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“I understand it’s a process.”
She sighed again. “Yes.”
“Not a bad name, considering some I’ve heard.”
“Lucky, really. My friend got drunk one night and puked all over his boots. His call sign is Barf.”
Luke laughed, and his body relaxed a little.
“Another pilot I know has the last name Silva. Call sign, Hi Ho. I could go on, but maybe another day.”
“Flying at those speeds is not me. I understand the g-forces take some getting used to. Then there’s the plummeting to earth and exploding in a ball of fire.”
She shrugged. “So far I’ve managed to avoid that. I don’t much like fire, if we’re being honest.”
“I try to be.”
“Honest?”
He nodded.
“Me too, unless it gets me out of trouble and the lie is not life-threatening or illegal. Then I’ll lie like the best of them.” She was babbling again.
He laughed. “So getting back to you. You are the shit, Quinderella.”
She didn’t know what to say to that.
“I don’t think I asked you last time we talked. How long are you back, Quinn?”
He wanted this. To talk about her life and not his and what was waiting for him when he left her. So she stayed there and talked.
“I’m back for a month. I’ve been thinking about a change, actually.”
He leaned on one leg and crossed his arms. The position that signaled someone was ready to listen.
“Change how? What are you thinking?”
“I don’t know. I thought maybe a move to the Air National Guard. Then I’d be closer to home. They fly F16s.”
“And you fly those?”
She nodded.
“I guess it’s pretty high intensity, what you do? How many years have you been flying?”
Quinn was pretty sure he was asking her questions so he didn’t have to think about what was awaiting him when he headed back to his family.
“I started flying at age twenty-three.”
“And you’re what? A year younger than me?”
“I’m thirty.”
His head tilted slightly, and he studied her.
“Well, Quinderella, I’m sure whatever you decide, you’ll do it well, seeing as you’ve got where you are by yourself.”
She found herself smiling. People usually tried to tell her what to do; it was a nice change that someone wasn’t.
