The Flight Path Less Traveled

by Leigh Dreyer

  Jane sat cool and clear like a mountain pond. Elizabeth knew her better than most, however.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Jane, just give in. I can ask you twenty more questions before you tell me, or you could go ahead and say now and save us both the time and energy.”

  “Well, it’s really too early to tell but―”

  A knock at the door interrupted.

  “Come in,” Elizabeth said, smiling apologetically at Jane who gestured as if to say “no big deal” just as Dr. Willoughby entered. Jane took one evaluating look at him as he walked past her to shake hands with Elizabeth, raised her eyebrows and nodded at her sister in approval.

  “Good morning, Lieutenant. How are we doing today?”

  “Doing better. I think I’ve made significant strides over the last week.”

  “Excellent.” He sat down at the computer, inserted his ID card into the reader and began typing.

  “And who is this lovely lady accompanying you today?” he said without looking up from the screen as he pulled up Elizabeth’s notes.

  “This is my sister, Jane Bingley.”

  “How do you do?”

  “I didn’t realize you had a sister. What an attractive family you have.”

  Jane’s eyes widened at the flattery before she caught Elizabeth’s expression as if to say, “Can you believe the nerve of this guy?”

  “Well, there are five of us all together.”

  “Five? Five sisters?”

  Elizabeth nodded.

  “Good god. I can’t imagine. Your poor father. Surrounded by women. How does he do it?”

  “He escapes to his office mostly.”

  “Can’t blame him. I am lucky not to have any sisters myself, but I grew up with an overbearing aunt, and I can tell you that any more of her would be stressful.”

  “Lucky you don’t have daughters then.”

  “Agreed. Very lucky.” Willoughby turned to look Elizabeth directly in the eyes. “I’ve always been a one-woman man, myself.”

  Elizabeth felt her toes curl inside her tennis shoes. She blushed and was grateful the nurse had taken her temperature before as she suddenly felt very warm. He had a way of never saying anything that could be misconstrued and yet was so full of innuendo… She felt confused―and vulnerable―and looked away quickly.

  Darcy’s words after her last appointment reverberated through her head. “He said you had a nice—”

  “Tell me a little more about why you are here today.”

  Dr. Willoughby looked at Elizabeth and then directly behind her at the clock on the wall. Elizabeth stuttered out what she hoped was an intelligent response. “Well, you told me last week that you needed to do a check-up to see if there was anything extra we could be doing before my medical evaluation board.”

  “Right, right. I talked to my supervisor about you, since I’m new to the area and needed to figure out what options we have here. I’m going to send in a referral to get you physical and occupational therapy up at Brooks, which is about three hours away. But you’ll be at one of the best hospitals in Texas, so I think that cancels out any problems with the drive.” He clicked on the mouse and stared at his computer monitor. “Looks like you are already seeing a therapist, but if you want another one in San Antonio too, I can send in a referral for that. The board looks like it’s scheduled to meet toward the end of December, so you’ll have a little time.” He flashed her a smile of perfectly straight, white teeth.

  Elizabeth swallowed and nodded.

  Jane asked, “So, what exactly happens at this board?”

  “Well, the review team will look at her notes and then make one of three decisions: she’ll stay in and return to normal duty (for her that would mean go back to pilot training), or they will medically discharge her, or medically retire her. If she is rated at above a thirty percent disability she is medically retired and can pull that, otherwise she is just discharged, and then she takes the next big fight up with the VA.”

  “What would she do if she is discharged?”

  “No idea.” He turned back to Elizabeth. “What was your major in school?”

  “History.”

  He cocked one eyebrow, and she shrugged.

  “It was a degree plan to graduate from in four or less years while working.”

  He chuckled. “How ’bout that. Pretty typical in the pilot community. Lots of history or geography majors when it isn’t some kind of engineering. I guess you’ll go back to grad school then?”

  “No. I’m returning to active duty so it won’t matter.”

  “Why not, start your master’s now, Lizzy?” asked her sister. “Grad school wouldn’t be so bad. Besides, Charles and I will move soon so you can move with us and go to school wherever we go. Or you could start online?”

  “Excellent option.” Willoughby held out his hand to grasp hers once more and leaned forward. “Any other big questions?” Jane stood and practically hit the doctor as she thrust Elizabeth’s bag between them. She looked down at Elizabeth whose hands now gripped the purse.

  “Is there anything more I can do for you? Lunch is coming up soon and I know I’m starving. Can I convince you ladies to come eat with me at the Bowling Alley?”

  Jane cleared her throat and Elizabeth could practically hear Darcy again. She would be getting kicked out and would make great arm candy.

  The two girls shook their head at each other than Willoughby. Elizabeth was satisfied with her new referrals but less so with the attention she had received.

  “Thank you so much for the offer and everything you’ve already done. You can’t imagine how comforting it is to have a doctor who seems invested in my recovery.” Even as she said it, she wondered if he was the real deal.

  “Okay, well, the board will be in a few months and I guess I’ll see you before then. You ladies have a great day. Nice to meet you, Jane.” Willoughby once again flashed his smile, shook their hands, and was out the door.

