hands, which were laced together tightly.
“I’m always prepared. It’s summer, so it shouldn’t be too bad as far as the temperature,” I replied.
“Make sure to call in your flight update.”
“Of course. Catch you later.”
I ended that call and then went through the official channels to notify them that Nora and I would be remaining at the supply station until tomorrow morning. After I set down the radio receiver, silence fell around us.
Wind buffeted the plane, and my eyes lifted to see how the wind sock was faring, a simple yet effective indicator. It blew wild and twisted with another gust of wind. Trying to fly in wind like this was a fool’s game.
“How are you doing as far as food goes?” I asked.
“I always have something on hand,” she said quietly. “What about you?”
“Same.”
She glanced at her watch, and as if on cue, my stomach rumbled. Her eyes flicked to mine, and then she laughed, just a little bit. My heart felt split open as swiftly as a log fell in two pieces with a single swing of an ax. That was how it was when it came to my heart and Nora. She had no idea. I hadn’t even known it until I ruined the best thing I’d ever had.
“I even have a little camp stove,” she offered.
I chuckled. “Of course you do.”
“Why, of course?”
“Because you’re always prepared. It’s one of the things I like best about you.”
“Let me see what I have. We can sit in the airport.” She rolled her eyes at that. It was a running joke amongst the pilots who came out this way that the shed was actually referred to as an airport. “It’ll keep us out of the wind.”
A while later after we made sure both of the planes were situated for the night, Nora was sitting cross-legged on the floor in the shed. She had a lightweight portable propane camp stove set up and was presently preparing macaroni and cheese out of a box. I’d propped up a makeshift barrier in the doorway to keep the wind to a minimum. The wind hadn’t eased up at all, and it was past eight o’clock. The sun was sliding down the sky, which we could see through the opening outside. It was a splashy sunset, the sky a swirl of reds, oranges, and golds. Darkness wouldn’t come for more than another hour.
Nora was being polite to me, and being with her like this had my heart aching.
A few minutes later, she handed me a small plastic bowl with a spoon. “Dinner is served. It might not be as good as Daphne’s cooking, but it’ll do.” We’d lucked out when Flynn fell in love with Daphne. She happened to be a kick-ass chef and now handled all the meals for the resort.
“It’s better than my energy bar,” I said with a chuckle.
I got a slight smile in return, which was remarkable. I took a few bites, then paused to sip water from a bottle. When I looked over at Nora and felt that now-familiar thread of tension between us, my heart lurched uncomfortably.
“I’m sorry.” My words startled me. Not because I didn’t mean them. I felt them down to my bones. As sorry as I was, I felt stuck, unsure how to repair the rip I’d torn in our relationship.
Nora’s mouth fell open. She’d been in the process of lifting a spoonful of the pretty freaking good macaroni and cheese into her mouth. She’d added extra cheese from a few cheese sticks in her backpack, so it was nice and gooey and didn’t have the distinct flavor of packaged food.
My heart thrashed in my chest in a messy, unsteady beat that echoed with thundering kicks.
Chapter Three
Nora
My hand was shaking, and I forced myself to lower it before I dropped the spoonful of macaroni and cheese all over my lap. My eyes stung, and I abruptly realized I might be about to cry. For the second time today.
I cried so much over Gabriel after he threw my feelings back in my face. I thought I had thoroughly and completely boarded up the windows, doors, and walls around my heart. I’d even built a moat, metaphorically speaking, but apparently, that wasn’t enough to protect me, and I needed a freaking fortress.
Here I was, almost crying after he kissed me earlier, and now almost crying because he apologized. Jesus. I was pathetic.
“What?”
My mouth formed the word, but my lips felt almost numb. The rest of me felt raw,