Flight to Paradise Ch. 15

Book #3: Flight to Paradise

Chapter 15

Mac is sitting in the pilot's seat of the Beauty, waiting for Kate and the Roses to arrive. It's only one o'clock, plenty early enough to get back to Paradise and still have enough light to land at the lake. He'd arrived about noon and the plane is fueled and ready to go as soon as his copilot and passengers arrive. Kate had asked him if he can pick them up at one so that Charlie and Todd can slip out early, leaving Rick in the office to handle anything that might come up. Not only did she want to see him as soon as possible, but she wanted Charlie and Todd to experience the Goose landing in the lake.

A few minutes later he sees Kate, Charlie, and Todd approaching from the terminal, loaded with an unusually large amount of baggage for just a weekend trip. But then, he knows, not all of it'll be going back. He leaves the cockpit to help with the baggage. "Here, let me help," he says, taking one bag each from Kate and Charlie, leaving Todd with the other two.

"Kate said your plane is a Grumman Goose," Todd says, obviously impressed. "What a magnificent plane! I'm jealous. I can't wait to go up in it. Please tell me we are landing on water somewhere."

Mac chuckles and looks at Kate, who winks at him. "I think that can be arranged," he says with practiced indifference. "Kate, would you like to show our guests around while I stow the luggage?"

"Certainly," Kate says, taking Charlie and Todd around the plane, pointing out the various things that Mac had pointed out to her.

"Are these the original engines?" Todd asks as Mac climbs down from the nose.

Kate sees Mac looking at her, obviously waiting for her to answer as she frantically tries to remember what he told her. "No," she begins. "These are of the same design as the original..." she pauses, struggling to remember what he said, "... Pratt & Whitney engines. But these are new, and they make about six-hundred horsepower, each." Kate knows she's forgetting something, but she can't recall what it is.

Todd and Charlie look at Kate, obviously impressed that she knew the answer so effortlessly. "I don't know anything about airplane engines, but that seems like a lot," Todd says.

"Not really," Kate says. "Compared to a car it's a lot. My car only has about 130 horsepower, but compared to a big commercial jet, it's not much."

Charlie is stunned into silence. She's known Kate for over fifteen years, and she had no idea Kate knew this stuff. "When did you learn all of this?" she asks.

"In the last couple of months," Kate says with a grin. "I have a good teacher."

Charlie looks to Mac, noticing how he looks at Kate with pride. "Yes, I can see that."

"Wait until you see inside!" Kate gushes as she reaches inside the door and unhooks the steps, setting them on the ground for Charlie.

First Charlie then Todd climb into the plane. "Mac, this is amazing!" Charlie exclaimed. "Is this all original?"

Mac begins to chuckle as he steps into the plane behind Kate. "Hardly. The original Gooses were pretty rough inside. No, this is a custom interior I had put in when I bought the plane. The original plane was set up for six, but it was a little cramped, so I went with four with enough room to be comfortable."

"Charlie, this is nicer than our house," Todd says, his hand gliding over the soft leather of the seats as he looks around.

"I see that," Charlie agrees, moving to sit in one of the seats. "Ooooh..." she moans as she settles into the chair. "I want one of these in my office."

Mac chuckles again as he turns to retrieve the steps and close the door. "Once we get in the air, I'll see if I can talk Kate out of the right seat and you guys can come up front for a look," he says as he and Kate move to the cockpit.

"Kate normally rides up front?" Charlie asks.

"Kate will be doing some of the flying today," Mac says as they settle into the cockpit. "If you want, you can sit in the front seats. They'll swivel around and face the front. There is a lever on the side. Push it down to unlock the swivel. The aircraft has extra sound deadening in it, but you can only do so much. It still gets a little noisy in here when the engines are running. There is a tray under the seats. If you pull the tray out, you'll find a pair of headphones. If you plug the cable into the chair, you can talk to Kate and me, as well as each other, without having to shout. Until we get out of the LAX flight area, you can talk to each other, and you can hear us, but we won't be able to hear you. I'll tell you when I switch you on. It's just a precaution so I don't miss any instructions."

