I sighed and tried to smile. "Sorry. That'll cost extra."
Corsica considered my teasing. "How about a friendly pat on the back?"
"Sure." When she leaned over, I swung my arm over hers and tugged against my chest. "Or, how about a hug?"
Her head flew back and those blue eyes blazed. Then, Corsica looked at me, and I felt all the playful fight run out of her. She wrapped her arms around me and held me tight.
Grief washed over me. My mother had been seriously ill for two years. The stretch of time made me dizzy. I should have been there for her. What if?
"That doesn't help," Corsica said.
"What?" I brush my bearded chin across her head before letting her pull back to look up at me.
"Asking yourself 'what if?' All of it was out of your control. And your mother's illness is out of your control." She kept her arms around me.
"How do you know?" The question was genuine.
She shook her head. "I just do. That's why I also know that I'll ride down to Monterey in the helicopter with you, but then I'm going to catch a ride with a friend back to Santa Cruz. You don't need me getting in your way right now."
"No, I do." I grabbed her hand as she wriggled free from my arms. "I just need you to distract Xavier. Keep him from wheeling and dealing with me. I can't handle his business tactics right now."
Corsica twisted her wrist free from my hand with one smooth move. "Then we've struck a deal. This is strictly business, and once we're in Monterey, it's done."
I should have felt relief, but Corsica's words nagged me the rest of the morning. Even though we were still perfect strangers, there was a distance between us that I swore was not there before. I understood Corsica being cautious–it was a strange favor I had asked her–but there was something else. Every now and then, her glances looked over me like I was a cliff she was trying to avoid.
It wasn't until we were walking across the tarmac to greet my father that I realized how ridiculous I was being. "I'm sorry. We can say goodbye here. Maybe I'll see you in Santa Cruz one of these days."
She slipped her hand through my arm and gave me an arched look. "As if I'm going to settle for taking a taxi now. Besides, I need to practice my schmoozing techniques if I want that job at the Ritz."
Corsica's shadowed looks were gone as we settled into the helicopter's leather seats. "Mr. Templeton, I was wondering if you could tell me about how you learned to play piano. I've been considering lessons," she said.
My father shot me a knowing glance, but smiled. "Of course. That sounds like a very pleasant conversation for the flight."
She guided the conversation through music to flying and delighted in all the extravagant details of the helicopter. I sat back and watched, shielded by her light arm still intertwined with mine.
"I didn't get on an airplane until I was eighteen," Corsica admitted to my father.
"Really? Where were you, the dark side of the moon?" I asked.
Her arm tensed in mine. "Try Mars."
"I give up, Penn," my father said. "I've been trying this whole time to decide where she is from."
I squeezed Corsica's arm. I didn't know where she was from. I still wasn't sure of her last name. She didn't notice my prompting and looked out the window instead.
"There's my house," I pointed out.
Xavier realized my mistake before I did. "He's always claiming he's going to buy it from me. At this point, I look at the property as an investment."
Corsica tugged her arm away from me and pressed a hand to the helicopter window. "That's where we're staying?"
I choked on a hopeful laugh. "Oh, come on, you don't need to pretend like we've never been there before. I get paid to check in on his investments. I told you that."
"Yes, it's just, I've, I've never seen it from the air before." She sat up and blinked her eyes as if she'd just woken up.
Her eyes still had the same, starry look while my father pretended to give her the tour. He'd never seen my home before, and he kept stumbling over his own discoveries. Corsica didn't notice as her eyes swept each room and then returned to the view. The Pacific Ocean crashed and sprayed just a few yards and a steep cliff away.
"I thought you were heading back to Santa Cruz tonight," I whispered in her ear as we lingered in the library.