"You got it, Cupcake." He hefted Kirstie up onto the ladder, while the pilot in attendance helped her into the cockpit.
Bo backed away, dipping his head to lower his voice—and hey, if that gave him a quick whiff of Paige, well then, no harm no foul. "They always want to start with the flashy planes."
"Very different from your C-17." She shaded her eyes to study the rows of parked planes
—cargos, bombers, fighters, from current day and years past. "A lot smaller."
"Are you insinuating my big plane's a compensation?" Ah, hell. So much for no banter.
Paige's fair complexion pinkened.
He let them both off the hook before things got even more heated. "I also flew a T-37 and T-38 in pilot training."
A polite smile flickered while she kept her eyes fixed on her daughter tucking her tiny head into a helmet. "You enjoy flying."
"A plane's like no other toy out there." He'd spent hundreds of hours at St. Elizabeth's orphanage dreaming of a job with endless toys and trips around the world.
He'd never considered warlords.
What had Paige dreamed of as a child? Certainly not ending up the wife of a drug dealer who pumped terrorist-generated opium into the U.S. He studied her for a long, silent moment. Maybe it was time to acknowledge the big pink elephant she seemed determined to ignore. "North Dakota's a long way from South Carolina."
She stayed quiet for so long he thought she would ignore him, anyway. Finally her gaze slid down from her daughter and landed square on him without flinching.
"Apparently not far enough because here you are."
Her spunk reached out and grabbed him by the libido.
He liked a woman who held her own. "What brought you here?"
Her spine went so straight he expected her to just snatch up her kid and leave. Good God, the woman couldn't build walls any higher if she had a forklift and team of construction workers to help. "I wasn't referring to your husband. I meant what made you choose here to settle?"
Her rigid stance relented. "I'm from the area. My brother and cousin offered me a job."
She tucked a stray strand under the scrap of a scarf and nudged her glasses straight again.
"So much for independence, huh? But I feel safer here."
Safer? The back of his neck prickled a warning. Why hadn't he considered her husband's past might pose a threat to her future? There hadn't been witness-protection offers since she had nothing to offer up on Haugen's dealings. A mixed blessing. "Has there been any cause to worry?"
She gave a tiny, not at all reassuring, negative shake of her head. "Most important, my daughter's happier here. It's been difficult for her, losing her father. My brother and cousin can't replace...him. But they love her."
"Your brother and cousin?" Like maybe a cupcake-stealing brother or cousin?
"I live with them. We run a business together."
"What kind of business?"
"My brother's a veterinarian. I'm a licensed veterinary technician." She skirted the roped-off area around a fighter plane. "We fly out to remote locations to treat farm animals."
"What about your cousin?" He braced her back as a crowd of teens jostled past. His hand fell away fast.
"He's our pilot and owns the plane. Or at least he was flying until he busted his ankle falling through a loft while we were out on a call. We've hired a temporary pilot—" She stopped short. "I'm tired of talking about me. Why don't we talk about you for a while?
Something other than the size of your plane, of course."
A laugh caught him as unaware as her humor. She smiled back, crinkling the corners of pretty brown eyes behind those funky black glasses, and damned if he didn't forget what they were talking about altogether. Who needed chitchat? This was a day when he could only enjoy the view, anyway.
"Hey?" Kirstie called, climbing down and halting conversation. "You guys are lookin'