"We wouldn't want that," Todd says, putting his headphones over his head.

"Can you hear me?" Mac asks when Todd and Charlie are plugged in.

"Yes," Charlie says, her voice clear in Kate and Mac's headphones, while Todd just gives a thumbs up.

"Okay. Until I start the engines, I'll leave you in the comm so if you want to talk to us, go ahead."

"What if I want to prattle on back here without bothering you?" Charlie asks.

"See that little slide on the cable? Slide it to seat icon. The steering wheel is the cabin and cockpit, the seat is cabin only. Just unplug the wire to isolate yourself from all the comm traffic."

"Simple enough. Mac, thank you so much for inviting us up for the weekend, and for flying us in your plane," Charlie says sincerely. "It's going to be good to get away, if only just for a couple of days."

"You're welcome, Charlie," Mac says before looking to Kate. "You ready?"

"Item one," Kate begins.

"Mac, can you hear us?" Charlie asks, but Mac gives no indication of hearing.

"He said he was going to turn us off when he started the engines," Todd reminds her.

"I know. I was just checking. So, what do you think?"

"About what?"

"About Mac, and all of this. Did you have any idea? I know his family has money, but wow. How much does something like this plane cost?"

"I'd be afraid to guess," Todd says after a pause while Mac talks to Kate. He'd thought Mac was shitting them when he said Kate would be doing some of the flying, but he's not so sure now. Kate seems very active up there.

"Maybe I should have gone out with him," Charlie says thoughtfully, but begins to giggle at Todd's look. "Don't worry. I think Kate has her hooks into him pretty deep. They look very comfortable together, don't they?" she says, patting him on the arm.

"Yes, they do. I don't think I've ever seen Kate so... relaxed."

"Me either. She seems so at peace."

"That, or Mac has been wearing her ass out," he deadpans, breaking into a big smile as she rolls her eyes and looks away.

"Is that all you think about?" she asks in mock disgust.

"No. Sometimes I think about cars. And now, airplanes."

She begins to giggle. "Men never grow up, do they?"

"What fun would that be?"

As he chats with Charlie, Todd watches Kate. Sitting on the left side of the plane, behind Mac, he has a clear view of her as she works the plane with Mac. Neither of them is very busy as the plane trundles along the ground, but as they begin their take off run, then lift into the air, she seems to be doing every bit as much of the flying as Mac, Kate moving to assist as he gives instructions. Todd doesn't know if it all for show or not, but he's damned impressed just the same.

"You have the aircraft," Mac says.

"I have the aircraft," Kate confirms. They've been in the air about thirty minutes when Mac turns and looks back at them. "We can hear you now, so you'll have to stop talking about us," he says with a grin.

"Kate is really flying the plane?" Charlie asks, the awe in her voice clear.

"She really is," he says, holding his hands up for them to see. "She's a natural."

"I had no idea," Charlie breathes.

"Flying, once the plane is in the air, isn't all that hard," Kate's voice comes over the headphones. "No harder than driving a car. It's nothing really."

"Well, I'm still impressed," Charlie says.

"So am I," Todd adds.

Kate looks to Todd, and smiles, their comments warming her. "It's not all that much, but thank you all the same," she says before turning her attention back to the task at hand. "Should we let them come up front for the view?" she asks.

"Sure, if you want," Mac says.

Truthfully, she doesn't want to give up her seat, she wants to sit right here, next to him for the entire trip, but that wouldn't be polite. She punches the autopilot button and waits until the engaged light appears before easing her hands off the wheel. "Autopilot is engaged," she says as she begins to unbuckle. "Who's first?"

"Charlie, you first," Todd says, as Kate begins to climb out of her seat. "Don't touch anything. Rick and Giselle expect us back on Monday."

"Don't worry, I won't!" Charlie says with a laugh.

As Charlie settles into the copilot's chair, putting on the headset, the view takes her breath. "This is amazing."

