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I imagine a glimpse of reluctance in his eyes, but then he gives in, turns away and starts talking to Aldo. The bubble of tentative closeness bursts.
I try to follow the conversation, but my mind swims with everything other than the post-landing activity.
The kiss. The apology. The withdrawal.
Tires screech, breaking through the fog in my brain.
“That was some landing.” A woman in her fifties jumps out of a Range Rover, two younger men following her. “I’m Danita Crawford. Are you okay? Any injuries?”
Aldo takes over and talks to the woman, and the next two hours are a blur of me trying to act logically, but really I just let people take care of me while I continue on autopilot, hoping to meet Gio’s eyes.
At one point, everyone forces me to go to the hospital, but I don’t want to. I want to forget the whole thing. To find my safe place and reassure others I’m not in shock, I babble about how fine I am, and thank God for Danita who is more than willing to indulge me.
It turns out we landed in a clearing near the vineyard, and our first rescuers were actually the family Gio came to see.
Danita offers us a meal, but I need to wash away the sweat and the feelings.
“I’m not hungry, but would it be okay to take a shower? I think it might—” I hear my voice going, but I don’t particularly care what I’m saying. Anything to cloud the thoughts of the crash—technically emergency landing—and the kiss.
Danita leads me out of her kitchen and down a hallway. Aldo talks on his phone in the entrance and raises his finger when he sees us.
He hangs up. “My boss is sending a car for me and a team to recover the bird. If you don’t mind, I’ll go take care of that. I’m sorry. There will be an investigation and we’ll inform you about the results. For now, I can only say it was an inexplicable engine failure—”
“Don’t worry. You landed us safely. I’m sorry I doubted your experience.” I give him a hug. He awkwardly pats me on the shoulder, and I fight tears. “Thank you.”
“I’m glad everyone is okay.” He steps aside, looking over my shoulder.
Gio stands behind us, daggers shooting from his eyes. “Thank you. I’ll make sure you get properly compensated for your skills today.” Somewhere between the helicopter and now, Gio’s voice has gone robotic.
“Okay, I’m going to take a shower.” I smile at Aldo and turn to Danita. “So, are you living in this house? It’s beautiful.”
“It needs a lot of renovations.” She opens a wooden door, the hinges crying with effort.
“It might need some love and investment, but it has charm.”
“You’re too kind. This is the only habitable bedroom. The shower is clean, but nobody has used it since this summer when we had students working with us. The bathroom is that way, and there are clean towels on a shelf there, too.”
She leaves, and I sink into a comfortable armchair by the window. A pond glistens on the horizon, surrounded by row after row of currently bare vines. It must be breathtaking in the summer.
I close my eyes, finally able to digest today’s events. Thoughts, regrets, memories, abandoned plans and those not-yet planned attack me from all different directions with various intensity. Scattered and shredded, with little sense, they don’t really connect into anything concrete.
And then the kiss—
I jerk awake with a jump, goosebumps covering my skin. The fog in my head fights with the darkness before I focus my eyes. Outside, the sun is low on the horizon. Inside it’s even darker. Where am I?
My vision adjusts along with my recollection. Shit, I must have fallen asleep. I check my watch. Three hours! Jesus. I shuffle to the bathroom and take a long shower, letting the hot water melt my tense muscles.
When I find my way back to the main room, it’s empty. I venture outside and spot Gio on the veranda, sitting in a white rocking chair, his legs propped on the banister and his laptop in his lap.
“You’re up.” His eyes are full of something, but it’s not his usual annoyance.
“Do you ever stop working?” I challenge him like on our way to California, which feels like years ago. The point seems even more urgent now.
“I enjoy it.” He drops his feet and puts the laptop on the table beside him. “You fell asleep, so I used the time.”
“We could have died today.” The words surprise me and Gio flinches. “And you go on and work. It seems… I don’t know.”
“It helps me to bury myself in work, so I don’t have to think about other things.” He steps closer, reaching for his wrist. But his sleeves are rolled, and he can’t adjust his cufflinks. He clenches his fists. “I’m really sorry.”
