Hearts in Flight

by Patty Smith Hall

  “I understand, Captain Hicks. I would appreciate it if you would keep me informed about the investigation.”

  Wesley nodded. The Army Air Force might try to tie Wesley up with a lot of red tape but he intended to stretch that tape as far as humanly possible. After all, he knew what it was like ramming his head against a brick wall, trying to find out the truth behind his sister’s crash.

  “Your girl did a great job of getting down in one piece.”

  “Nothing less than what I’d expect from Donna. She’s the best.”

  Wesley had his own ideas about the best female pilot in the vicinity and it wasn’t Donna. He leaned back and glanced at the man, a question suddenly weighing heavy on his mind. “You ever think about her getting hurt before today?”

  “All the time.” Bill dropped his head slightly. “It kind of put me off dating her at first.”

  Wesley nodded.

  “But I couldn’t get her out of my head. It got so bad, I finally talked it over with the chaplain. He said that if I loved Donna, I had to accept those things about her that kept me up at night and realize that I had to give God control over the situation.”

  Wesley had never thought of it that way. “Did it make things easier?”

  “A little.” He chuckled softly. “Especially when the chaplain pointed out how dodging bullets and facing the Nazis might make Donna a bit nervous about having a relationship with me.”

  “Sounds like a smart man.”

  “The thing is I’ll always worry about her. I love her,” Bill replied, raising his head to look at Wesley.

  Wesley cleared his throat. “I heard Donna was your instructor.”

  A warm smile spread across the man’s face. “Yes, sir. She’s the best. Why, just last week, I watched her take this new guy up. I swear I thought that boy was going to get them both killed. But Donna.” His voice filled with unabashed respect and pride. “She talked him through it. It was something to see, sir.”

  Wesley nodded. He felt the same way every time he saw Maggie take off. “Sounds like she has a gift.”

  “It was at that moment I realized the problem wasn’t with her flying but with my fears. I decided then and there to give my worries concerning her over to the Lord and let Him deal with it.”

  “And now?”

  “I have to admit, I was scared to death when my commanding officer told me about Donna this morning,” Bill said, the memory playing painfully across his face. “All the way here, I prayed that someone had made a mistake and it wasn’t Donna in the crash.” The man hesitated. “I don’t know if you’ve ever heard about the peace that God can give you in times like this, but on the walk over here from the train station, I knew that whatever happened to Donna, whether she lived or died, God has a plan for us.”

  Wesley leaned back, resting his head against the wall. Easy for Bill to say. He hadn’t lost Donna this morning. Would he have felt the same way if she hadn’t survived? Wesley glanced at him. There was a contentment in the man’s expression that caused envy to flash sharply through him. If Bill found peace in his faith, what did his fears for Maggie say about his own?

  “So you’re not going to worry about Donna as much now?” Wesley asked.

  “Oh, I’m not that good, but at least I know the Lord will be there to listen. Truth is I never really worried about Donna except for when she’s scheduled to fly out of the Bell.” The man stared at Wesley. “That threatening note really shook up the both of us.”

  The hair on the back of Wesley’s neck stood at attention. “Donna got threatened at the Bell?”

  “No sir,” Tom answered, looking at Wesley as if he had a screw loose. “Maggie did.”

  17

  “When did you intend to tell me? Or was that your plan, to keep me in the dark?” Wesley asked, his fingers painfully gripping the tender skin above her elbow as they walked down the hallway thirty minutes later.

  Maggie wasn’t sure what Wesley was talking about, only that she felt as if all the blackout curtains had been drawn, and she was fumbling around in the inky shadows. He was steamed about something and had been since the moment she had left Donna’s room. At first, she’d thought maybe he’d learned an important piece of information about Donna’s accident, but with this line of questioning, probably not.

  “Did you think you could keep this from me?” His voice must have carried because a nurse stepped out into the hallway and with a stern look, pressed one finger to her lips.