"Not a bad way to spend a couple of hours," Mac says, watching her as she sits, gazing out of the windows. Watching her, he realizes he doesn't think of Charlie the same way anymore. He'd wanted her desperately once, and though he knows he'd never have acted upon it, he felt a bit of that old pull when he saw her again at her house, even after so many years. But that pull is gone, just like the lingering bitterness over the loss of Sandra.

"What?" Charlie asks, noticing him looking at her and his smile.

"I'll tell you later."

Charlie sits for about ten minutes and then starts to get up. "I could sit here the rest of the trip, but that would be selfish. Todd, your turn."

Charlie and Todd switch places, and though Todd is a bit more reserved, Mac can tell he's enjoying himself as well. "This is an amazing aircraft, Mac," Todd says, looking around the cockpit. "Did you do all the upgrades or was it done when you bought it?"

"I did them," Mac says. "One of the previous owners had already upgraded the avionics at least once, but I did them again after I bought the plane. I also replaced the engines. The ones that came with the aircraft had a lot of hours on them and in the long run I decided it would be cheaper to just replace them than to keep repairing the old ones. That's when I decided to gut the plane and start over. Took two years, but I think it was worth it. It's better now than when it was new."

"I don't doubt it. I know what cars from the '40's are like so, yeah, this is something," Todd says, looking around, catching Charlie's eye and smiling at her. "We need one of these."

"No, we don't," she says firmly.

"Be careful what you wish for, Todd," Mac says, thinking back to the service bill he just paid. "I can write it off as a business expense, but airplanes are an expensive toy."

"The really good toys usually are," Todd says with a chuckle. He sits for a few more minutes then gets up, feeling like he's invading Kate's space. "Okay, Kate. I'm done. You can have your seat back."

Kate has forced herself to sit quietly and talk to Todd then Charlie, and not fidget, but she's glad to get back to what she feels like is her seat. "If you're done."

"I'm like Charlie. I could sit here all day, but, well, this is your place, not mine," Todd says as he carefully squeezes out of the chair. "Besides, if I were Mac, I'd much rather look at you than my ugly mug."

Kate hears Mac's chuckle just as she slips off the cabin's headphones to change places with Todd.

"Guys," Mac says, "We're going to make a quick stop at the airfield to take on fuel, then it'll be just a short hop to home. I want to gas up now, so I don't have to do it Sunday. Is that okay?"

"Whatever you need to do," Charlie says.

"But we're still going to get to land on some water though, right?" Todd asks hopefully.

Both Kate and Mac snicker at Todd. "Yes Todd," Kate says. "You're worse than a kid."

"You have no idea," Charlie says with a smile at Todd.

A few minutes later Mac cuts Charlie and Todd's mic's out on the comms again as he and Kate begin the work of landing. As the Beauty touches down with a soft thump and begins to slow, Mac radios the tower again, isolating the cabin entirely so Charlie and Todd can no longer hear them. "Ross. I have some friends with me, Charlie and Todd. I was wondering if you could give them a quick tour of the tower while I fuel the plane."

"I don't know, Mac. FAA regulations—" Ross begins.

"I was going to send them over with Kate," Mac says, speaking over his friend.

"—are made to be broken," Ross finishes as if that what he intended to say all along.

"Thanks Ross," Mac says looking at Kate with a huge grin on his face as he suppresses a laugh. "I'll warn them to stay out of the way."

"No worries." Ross says, now knowing that Kate is listening in. "I'd like to meet your friends. Turn right onto taxiway two and proceed to parking area one, berth 12," Ross says, his voice suddenly becoming more formal. "I'm parking you right in front of the tower," he continues, his voice returning to normal. "I'll start the fuel truck rolling now."

"Thanks Ross. I'll be as quick as I can."

"Take your time. I'm looking forward to meeting the woman you allow to fly your plane."

"Charlie, Todd," Mac says putting the cabin back in the comm loop, "Ross Ellerton, a friend of mine, is going to give you a tour of the control tower, if you like, while I fuel the plane."

"Thank you, Mac, but you didn't have to do that," Charlie says.

"I know, but otherwise you'll be just standing around. It'll take about twenty minutes to gas the plane, which is just about perfect for a quick tour."

