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Her expression turned rueful. “No.”
The elevator door opened on the lobby level. They stepped out, and Rye’s heart kicked against his ribs when he saw Brynn alighting from a sheriff’s unit parked in the porte cochere. Wilson was at the wheel. Brynn bent down and said something to him, then closed the door, and he drove away. She entered the lobby through the automatic doors. She was carrying that damn box.
Immediately spotting him and Marlene White, whom she must have recognized from the photograph on Brady’s desk, she made her way over. She acknowledged him with a nod, then turned her attention to Brady’s wife and introduced herself.
Mrs. White clasped Brynn’s hand as she had Rye’s. “Dr. O’Neal, thank you so much for seeing to Brady last night.”
“Call me Brynn, please. And you’re welcome. I only wish I could have done more. What’s his condition?”
Marlene repeated what she’d told him. “He regained consciousness only a little while ago. Just in time for Rye to see him.”
Brynn turned her gaze up to him. “You two talked?”
“W
e exchanged a few words. Not sure he’ll remember any of it.”
“Oh, he’ll remember,” Marlene said around a laugh. “He won’t forget you telling him that you’ll talk planes.”
“I’m surprised he doesn’t have his pilot’s license,” Rye said.
“He would if he could. All he ever wanted to do was fly. But he has a heart murmur caused by a faulty mitral valve. They discovered it when he was still in his teens, but he was probably born with it. He suffers mild symptoms that are controlled with medication. It doesn’t prevent him from doing pretty much whatever he wants to.”
“Except fly,” Rye said.
“Except fly,” she repeated sadly.
Brynn asked, “Doesn’t it bother him to manage the airfield, watch other people do what he would love to be doing?”
“No, just the opposite. He’s still plane crazy and enjoys the camaraderie with pilots.” She looked over at Rye. “When he heard that you were thumbing your nose at the weather and flying in here last night, he was as excited as a kid. As he left the house, he said, ‘I can’t wait to meet this fellow.’ Now he has. Your visit today will have meant the world to him.”
“When he’s recovered, I’ll come back and take him flying.”
Tears misted Marlene’s eyes. She pressed her hand to her chest. “He would love that.”
Rye could tell that his spontaneous offer had surprised Brynn. Hell, it had surprised him. He was aware of her searching his expression, but he didn’t acknowledge her. Instead, he bent down, picked up his flight bag from off the floor. “Now that it’s getting light, I need to go check on the plane.”
“How are you getting out there?” Marlene asked. “You don’t have a car, do you?”
“I’ll figure out something.”
“You’ll take mine.”
He chuffed and gave his head a hard shake. “I can’t do that.”
“Of course you can.”
He searched for a reason to refuse. “Didn’t a deputy drive you here last night?”
“He offered. I declined.”
“Because you thought you would need your car.”
“I thought I might. But I don’t. I’ve got friends and relatives begging to know what they can do for me. If I need a ride before you get back, I’ll have my choice. Let me go get the key.”
“Mrs. White—Marlene, I can’t take your car.”
“Please. Brady would loan you his pickup if he could.”
