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“Anyone can learn.”
“But they don’t.”
He unlocked the door, tossed his backpack inside and helped Breely aboard.
For the next five minutes, he conducted his pre-flight inspection of the aircraft, checked the fuel levels and cleaned the front windshield. When he was satisfied the craft was undamaged and flight-worthy, he climbed into the pilot’s seat and slipped his headset over his ears.
The next few minutes were spent creating and filing his flight plan. When he was ready and ground control gave him permission, he taxied to the end of the runway and took off.
Soon, they were high above the ground, heading north to Montana.
They spent the next few hours getting to know each other better. Moe asked Breely about life on a Montana ranch and how different it was compared to his life on a big commercial farm in South Dakota.
Where Breely had grown up near Kalispell was surrounded by mountains, streams and trees. The farmlands of South Dakota were picturesque in their own way, with rolling fields of golden grain and blue skies as far as you could see.
Breely wanted to know what it was like to be in the military, to go through basic training and how it was to train for the elite pararescue units.
He described the drill instructors, how tough they were on them and how they made them stronger, harder and taught them how to work as a team. The men he’d served with were family. He kept in touch with many of them, some of whom were still on active duty. Others had left the Air Force to pursue civilian careers and spend more time with their families.
“Do you wish you’d never left active duty?” Breely asked.
“Sometimes,” he admitted. “I miss the camaraderie and friendships. Fortunately, the men I worked with in Stone Jacobs’ security firm helped fill that gap.”
“I know you still work with Stone, but what about the others?”
“All of us signed on as a team to stand up the Yellowstone branch of the Brotherhood Protectors.” He grinned. “Hank was glad to bring all of us on board, and we were glad to have jobs that could use our unique set of skills.”
“Do they know we’re coming?” Breely asked.
“You’ve been with me nonstop since we got to Denver. I haven’t had the time to call them. I’ll do it when we get to Bozeman. We’ll be there for at least an hour, getting your things from your apartment and stopping by the tavern. I know you called Stan, but he might want to say goodbye in person.”
She smiled. “I’d like that.”
Their conversation helped pass the time. He liked listening to Breely’s voice through the headset and getting to know more about her. She might have been confined to the ranch, but she’d been fully engaged in ranch life, riding horses, mending fences and herding cattle from one pasture to another.
“My mother made sure I knew how to cook and take care of a house, even though we had staff to do those tasks.” She grimaced. “Not that I’m bragging. It’s just how it was. On cold wintery days, Cookie and I liked baking cookies for the ranch hands or creating fancy meals like they served in Paris, France.”
Moe stared across the cockpit at Breely. “For a girl who learned to ride before she learned to walk, I’m surprised you willingly spent any time in a kitchen.”
She laughed. “What else is there to do when the temperatures dip into the negatives? Eating French food might be as close as I get to France.”
“If you want to go badly enough, I have faith that you’ll get there someday.” He grinned. “Your time off the ranch seems to have unleashed the badass in you if the way you handled your father was anything to go by.”
Her lips quirked. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget the look on his face when we came out of the bathroom in our birthday suits.”
Moe’s grin faded. “I’m surprised he didn’t shoot me on the spot.”
“If he’d brought his shotgun, he might have. Fortunately, no one got hurt.”
“Or thrown in jail,” he murmured.
“I wouldn’t have let that happen,” Breely said. “My father can be stubborn and cranky, but he can be led to reason.”
“I was fully prepared to spend the night in jail.”
Breely cocked an eyebrow. “Just one?”
“Hank has connections, so I’m told. He’d have gotten me out one way or another.”