  “I swear,” Wesley grounded out, his grasp on her arm loosing. “If Roosevelt would send over a battalion of nurses over to the front, they stare the Nazis into submission within a week.”

  Maggie mashed her lips together to keep the chuckle from rumbling through her. The man really could be funny when he wanted to be. She gently pulled her arm out of his grip. “You want to tell me what’s bothering you so much?”

  Wesley glared at her, his eyes daring her. “Why didn’t you tell me you got a threatening note your first day at Bell?”

  Donna did always have a big mouth! Maggie’s chin went up a notch as she glared back at him. Wesley might be upset, but what was the point? The note was over a month old. “What about it?”

  Wesley stiffened. “Didn’t you think that as your commanding officer, I should have been notified?”

  Maggie clinched her teeth together and silently counted to ten. Of course, she should have told him about the note and would have had she received it now that she knew she could trust him. Maybe if he heard her out, knew her reasons from keeping the threat under wraps, he might understand.

  A small crowd had gathered, eyeing them as if though they were a couple in the middle of a lover’s spat. She looked around, and spying a stairwell leading to the lobby.

  Threading her hand through Wesley’s arm, she tugged him toward the door. He didn’t offer much resistance. Probably didn’t want an audience any more than she did.

  Once the door slammed shut firmly behind them, Maggie let go of Wesley’s arm and walked over to the opposite wall. “You’re right. I should have told you. But I was terrified that if you knew, you’d ground me.”

  Wesley crossed his arms in a tight knot over his chest. “You’re right. I would have.”

  “I knew it. You were looking for any excuse to keep me out of the air.”

  “Have I ever kept you out of the flight rotation since you passed all your preflight testing?”

  His question echoed off the cinder block walls. She had to give him that point. Even with all his misgivings in those early days, Wesley had never scrubbed one of her flights, not even today against Lieutenant Webber. “No, you haven’t.”

  “No. It is my job to see to the security of my command,” He bit out, lowering his head, the muscles in his neck pulled tight above his collar. “That note was a viable threat.”

  “But nothing happened,” she answered.

  Wesley jerked his head up, his fierce glare piercing into her. “Until now.”

  Until now. Maggie bit into the tender flesh of her lower lip, silently begging the stinging tears to retreat. She felt guilty and selfish. She’d never even thought about anyone else’s safety, so set on satisfying her own pride that she’d ignored the dangers to her squad and the girls who served with her in the WASP.

  “I should have told you about the note.”

  If she’d thought she was going to get off easy, she’d been sadly mistaken. “Did Donna tell you anything about the crash?”

  Maggie dared to look him in the eye and wished she hadn’t taken the chance. His face flushed, his mouth pulled into a controlled line, Wesley was the textbook definition of spitting mad.

  “I’m waiting, Miss Daniels.”

  Back to Miss Daniels again. Maggie straightened. She had been wrong, but she couldn’t let Wesley browbeat her over one miscalculation. “She said that her fuel level dropped faster than it should have. By the time she realized it, it was too late to return to the Bell.”

  “Someone switched th
e fuel,” he said with quiet certainty.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “P-51’s burn a one-hundred and one high octane fuel,” Wesley replied. “But if someone filled the tank with a lower grade, say a ninety-five or a ninety-eight octane, the tank would register fill, but the fuel would burn up more quickly.”

  Her stomach clinched into a tight ball. “You’d run out of gas.”

  He nodded. “I need to get out to the crash site and go through the wreckage.”

  “Do you want me to go back to the plant and check out the fuel logs for that plane?”

  “No.”

  “Then what . . .”

  But Wesley didn’t let her finish. His eyes glittered with a mixture of anger and something akin to fear. “You are to go back to Merrilee’s and stay there until further notice. Until I find out who is behind all of this, you’re not going within ten miles of my air field.”

  He couldn’t ground her now, not when she had worked so hard to be on the B-29’s maiden flight. Maggie fumed. Yes, Wesley did have a right to be angry with her, but how much had his loss of his sister played in this decision? Maybe it was time to take her case to a higher authority.

