Marrying Daisy Bellamy by Susan Wiggs Page B

instruction, flight hours and fuel.
    Before boarding, he went through a safety and readiness checklist with methodical precision. She knew the reckless boy was still inside him, the guy who jumped rows of barrels on a motorcycle and tackled the worst technical rock climbs without batting an eye. Now shewatched that restless energy channel itself into intense focus and concentration.
    She stood back on the dock, admiring the assured efficiency of his movements as he worked. Like a child’s toy, the moored plane bobbed in time to the lapping of the water. “I can’t believe we’re doing this,” she said.
    He flashed a smile that managed to be at once boyish and sexy. “I’ve always wanted to take you flying.” He loosened the mooring ropes, holding one in his hand.
    â€œI feel like I already am,” she said, then flushed because that sounded so lame. Still, she could not help smiling. It was a magnificent day, the sky cloudless, the water flat and calm. The surrounding hills wore mantles of new green growth. Everything in sight seemed swollen with abundance, and anything seemed possible.
    Daisy knew she would soon be telling him farewell for good, or at least for the foreseeable future. But how could she do that now, when he was taking her flying, for heaven’s sake? She didn’t let herself dwell on it. Instead, she focused on the undeniable splendor of this day and felt grateful to be spending it with Julian.
    He jimmied the change in his pocket, seeming oddly nervous. “As a matter of fact, I was planning to—”
    â€œJulian, the plane!” She jumped to the edge of the dock. “It’s getting away.”
    Without hesitation, he leaped onto a pontoon, causing the small aircraft to bob wildly. He tossed her a rope. She grabbed it and pulled him back to the dock.
    â€œThanks,” he said, “I almost lost you before I even had you.”
    â€œYou should be more careful.”
    â€œI had my head turned. It’s not like I get to spend every day with the girl of my dreams.”
    â€œ What did you call me?” Her heart was racing now.
    â€œThe girl of my dreams. It’s cheesy, I know, but that’s how I feel.”
    There were many ways to think about what he’d said. She knew he meant it in the best possible way, but she parsed the words, a habit of hers.
    Even the word girl . She hadn’t been a girl since the day she’d stared in horror at a home pregnancy test wand and realized her entire life was about to change. And being someone’s dream sounded all well and good, but in actual fact it turned her into a concept, an ideal, and she didn’t want that. She wanted him to know her on the most real level possible.
    â€œJulian—”
    â€œReady?” he asked, unlocking the plane and flipping open the surprisingly flimsy door. “Climb aboard. I’ll load your stuff after.”
    She felt a thrum of excitement in her chest. The interior of the plane was like that of a middling sports car. Vinyl bucket seats, regular seat belts. The view out the front, over the sloping nose of the plane, was certainly different, though. The lake rolled out before them, reflecting the endless sky.
    Julian shoved off the dock and climbed into the cockpit. “Put on your headset. It’s going to get noisy in here.”
    She gamely donned a bulky headset. “Roger that.” Her voice sounded tinny and artificial. “How do I look?”
    â€œLike Princess Leia, with those big things on the sides of your head.”
    He did some more checking of the panel and gauges, and spoke on another frequency to a tower somewhere.
    The single engine started, sounding like a lawn mower motor. Daisy did not have a single reservation about his flying. She knew she was safe with him.
    He slowly navigated the plane out of the marina, and the whine of the motor crescendoed to a powerful drone. The shoreline flickered past with