Lady Flyer, page 11
She linked arms with Tommy and Susie, propelling them toward the street bathed in twilight. They headed along the sidewalk together, waving when Henry called after them.
“He’s smitten with you, Nancy,” Tommy said.
“Hardly.” She cut a glance toward Susie, who was biting her lip. If Nancy were to guess, Susie had a small crush on Henry Wilder herself. “Susie’s the one he invited to stay.”
“True. What about it, Susie?”
Susie waved her hand in a flourish. “He’ll have to follow me to New Jersey. I hate New York in the summer. My parents will be staying at Martha’s Vineyard, and not even a man could tempt me to remain here.”
Both Nancy and Tommy laughed.
“No one can ever hate New York City,” Tommy gushed. “It’s the city of speakeasies, skyscrapers, and the Yankees.”
Susie only smiled, and after they grabbed dinner at a cozy diner none of them could really afford, Tommy said, “Let’s go to the airfield and watch the sun rise.”
Sunrise was still a whole night away, but it was one of Nancy’s favorite things to do, sitting on the grassy knoll at the edge of Roosevelt Field. They’d watch the final planes coming in, then wait for the sun to rise as the sky shifted from black to gray to violet.
The evening had yet to cool off, holding on to the afternoon heat in a tight-fisted grip, so they spread out their sweaters on the short, spiky grass and lay back, gazing up at the hopeful moon and the litter of stars.
“Anyone bring cigarettes?” Susie asked when their conversation slowed.
“Me.” Tommy lit one up and passed it down the line.
After taking a drag, Nancy said, “If I fall asleep, make sure you wake me at dawn.”
“No one’s falling asleep,” Susie insisted. “We’re going to discuss our hopes and dreams and futures.”
They all laughed.
“And how someday we’ll purchase our own airplanes and fly whenever and wherever we please.” Tommy puffed out another plume of smoke, and it lazily floated upward before dissipating into the black of night.
“Hear, hear,” Nancy said, thinking of Bob and how he already had that privilege.
Susie had been right. They stayed awake all night talking about everything and nothing.
But when the rosy hues of dawn cracked the sky, Nancy felt reluctant to move and break up the magic of the timeless atmosphere. “I need to get home, clean up, then get to class,” she mumbled. “I don’t know about you girls, but I’ll be taking a nap this afternoon, so keep things quiet.”
“I’m calling in sick to the dress shop.” Susie stood, stifled a yawn, and attempted to brush the wrinkles out of her skirt. “They can survive a day without me.”
Nancy honestly wasn’t sure why Susie worked in a dress shop. She loved clothing, sure, but her family was well-to-do. Nancy guessed it to be a power play between Susie and her parents. They’d said they wouldn’t pay for flying if she wasn’t holding a job. Nancy had offered to talk to Bob about Susie needing a job in flying, but she’d waved off the suggestion.
“I fly for fun,” Susie had declared, “not work.”
So, Nancy had left it at that.
When they made it back to their apartment, the next-door party was long over. Nancy headed to class, and by the time she was home in the early afternoon, she felt dead on her feet.
Still, she wouldn’t trade the night out with her friends for extra sleep. When she climbed onto her bed and closed her eyes, she let her mind drift. Moments later, the ringing of a phone awakened her. She ignored the sound and tried to fall asleep again when the phone started up a second round.
“Someone answer the phone,” she called, but no one answered back.
She cracked her eyes open. The setting sun had filled her room with a burnished glow. She’d fallen asleep and had slept much longer than she’d planned. Moving off the bed, she headed into the kitchen, half in a daze. The phone started ringing a third time.
“This better be important,” she said into the receiver.
The person on the other end of the line must have been stunned into silence because no one said a word.
“Hello?” she asked, about a half second from hanging up, then leaving the phone off the hook.
“Miss Harkness?” a man’s voice rumbled across the line.
Her back stiffened. It was him. “Mr. Love?”
“Yes. How are you?”
How am I? What employer calls to ask that? And why was Bob Love calling her in the first place? Was there bad news about his airport? Was he firing her? “Why are you calling? I’m fine, by the way.”
She heard his chuckle all the way from Boston. He wouldn’t be laughing if he were calling with bad news, right?
“Always direct.”
“Bob, I mean, Mr. Love, I just woke up from a nap, and I’m a bit foggy-brained. It would be best if you got right to the point.”
He didn’t laugh a second time, but she swore she heard the smile in his voice when he asked, “Why were you asleep? It’s not even dinnertime.”
She looked toward the windows. Dinnertime wasn’t the same for everyone. “Maybe I had my dinner, and I’m going to bed early.”
“You said it was nap.”
“I did.”
He was still smiling—she’d bet on it. “You haven’t answered my question. Now you’re making me worried that you’re going to fire me.”
“No, I’m not going to fire you.” He was definitely amused.
Relief shot through her, but she was only more curious now. Or maybe it was nerves. Why was he calling her? He hadn’t called before, even though he’d written all her contact information.
“I wondered if you have dinner plans tomorrow night,” Bob asked. “I’m coming to New York.”
This was a surprise. Nancy leaned against the kitchen counter. “But tomorrow is Thursday.”