  “I’m going to have to agree with Captain Hicks on this one, Miss Daniels,” Major Evans said in his office the next morning. Maggie had been pleased at how quickly the man had answered her request for a formal meeting, but that feeling had soon turned to dread when she found Wesley in the chair beside her.

  She still had to give it her best shot. “But sir,” Maggie began, sitting at the edge of her seat. “We’re at a very crucial point in our training. Wouldn’t it be a better option to have me continue under Captain Hick’s immediate command rather than lose valuable time?”

  Evans turned. “Captain?”

  Any hope she had of swaying the Major in her favor had died the moment she looked over at Wesley. His usual smile was set in a straight, unyielding line, his blue eyes chilled with anger. In hindsight, she acknowledged she had royally messed up but there was nothing she could do about that now. The fact that she had apologized--several times since yesterday afternoon--hadn’t served to make a dent in Wesley’s fury.

  “In light of Miss Lane’s accident and the threat that has surfaced, I don’t feel that is a viable option at this time, sir,” Wesley answered, staring straight ahead.

  Major Evans’ gaze shifted between them before nodding. “Then I concede to your opinion, Captain. Miss Daniels, until we have more information, you are hereby relieved of your duties at the Bell and will be reassigned to another post if a threat exist.”

  “Yes, sir.” The words tasted like vinegar in her mouth.

  “Until then, I would ask that you stay in town.” Major Evans continued. “Investigations of this nature are generally wrapped up very quickly due to the urgency of our mission. If it becomes possible to reinstate you, I’d like you close by.”

  “I understand, sir.” But she didn’t. Wesley had completely abandoned her. She had thought he was the one person who could understand her need to prove herself, had even thought at times over the last few days that they might possibility share more than a love of flying. What a first-class idiot she was, thinking that Wesley could be a part of her future. Well, she didn’t need him, or at least she’d have to convince herself of that fact. Deep down in her chest, she began to ache.

  “Dismissed!”

  Maggie rose alongside Wesley, aware that they moved together as if two parts of a whole. They both snapped off a quick salute then walked toward the door. Wesley opened it, standing like a sentry, his solid frame tense, his hand firmly wrapped around the knob. There was no give in him that she could detect as she walked past him, either physically or in his point of view.

  Once they were safely out in the hallway, Maggie turned to him. “I’ll go finish up, then go home.”

  Wesley shook his head. “You’re leaving right now.”

  “But . . .” she started.

  “I’ve already reassigned your duties so there’s no reason for you to go back on the plant floor.” Though his tone was biting, the fingers that had closed over her elbow and was propelling her down the empty corridor were surprisingly gentle.

  “What have I got to do to make you to forgive me, Wesley?” She hated that the words sounded like a plea. “I’m sorry doesn’t seem to mean anything to you.”

  “You don’t get it.”

  “Sure, I do. I should have told you about that stupid note, but I was afraid.” His eyebrow shot up in concern. Maggie shook her head. “Not of the note. We got stuff like that all the time when we were in training camp. I knew if I said anything, you wouldn’t give me a chance.”

  Wesley leaned in dangerously close, the silver sparks in his eyes erupting into a fierce explosion. “Someone was counting on you being in that plane yesterday, someone who intend on hurting you. But I didn’t know that. You didn’t bother to tell me.”

  She grasped for air but her lungs refused to breathe. “I didn’t think.”

  “No, you didn’t,” he said, his voice razor sharp from what she recognized now as pain. “If something had happened to you, how would I explain it to your parents? To Merrilee and Claire? I made a promise to keep you safe. How would I deal with breaking another promise?”

  “Another?” She backed away from him, realization making her mind spin. “That’s why you haven’t talked to your grandfather since Beth died. You promised him you’d bring her home safe.”

  He leaned back as if her words had laid a physical blow to him. The anger in his eyes had been banked, replaced by a soul crushing fatigue. “Go home, Maggie. Just go home.”

