“I haven’t.”
“I read the report. It wasn’t your fault.”
Mechanical failure due to electrical wiring defect. Yeah, Dev had read the report, too. Actually, he’d listened as Adam sat beside his hospital bed and read it to him a few months after the accident.
Final determination: pilot not at fault. Commended for landing disabled aircraft resulting in no loss of life. License to fly fully reinstated.
No, thanks.
Dev took another long swallow of water. “Like I said, I’m done flying.”
Mac opened his own water bottle and did the same. “Well, I guess it’s a good thing Liam and Bryant started lessons last month. From what I’ve heard they’re both doing pretty well. Should be certified in the next few weeks.”
A buzzing filled his ears. Swallowing hard only expanded the noise until his head throbbed. “My broth— my brothers are taking flying lessons?”
“You didn’t know?” Mac looked at him, the last bite of his sandwich frozen halfway to his mouth. “Forget I asked.” He dropped his hand to the table, regret in his voice. “I can tell from your face. Sorry, man. I thought they told you.”
“Flying helos?” The question sounded stupid, but he blamed it on the still faint ringing. “They’re learning to fly helicopters?”
Mac nodded. “When they and your father came by looking for information on replacing the bird, I figured Liam and Bryant were backups for you. Isn’t that what you always planned once it was decided having the helo was helping the family business?”
Yeah, the few months they’d had the helicopter before the crash had proved the benefit of seeing their various work sites from the air. Not to mention the ease and speed in getting to jobs located outside of Destiny.
Dev searched his brain, trying to remember if anyone in his family had talked about buying a new helicopter, much less flying the damn thing.
Faint memories of his parents weighing the needs of the business vs. the safety of their sons while sitting at his hospital bedside came back to him, but once he’d made it clear to everyone he had no intention of getting behind the controls again, he’d thought the subject was dropped.
Apparently not.
“You okay?”
Dev blinked, realizing he’d been staring at the empty water bottle held tight in his hand. As he eased his grip, the plastic crinkled and popped back into place. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
Mac only nodded as he rose and cleaned up his mess. He downed the rest of his water bottle then grabbed two more from the refrigerator, tossing one at Dev. “Not to change the subject, but are you sure you want to sit in on this pincushion session?”
No, he wasn’t, but it was better than heading home and dealing with his brothers and the secret they’d kept from him for the past month. “Sure. Why not? Just don’t expect me to change my mind.”
“About working with Tanya?”
Just the sound of her name lightened Dev’s mood. “Not necessarily.”
Mac shot him a dark look as they headed out the back door and across the yard, following a well-worn path to the cabin. “Why? You’ve already said you’re not interested in any of her methods.”
No, he wasn’t, at least not anything that had to do with needles or munching on foreign plants. He didn’t have any idea what that left in her bag of tricks, other than a massage, of course, but there’d been something about the tone of her voice when she’d spoken of her work.
She believed in what she did.
He used to feel that way about flying. About being a part of the Destiny Fire Department’s volunteer squad. Two pieces of his life that were gone now. The burning aches across his shoulders, hips and down one leg were constant reminders of that fact.
And he had no one to blame but himself, no matter what that damn report said.
Dev could see his friend was waiting for an answer, but they’d arrived at the cabin so he only said, “Let’s just say she intrigues me.”
“Look, seeing how Tanya and I have just started to rebuild our relationship, I don’t have any right to say this...” Mac paused, one foot on the low porch that ran the length of the cabin. He glanced at the closed front door for a moment, then turned to him. “But I’m going to anyway.”
Dev waited, not sure how he’d respond if Mac came right out and asked him to not to spend time with Tanya in any way, shape or form.
Up until this moment, he would’ve done anything his friend asked of him. Except fly.
And now, stay away from Tanya.
He had no idea why someone he’d just met fascinated him so much, but she was the first woman in the past year to make him feel like his old self, and he couldn’t walk away from that.
“Telling you to stay away from my granddaughter would be like telling kids to keep out of the penny candy aisle at Packard’s Store,” Mac continued, his voice low. “But she’s had a rough time of it for the past few months. I don’t know the details, but she’s been pretty down since the holidays. Until she found out about being accepted for this advanced schooling thing.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“I don’t want anything—or anyone—to get in the way of her going to London.”
“Hey, all I said was I’m intrigued. You know, in learning more about her work. Spending time with an interesting lady. That’s it.”
“Don’t break her heart.”
Tanya’s heart was the least of her body parts that interested him. Not that he didn’t care about a lady’s feelings. He’d always made it clear to anyone he got involved with that he was a here-and-now kind of guy, and not someone to get serious with. “Me? I’m a confirmed bachelor. You know that.”
Mac sighed. “As long as you remember that, and the fact I’ll break you in two if you hurt her, we’re good.”
* * *
A confirmed bachelor?
Well, at least that answered the wife and kids question that had been running through her head the entire time she’d showered and changed.
She’d reached the front door in time to catch the end of Mac and Dev’s conversation. Hearing her grandfather’s warning made Tanya smile, but it was unnecessary.
There was no way Devlin would hurt her. After what she’d gone through over the holidays, no one could ever wound her that way again.
Especially since she had no one to blame but herself.
Tanya reached for the old brass knob, but then remembered her hair still hung loose around her shoulders. Ignoring the fact it was still damp, she combed it back into a ponytail and secured it with an elastic band from her wrist, finishing the same moment that Mac knocked.
Tugging the door open, she saw the guilty looks on both men’s faces but said nothing, not letting on that she’d overheard them. “Hey, I just finished dressing and was about to head over to the house to look for you two.”
“Well, here we are.” Mac offered a grin, reaching for the screen door. “Ready whenever you are.”
She stepped back and let them enter, watching Devlin’s face as he took in the cabin’s interior, from the curtains drawn against the afternoon sun to the soothing music and lit candles. The air carried a hint of sandalwood and vanilla, scents that Mac had said he liked the last time she’d worked on him.
Her