doubt George and his funny feelings ever again.”
Bart snorts his agreement, a dumbstruck look on his face as he shifts a piece of metal with his boot.
Chapter 16
“Hey.” My dad’s arm dangles out the open window of his truck. “You sure you’re alright?”
“I’m fine. I’m just gonna grab some lunch and then chill for a bit on the porch.” I went back to Wild with my dad after the accident only to find myself unable to s
it still in that office, partly because of the adrenaline still pumping through my veins, but also because my shirt has Jonah’s blood smeared all over it.
Wild’s planes are grounded until the FAA says otherwise. Dad said he was heading back to the crash site to meet with one of their investigators, so he offered to drop me off at home.
My gaze wanders over to the quiet little house next door. “When do you think Jonah will be home?”
“A bit, still. They’re gonna want to check him over well before they let him go, in case he has a head injury.”
I nod solemnly. That feeling in my gut—that dread that seized my insides when I saw the wreckage—still lingers, hours later.
“He’s gonna be fine, Calla.”
“Yeah, I know.” I shrug it off.
“Okay. Well, call me if you feel like coming back later.” My dad coughs a few times and then clears his throat. “You still got my number?”
I hold up the slip of paper he gave me before we left, five minutes ago, as proof.
The truck begins to roll forward but stops abruptly. His lips twist in thought. “You know, I think your mom’s old chair may still be in the garage. The one she used to use on the porch. Anyway, there’s a bunch of stuff tucked in the back that she wrapped up and put away for the winter.”
“You mean, the winter twenty-four years ago?”
“Yeah . . .” He scratches his chin, a sheepish smile on his lips. “Anyway, you might find something useful in there.” With that, he sets off, the truck bumping and jostling down the driveway. I watch him quietly, wondering if he’s really so calm about today’s crash or if he just hides it well.
I notice him slow on the main road to talk to a passing girl on a bike. It takes me a moment to realize it’s Mabel.
She sails down my dad’s driveway, her long hair fluttering wildly with the wind. By the time she reaches me, she’s panting, and I know she’s heard about Jonah. Her eyes widen at the sight of my shirt.
“It was just a cut. Ten stitches, probably,” I assure her, quoting my dad.
She shrugs her backpack off. It falls to the ground with a thud. “I was in town, getting groceries, when I heard someone say that Jonah crashed his plane and had to go to the hospital. So I went there, but they wouldn’t let me in to see him, and I couldn’t get hold of my mom at first, but then I did and she told me he was fine and to just go home, but I was so worried,” she rambles, her words quick and panicky, her breath ragged, as if she had pedaled as hard as she could all the way here.
“He’ll be home in a few hours. But he’s fine.”
“Okay.” She nods slowly, as if it’s taking time for her to absorb that answer, to trust it. She brushes her hair off her forehead. “Can I hang out with you until then?” There’s desperation in her voice. He might be fine, but he so easily might not have been. Something scary happened to someone she cares about and she doesn’t want to be alone.
Neither do I, I realize.
“Of course you can.” I smile. “I hope you feel like digging through old junk.”
“Are you okay?”
“Of course I’m okay. I wasn’t in the plane, Mom.”
“But still, that must have been scary for you to witness.”
“It was,” I admit.
Her sigh fills my ear. “I remember those days, hearing some of the stories of things that’d go wrong. I’d do the math on how many times they went up in the air each day, and the odds of something bad happening being that much higher because of it. Especially in those little planes. They’re not like the big jetliners that practically run on computers and have backups of backups. It got to the point where every day, your dad would walk out the door and I’d wonder if that was the last time I’d see him alive.”