  “What did you think? He’s nice, right?” Elizabeth asked as she gathered her things and eased off the table.

  “He’s very kind,” Jane said politely. “He seemed like he wasn’t quite paying attention. I’m sure he’s busy with appointments, but he didn’t even do an examination before writing those referrals.”

  “Why would he need to? Everything should be in my chart. Besides, he isn’t a specialist.”

  “I don’t know. But…he asked you out to lunch during your appointment for one thing.”

  “He did not,” Elizabeth said, shocked when she sounded like Lydia. “Okay, he did, but he included you too, and at least I got the referrals, right?”

  “I just feel like he wasn’t concerned about your board, and from what I read on the Veteran’s Affairs website, I thought you were supposed to be going over a possible civilian transition plan if things went south—”

  “Maybe he’s just optimistic for my outcome. When did you get so suspicious, Jane?” Even as Elizabeth said the words, she knew Jane was right. Just like Darcy.

  “I’m sure that’s it, but I think I’ll ask Charles when he gets home.” Jane’s voice petered out softly. “Yes. I’ll talk to Charles.”

  8

  Darcy awkwardly held the door with his foot while carrying a flight bag, duffel bag, and shoes into the hotel room. He could tell he had not traveled in a while. This was never problematic at previous stations where he was on the road all the time. Eventually he made it into the room and evaluated his home for the night. The full-size bed dominated the room with a small desk under the window. A small, flat-screen TV sat atop a dresser across from the bed and a bathroom with a functional but ancient walk-in shower was across from the window. The air had a musty, mildew quality frequently found in Air Force hotels. It would do for one night, and Darcy did not care. He missed the days in college when he paid for his own hotel rooms, always luxury suites with beautiful amenities and room service. Sure, he could do so now, but it w
as often more difficult than it was worth for only a few nights. The Air Force had its perks, but their on-base hotel rooms were not one of them.

  He texted Elizabeth to say he was in his room and to call when she was free, then he took a quick shower and pulled on some shorts he used to sleep in. He sprawled out on the too small bed—honestly, what grown man fits in a full-size bed?—and turned on the television. Flipping from channel to channel, he staved off the crush of boredom until a pealing ring from his flight suit. He dove into a pocket of the olive-green suit for his cell phone. He looked at the screen and saw Elizabeth’s face looking back at him. He slid his thumb across to answer it, instantly happier than he had been all day.

  “Aloha.”

  “Hey.”

  “Hey.”

  “How was your day?” At the sound of her sweet voice, Darcy wished he could reach through the phone and stroke her cheek.

  “Uneventful. It was just a plain cross-country. Beckman knows his stuff and wasn’t too hard on me. Dinner was good.”

  “What did you have?”

  “Barbecue. A little place Uncle Gardiner told me about. Total hole in the wall but amazing.”

  “He was always good at finding those places.”

  “Yeah, I mean, he took you to Pemberley and not many beyond New England have even heard of it as a real place and not just a wine label.”

  “That’s true. Pemberley is lovely. I’d love to go back someday.”

  “I would love to take you there,” he almost said, but he bit it back. Jane told him not to push.

  “It is lovely any time of year, but I think I like it best in the fall when the leaves are a hundred different colors and crunch under your feet.”

  “I’ve heard the fall colors are amazing up there, and I do love stepping on a good crunchy leaf.” She chuckled. “I’ve always found it incredibly satisfying. We never get fall around here. Well, you’ve seen Longbourn; it’s so brown. Not many trees to change, and the ones that do, wait until January.”

  “Noticed that last year. I thought that change happening so late was kind of neat actually. Other than the summers, which are just hot, Longbourn has its charms.”

  “You should be here on a rainy year. The view from Oakham Mount is amazing. Everything suddenly turns green, and there are blossoms everywhere. That has always been my favorite. I love seeing fields of bluebonnets in green grass and other wildflowers growing in patches right along the road. The sage is all purple. There is something so magical about the earth coming back to life when it has looked so dead for months.”

  “When I was a kid, my mother always picked wildflowers. I’m sure you didn’t see it when you were there, but Pemberley has a little kind of wilderness just near the house and there were always flowers growing in the spring and summer. I have a sneaky suspicion my mom planted them, but anyway, she would always bring in these little bouquets every few days. They cheered her up.”

  “My mom never picked flowers. She didn’t like that her hands turned green, but Dad would always get her roses on her birthday and daisies on their anniversary.”

  “That kind of seems switched around. Wouldn’t the roses be more romantic?”

  “Well, when they got married, Dad said they would always be happy and daisies symbolize cheer, so to remember that promise, he always gets her daisies.”

  “That is much more romantic than anything I would have expected from your dad.”

  “Yeah, well, just goes to show you that even in the most unlikely of places, romance is alive and well.”

  They both laughed, and Darcy drunk in the moment. This is what he wanted. He wanted Elizabeth with him all the time.

  “What did he do for your birthdays?”