  She didn’t need any more prodding. Wesley may have been wrong to make such a vow. The pain and guilt he must have felt at losing his sister. Her heart hurt so much for him, she could bury herself in his chest, weeping for the loss he carried so firmly on his shoulders.

  Without another word, Maggie turned and hurried down the hall, obeying what she was sure was Wesley’s last order for her.

  18

  Wesley walked down the graved path to Merrilee’s house, exhaustion seeping into every cell of his body. He’d spent the afternoon occupying himself with the mundane task of writing new flight assignments but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t push Maggie out of his thoughts.

  He’d been no tougher on her that she deserved. Wesley slapped violently at the tall grass with his cap. Her reasons for keeping the threat from him may have been founded in her own desire to get in the cockpit, but she’d been right about one thing. If he’d known about that note, he would have grounded her until the major ordered him to put her back into the flight rotation.

  But the situation had changed with Donna’s crash. Now, it wasn’t just a threat but a violent action. Maggie didn’t seem to realize the danger she was in, but he understood it. The idea of someone threatening Maggie, of her being alone and facing the dangers of the sky sent a foreboding shaft of apprehension through him. He hadn’t been there for his sister, but he wouldn’t fail Maggie. He couldn’t.

  Not when he suspected he could be falling in love with her.

  Wesley stared off toward the house. Love hadn’t stopped him from failing Beth. Only he’d encouraged her to sign up for the ferrying squad when Pops had been dead set against it. His assurances had finally calmed his grandfather’s concerns, that and his promise that Beth would never come close to the battle zone.

  But he had broken that promise.

  Wesley was at the bottom of the staircase leading to the front porch before he noticed her. There in the corner of the swing, Maggie leaned her head against the back of her relaxed fist. The chains moaned a sad mournful rhythm as the swing moved slowly back and forth.

  He studied her for a second from the shadows of the whitewashed beam. Her generous lips were drawn into a sober line while her nose glowed a faint pink. Those emerald eyes that always turned him inside out had faded to a mint green, their brilliance washed away by what h
e could imagine was a river of tears. He hated the thought that he might have caused her those tears.

  Wesley climbed the last of the stairs and walked over to her. “Hi.”

  She stiffened. “Hi.”

  “Mind if I sit down?”

  As her answer, Maggie scooted further into the corner. The chains squealed in protest as Wesley sat down in the center of the swing.

  Several awkward moments passed before he spoke. “I’m sorry I blew up at you.”

  Maggie shook her head. “You had every right to be angry. I was wrong not to tell you about that dumb note, and now, Donna’s in the hospital because of me.”

  “Hey,” he replied, taking her cool hand and sandwiching it between his. “You didn’t do this to Donna.”

  “By not telling you about that note, I put her at risk,” she answered, her lip quivering slightly. Maggie dropped her chin to her chest. “It’s like I gassed up her plane myself.”

  He couldn’t stand seeing her like this. Leaning close to her, he reached out and with his fingers, traced the silky soft skin of her jaw upward until her chin rest in the palm of his hand. “Don’t keep beating yourself up over this, Sweetheart.”

  “But I messed up. Big time.”

  Wesley reluctantly dropped his hand and leaned back in the swing, his face raised to the ceiling. “Yeah. Well, and I make promises I can’t seem to keep.”

  A few moments lapsed before Maggie spoke again. “Who asked you to watch out for me?”

  “Your Aunt Merrilee.”

  “I should have known,” she said, the hint of a smile back in her voice. “I thought maybe it was my dad.” She paused. “And who made you promise to take care of Beth?”

  He should have guessed Maggie wouldn’t let it go. Like a dog to a bone, that girl was. But how would she feel after learning the truth? “Pops wasn’t altogether sold on the idea of Beth joining the ferrying squadron so she asked me if I’d talk him, maybe convince him that it wasn’t nearly as dangerous as he seemed to believe. It wasn’t like she was going to be dodging the Germans.” He swallowed hard against the memories assaulting him. “He felt I should have done more to keep her out of the war.”