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“How was Gene this morning?”
“He’s doing great. I was worried for a little while last night, but it was nowhere near as bad as it could have been.”
“I talked to Rita a little while ago. She’s hanging in there.”
“Yeah. I’m glad Chelsea’s there with her.”
“Me too. It sounds like he’s going to be out for quite a while, though. It’s not just like going back to a regular job, is it?”
Cameron shook his head. That had been on his mind, too. He knew Gene would take a while to recover, and even when he did, he’d have to pass a medical exam to clear him to fly again—if he could.
Mary Ellen raised her eyebrows. “Is Piper going to stand in for him?”
He shrugged. “She is this week, but she just started a new job working for Cole.”
Mary Ellen nodded. “And it’d be kind of weird, her working for you.”
“It would.” On the one hand, it would be weird, but on the other, he’d love to get to see her every day. He’d love her to be here and be a part of his life.
Mary Ellen narrowed her eyes at him. “Weird but good?”
He chuckled. “Yeah.”
Piper came out of the flight planning room and smiled at them. Cameron sucked in a deep breath. Mary Ellen had done a great job picking out clothes for her. She was wearing slacks and a shirt, and she looked fabulous. Mary Ellen gave him a sideways grin. “You’re welcome,” she muttered.
“I’m all set. I’ll be ready whenever you are,” said Piper. “Just let me know what time you want to take off, and I’ll file the flight plan.”
“Great. Thanks.” He checked his watch. “Give me fifteen minutes to go through everything with Mary Ellen?”
“Okay.”
~ ~ ~
Piper poured herself a fresh cup of coffee and took a seat in the crew room. She was used to flying in to an airport and having to hang around while the plane was unloaded and reloaded, but this was different. She was used to flying an old, worn-out cargo plane and being treated as the lowest of the low. And she was used to sitting around in cargo terminals. Here she’d flown a guy who everyone had bowed and scraped to when he arrived—and because she was with him, she was being treated like royalty, too. The girl from the front desk came and popped her head around the door. “We’re about to put a call in with our lunch orders. What would you like?”
Piper wanted to look over her shoulder. But there was no one else in here. The girl must be talking to her.
The girl smiled. “We order sandwiches from the deli up the road, but we can get you takeout from anywhere you like.”
“A sandwich would be wonderful, thank you. What would you recommend?”
“I usually get a BLT or a tuna melt, but anything’s good.”
“I’ll do a BLT, thanks.” Piper reached for her purse, but the girl shook her head. “No, it’s on us. We normally have a catered lunch for the pilots, but there was a problem today. I hope this is okay for you?”
Piper smiled. “It’s wonderful, thank you.” She wanted to tell the girl that she was more used to having to bring a sandwich with her if she wanted to eat—either that or eat at one of the greasy spoon dives that tended to set up shop near cargo terminals.
“I’ll give you a shout when they arrive. Thanks for being so sweet about it.”
“No problem! Thank you for even thinking of me.”
The girl came inside and closed the door behind her. “Can I say something?”
“Of course.” Piper started to worry.
“Just thank you. Everyone was on edge today knowing that there was this big deal CEO flying in. Usually, that means we have to be on our best behavior all day and are going to be treated like crap by snooty flight crew. When I saw you walk through from the ramp, I thought you were going to be a diva, you know, looking like you do. But you’ve been the absolute sweetest. Thank you.”
Piper had to laugh. “Shall I let you in on a secret?”