  “Well, that is different. Mom would always make us the same yellow cake with chocolate frosting—Lydia hates it. She complains every year—and Mary has for a few years now been able to convince Mom to switch over to key lime pie, but essentially we had that yellow cake seven times a year because that is what her mom would make—never mind that guests always had fancy cakes for birthdays and anniversaries—a tradition is a tradition. Maybe she was just tired after her meals for the guests? I never could figure it out. Then, we would always make Wimpy burgers, my mom’s nickname for sloppy joes. Dad would lead the ‘Happy Birthday’ song. We had parties and got to choose the movie that night. What about you?”

  “When Mom was alive, we always had a huge event. The Fitzwilliams would come over of course. You remember, Richard?”

  “Of course. Who could forget my favorite colonel?”

  “Ha! I’ll tell him you said that.”

  “My goal is to become his favorite lieutenant.”

  “You won’t have to work very hard. He already thinks very highly of you.”

  “As highly as you do?”

  “No one could think of you as highly as I do.” He let the sentiment linger in the air and heard a small sigh on the other side of the phone. “Anyway, Richard and I would sneak off, typically tormenting his older brother, if at all possible just by being annoying, and build some sort of fort. Aunt Catherine would fly up, and Anne always joined us because we couldn’t shake her off like we did Preston. Then we would have to protect her from pirates and swashbucklers and other hardened criminal masterminds. I was always the captain of the ship and Richard tended to play the pirate. Of course, Georgiana was too little then.”

  “How old was she when your mom died?”

  “Just one. Dad took it pretty hard and, from there, birthdays became rather boring, I’m afraid. Mrs. Reynolds would always make us a special dish for dinner, but it was different and we stopped having anyone over. It just all became too much for him.”

  “That sounds awful. I might have Lydia—who, side note, did I tell you is going to some Christian college?—but at least I have both my parents.”

  “Lydia is going to a church school? Does—and I mean no offense by this—does Lydia have any particular religion that she follows?”

  Elizabeth laughed. “No, I think this is some born-again place but pretty strict. No sororities. No drinking. No dancing. Dad says if she wants him to pay for school, she has to do at least two years here and pass with a 3.0 or higher. Lydia, of course, wailed and gnashed her teeth and said we were all ruining her life. You would have thought she was actually dying with the amount of screaming coming from the house. Honestly, her crazy makes me not even want kids. It could be genetic, and I don’t know that I could handle that.”

  “I can’t imagine her reaction. Well, maybe I can and that is almost more frightening.”

  There was another brief silence.

  “But, you do want kids, don’t you?”

  “Of course. I would love only as many as I could handle. Might be one, might be fifteen, but I do want a part of me to continue on in the world. There is a little romantic and probably narcissistic sensibility about a tiny me running around making trouble.”

  “I always wanted three. I think a boy and two girls.”

  “Interesting. What if you get all girls?”

  “Then I guess I’ll have to name one Taylor and raise her like a son.”

  “Excellent plan. I was practically my father’s son. He let me be rowdy and taught me to play catch.”

  “I thought as much.”

  “Oh!” Elizabeth exclaimed.

  “What?”

  “I forgot! Jane will kill me that I didn’t tell you. Caroline is moving out.”

  Darcy sat straight up. “No…”

  “Yes.”

  He stood and began to pace. “The truth?”

  “Will—she absolutely is moving out. Cross my heart.”

  He sat back down. “It is about time. What happened? Where is she going?”

  “Well, I heard a lot of screaming between Caroline and Charles. Charles is doing the right thing and backing up Jane in everything she says, mostly about Caroline being a shrew who can’t lift a finger to help now that they are married.”

 
“They fought?”

  “Like cats and dogs. It was amazing. I’ve never seen Charles lose his cool like that. He just said he was tired of how Caroline didn’t pull her weight, didn’t pay rent, and only lives to gossip, complain, and belittle his wife. I didn’t even know Charles could get upset.”

  “What did Caroline do?”

  “She was the best part. She got all high and mighty about how she upholds certain standards of behavior in the area and how Jane was just too white trash to see quality.”

  “White trash?”

  “Oh—it only gets better. Then, Charles said that for an over-educated, unemployed, unmarried loser who lives off her brother, Caroline seemed to have a lot of opinions.”

  “Whoa.”

  “Then Caroline said Jane should be more supportive, and Jane said something like ‘Correct. I should be supportive of your spending habits, all on Charles’s credit cards, mind you, and your self-centered, ego-centric, megalomania.’ After that, Caroline complained some more, and Jane said, ‘Wow. Caroline, if you can name me three contributions you have made to this home during your year and a half here, I will go fluff your Egyptian cotton pillow and turn down your bed.’”

  “Jane said all that?”

  “I’ve never heard her say something so spiteful.”

  “I can’t even imagine Jane upset. Caroline was furious, I’m sure.”

  “Mm-hmm. She stormed out of the house saying she was going to Louisa’s house. Charles wished her luck because Louisa’s husband hates Caroline. So, long story short, Charles thinks Caroline will end up back at his parents’ which is exactly what she was trying to avoid by living here.”

  “Wow. I can’t believe I missed it. I’ve been waiting for this for more than a year.”