But getting involved with a woman is the last thing I wanted
And now I dream doing some very inappropriate things to her sweet body…
Jess
Being a single mother is not easy
Especially when you work odd hours
Still I try to keep it all together
Until I meet the new gorgeous pilot on board
One look at him and all my warning bells go off
But I have my daughter to care for!
As the tension begins to build, will Drew and Jess find a way to navigate their intersecting worlds?
Chapter 1: Jess
“Red light, Mom! There’s a red light coming up!”
The yellow light about to turn was something I had seen with no problem at all, but I hadn’t been prepared for the sound of my daughter's yelling. I slammed on the brakes of my little white Volvo, throwing both Emma and me forward in our seats. The seatbelt tightened, making me feel like I was suffocating, and I heard Emma make a little strangled sound as her own belt struck her across her throat. When I glanced back at the light, I saw that it was just, at that moment, turning from yellow to red. There had been no need whatsoever for the rapid stop. I rolled my eyes and glanced up at the rearview mirror, where I saw my beautiful ten-year-old girl smiling devilishly.
“Emma, what was that for? We had plenty of time. It would have been safer to stop more slowly.”
“Dunno. This was more interesting, you know?”
"Interesting isn't always better, baby. We're not trying to make things interesting. We're trying to get you to Aunt Sophie's place in one piece."
"But everything's fine, Mama! No big deal, right?"
I rolled my eyes again and hoped that Emma couldn't see the little smile playing at the corners of my mouth. She was only ten years old, but sometimes, I felt sure that she was going on thirty. The way she delivered her little one liners. She had a level of sarcasm and knowing in her that could make it difficult to remember she was only a kid.
I'd talked to Sophie about it a time or two, expressing my concern the way I was sure any mother would. It was probably because she'd had to grow up faster than a lot of little girls, Sophie had always said. Losing her daddy when she was only five years old was certainly enough to do it.
Being shuttled from one home to another would do it, too, and that was something that wasn't going to stop any time soon. Case in point, our current car trip. For the third time in less than a month, I was dropping my daughter off to stay with her aunt, my younger sister, so that I could do my job. Being a flight attendant was something I had always dreamed about, and it was something I mostly loved, but leaving my kid every other week? That part sucked, and there was no getting around it.
"Hey, Mama?"
“Hey, what?”
“What’s the matter with you?” she asked.
"That's not a very nice question!" I answered with a laugh, hoping Emma couldn't see how much her keen perception of me shook me up. "And there's nothing the matter with me. I'm just thinking, that's all."
“But thinking about what?”
“Nothing important,” I said.
“Thinking about something bad, I bet.”
“And why would you think that?”
"Because your head got all wrinkly. Your head always gets all wrinkly when you're thinking about something bad."
“No, Emma, I promise. I’m not thinking about anything bad.”