“Yes, it is a Thursday.”
Nancy’s cheeks felt hot. “You’re flying in a day early?”
“Correct, and I wondered if you’d like to go to dinner.”
At his airport, they’d shared some random meals together, but this felt more . . . more like an official date. Was he asking her on a date, or did he just need someone to have dinner with before he . . . what? “I don’t understand. Do you want me to meet some of your aviation friends?”
She heard his sigh on the phone.
“Not unless we happen to run into someone. You pick the restaurant. I’ll pick you up. We’ll have dinner and talk. You know, like men and women frequently do on a night out?”
Nancy’s pulse was skipping all over the place, as if it couldn’t decide whether to speed up or slow down or give her a heart attack right there. “Is this a date, Mr. Love?”
“I believe it is. Well, it would be if you agree.”
She drew in a breath, then released it. Was there really any harm in saying yes? “Will my reply affect my employment status?”
“No, Nancy. I’d never . . .” He cleared his throat, and she imagined a flush creeping up his neck. “I’m a man of integrity, or at least, I try to be. I’d like to take you out for dinner tomorrow night. On a date.” He paused. “I must admit that I’ve never had this much pushback before from a woman over a dinner invitation.”
Did she really need to overanalyze this? It was dinner. Plain and simple. “Okay.”
“Okay?” His voice sounded incredulous. “Okay, you’ll go?”
“Yes.” By the time Nancy hung up, she was the one with a flushed neck. She knew one thing—she wouldn’t be going back to sleep anytime soon. She had a date to plan for.
Chapter Thirteen
“The aeronautics branch of the US Department of Commerce had strict physical standards that every pilot needed to meet to be licensed. An aviator had to have strong eyes, functioning eardrums, good balance, and a healthy heart. Unrepaired harelips and stuttering speech could be cause for disqualification, as could a history of asthma or pneumonia.”
—Fly Girls by Keith O’Brien
May 1934—New York City
When a wax-shined car slowed in front of the apartment complex, Nancy guessed it was Bob. There weren’t any other cars slowing and stopping in front of her place. She’d been ready for a while, but that didn’t mean she’d rush out to greet him.
No, she watched Bob climb out of the car and walk around it. From her place at the edge of the window, she observed him as an outsider might. Her first impression had been of a pompous and irritating man covered in grease stains, blustering rudely, his red hair at odds.
But the man walking up to her place wore a light-gray suit, dark-colored tie, polished shoes, hair combed neatly. His keys in his hand, he looked like a man on a mission. With intentions for something . . . or someone.
“Is that him?” Susie whispered right next to Nancy’s ear.
Nancy nearly jumped a foot. “You startled me.”
“Spying on your man?” Tommy joined in.
Three grown women crowded at the window, watching Bob walk toward their apartment, was quite ridiculous. Nancy huffed and moved away as a knock sounded at the door.
“You’re not going to hide and make him wait ten minutes?” Susie asked, her eyes comically wide.
“Why should I?” Nancy ignored her roommates’ chortles and opened the door.
Yes, her pulse might be doing acrobatics, but this was just Bob Love. Her employer. A man she’d been around plenty. So what if he was slicked up for a dinner date? She was wearing an emerald-green dress with short puff sleeves and a pleated bodice. Maybe she’d paid some extra careful attention to putting on makeup. It was more for her than for him. He’d seen her with raccoon eyes from goggles and plastered hair from helmets.
“You made it.” Did her voice sound breathy?
Bob Love at her doorstep was a new experience. His eyes were bluer, and he seemed taller somehow, more than his usual five-inch advantage. Maybe because he wasn’t hunched over a plane’s engine or sitting at his desk, surrounded by crumpled papers. “Good afternoon, Miss Harkness.”
“It’s evening.”
“So it is.” Then he smiled.
Before she could let herself bask in that smile, she turned toward her roommates, who were conspicuously hovering a few feet away. “Uh, Mr. Love, this is Susie and Tommy. My roommates.”
“Great to meet you.” He stepped forward and shook each of their hands as if it were the most natural thing in the world to politely greet them.
Why was their first meeting with him so cordial?
She’d give him a hard time about that later . . .
Susie was all friendliness, and Tommy wore a calculated smirk on her face.
“Nancy told us all about Inter City, Mr. Love,” Susie said in a leading tone. “Very impressive. I might take lessons from you if Boston were more conveniently located.”
“To New York City?”
“Yes, well . . .” Susie giggled. “I guess Boston wouldn’t be Boston if it were New York City.”
To Bob’s credit, his eyebrows only rose a tad, although Nancy could only imagine what he was thinking. And why was Susie being so . . . ridiculous?
“Tell us about the planes you have available,” Tommy cut in, her maddening singsong voice making an appearance. “Did Nancy tell you I’ve worked on a plane with Jacqueline Cochran? Do you know her?”
“I know of Miss Cochran,” Bob said. “As for the planes we have at Inter City, they include Waco cabin planes, Monocoupes, Fairchilds, and Kinner-powered Fleets.”
“Very nice.” Tommy tilted her head, looking a little too speculative for Nancy’s taste. “Very impressive. I’ll bet you don’t have trouble getting flight students—”
“I’m ready to go,” Nancy cut in.
Bob looked at her. Maybe with a bit of relief? “Great.” He stepped aside and motioned for her to walk out. “Nice to meet you, ladies.”
“Nice to meet you as well,” Susie said sweetly, echoed by Tommy.
Nancy narrowed her gaze at her roommates before heading outside. As she walked ahead of Bob to the car, she knew her friends were watching every move from the window.
“Here we are.” Bob reached around her and opened the passenger door of the Cadillac.
“Here we are.” Nancy glanced at him before sliding inside. Not surprisingly, his eyes were filled with amusement. She might have paid a dollar or two to know his thoughts. “This your car?”
“Yes, one of them.”
She tried not to act surprised. Or be impressed. Because she wasn’t impressed. Just because his family was wealthy didn’t mean that extended to the whole family. But it sure had given Bob a leg up in life, at least from her perspective. Although, it was clear the man was his own entrepreneur.
As she watched him walk around the car, she realized she knew little of his family. Everything she’d heard had come from Henry, or she’d put two and two together. She didn’t know what Bob’s intentions were for this “date,” but her intentions were to find out more about his background. Who he really was beneath all his shifting moods, intense gazes, and hard-nosed decisions.
When he climbed in, he didn’t start the car right away. Instead, he let the moment stretch between them. “How are you?”
“Fine.”
He nodded, his eyes searching her face. Was he looking for something? “That’s good news.”
“Are you going to start the car?” she asked, not liking the fluster building inside of her. “You know we’re being spied on.”
His smile was slow, and she had to glance away because her stomach was doing flips off a high dive.
Finally, he started the motor. “Where to, Miss Harkness?”
“You can call me Nancy, you know.”
“Does that mean you’ll call me Bob?” He pulled out onto the street after a quick check for traffic.
She cut a glance at him. His smile was still in place. “You’re my employer, so that’s entirely up to you.”
“I think it’s appropriate since we are going out to dinner.” He wasn’t a hesitant driver, of course, and easily steered them through traffic.
“On a date?”
“On a date,” he confirmed.
Nancy couldn’t stop herself, and she laughed.
Bob grinned, and she felt inordinately pleased for some reason. But she shouldn’t be noticing how his left hand guided the steering wheel and his right hand rested loosely on the seat, not far from her. “Do I need to apologize for my roommates?”
He looked over at her as he approached the next corner. “You should never apologize for someone else’s behavior.”
“Only one’s own?”
His mouth turned up in a smirk. “Correct. You’ve told me a few things about your roommates, so it was nice to finally meet them.”
Nancy had chatted about her roommates, she supposed, but only because they were also pilots. “You know, Henry told me you asked him questions about me. What was that all about?”
Bob sped up and pulled around a car going much slower than they were. She didn’t say anything, but she’d commented plenty on his flying when she thought he was going too fast or not decelerating enough before landing. Apparently, his driving was similar to his flying.
“Ah. Good old Henry,” Bob mused, unfazed by his daring traffic move. “Not too great about keeping things confidential. I didn’t want to put you on the spot, so I asked Henry about your dating life to make sure I wasn’t stepping on another fellow’s toes.”
Speaking of toes, Nancy was warming up from head to toe. That was when she noticed they were approaching the next corner a little fast. When was he going to brake? “Slow down, and turn up there,” she said. “We’re going to that diner.”
“A diner?” He was clearly surprised, and for a moment, she thought he might argue. He was dressed to walk into a top-scale New York restaurant, but he slowed and pulled into the parking lot.
They headed into the diner, and the waitress led them to one of the booths.
“This is cozy,” Bob commented, glancing around at the white walls full of framed photos of Yankee baseball players.
“We come here a lot—well, after our paydays. Usually, we’re eating cans of soup in between.”
“Not the actual cans, though, right?” he teased. “Just the contents inside . . .”
“Depends on how hungry we are.”
He laughed. “Tell you what, tomorrow I’ll pick the place we eat.”
“Tomorrow? That’s a bit presumptuous, Mr. Love.”
A heartbeat passed. “Is it?”
They locked gazes for a moment, then she shrugged. “I won’t turn down a free meal.”
His smile was quick. He’d clearly taken no offense to her glib comment. “Good thing I’m paying.”
Nancy’s cheeks were going to flush red at any moment, so she picked up the menu and pretended to browse, even though she knew what she was going to order.
“Tell me about your family,” Bob said casually after the waitress had taken their orders and delivered drinks.
“You know the basics.” She took a sip of water from her glass. “Henry said he filled you in.”
“Touché.” Bob reached for his own glass. “I want to hear from you. Henry is a very poor substitute.”
“It’s all rather boring,” she hedged. “At least, until I started flying—that’s when I started waking up in the morning eager for the day to begin. And only if the day included a lesson somewhere, of course.”
“Of course.”
Nancy decided that Bob was easy to talk to. He listened closely and asked plenty of questions. Their meal came and went, and they ordered more drinks. By the time Nancy was telling him about when she and her brother had buzzed the boys’ prep school, they had desserts in front of them.