"Well, thanks, Mac," Todd says. "Another thing I can check off my bucket list."

"Mac," Ross's voice comes over the radio as the engines sputter to a stop. "I'm headed down now. You know where the entrance is. I'll meet them there."

"Okay. Thanks Ross. I appreciate it."

"The pleasure is all mine."

Twenty-five minutes later Mac is waiting on Kate, Charlie, and Todd to appear when a ping arrives from Ross. "Hello Ross," he says, just as he sees the three of them step around the building.

"You son-of-a-bitch," Ross says. "Don't you ever send them up here again!"

"What's the matter?" Mac asks. He can tell from Ross's tone he's not really mad.

"I thought Charlie was a guy. I open the door and these two fucking goddesses are standing there. There's still three hours until the end of the shift and neither one of us are going to be worth a shit the rest of the day. They might as well close the fucking airport and let us go home."

"I don't know what you are talking about," Mac says innocently, delighting in Ross's reaction.

"The hell you don't," Ross spits out. "Jesus Christ! Do all your friends look like those two?"

Mac can't suppress his snicker. "No. Some are guys."

Ross is quiet for a moment. "Seriously, they seem very nice, all three, but I don't know how you can fly that bucket of bolts with Kate sitting so close. I thought Chuck was going to pass out from holding in his gut."

Mac doesn't know Chuck, but he snickers again just the same. "It helps that I've known Charlie and Todd for a long time. Since we were kids. And Kate, well, you just have to focus."

"You're a better man than me then," Ross says. "I'm glad we didn't have any traffic because, shit man, I couldn't think straight."

"If it makes you feel any better, when I first met Kate, I had the same reaction."

"At least I know you're human then," Ross says. "But Kate and Charlie together, fucking supermodels is what they are."

"No, Kate is a model and Charlie, she used to be one, but now she runs her own modeling agency."

"Well," Ross begins slowly, "If Kate is anything more than just a friend, you're a lucky man. And I don't just mean how she looks. I always thought models would be some brain-dead ditz, but Kate, and Charlie too as best I can tell, are not like that at all."

"No, they're not," Mac says with a smile.

"Listen, I'm about to go back to work. But do me a favor the next time."

"What's that?" Mac asks as he ushers his passengers aboard.

"You're welcome to send your friends up anytime, but a little warning next time, okay, so we can look like the competent professionals we are and not the drooling idiots we appeared to be."

"Will do, Ross," Mac says with a chuckle.

"Thanks. It'll be helpful. We can do some deep breathing exercises or something before they get here."

Mac snickers again. "Okay. Kate and I are about start our checklist, so I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay. Enjoy your weekend," Ross says, then kills the link, his voice immediately returning over the radio, all business. "Goose Egg One, you are cleared for engine start and taxi at your discretion. Proceed to runway two-zero, wind from the south at 10..."

"Todd, get ready for your water landing," Mac says as he banks the plane over, lining up for a pass over the lake. They come in low and slow, skimming just above the water, Kate and Mac watching for debris while keeping an eye on a boat sitting just out of the landing area to make sure it doesn't venture too close.

"Looks clean to me," she says as he applies power, pulling up to make his turn and line up for the landing.

"Me too, but keep an eye on that boat. He's clear, but he's a little close for comfort."

He lines up, setting the plane down with a splash, hugging the far side of the landing zone to put as much distance as possible between them and the boat. As the heavily laden plane begins to wallow in the water, the boat begins to parallel them while keeping a respectful distance.

Kate watches as the boat motors along beside, one of the passengers either snapping pictures or taking video, she can't tell. "Every time, huh?" she asks with a nod to the boat.

"Every single time," he says with a grin. "We're easily entertained up here."

"Well who wouldn't want to see this? I'd like to have a copy of the video myself," Todd says looking out of his window at the boat. "That was awesome!"

"We're easily entertained in LA too," Charlie deadpan before smiling at Todd. "Actually, I agree with Todd. That was awesome. This has been a day of firsts. First ride in a private plane. First time I've ever seen, much less been in the cockpit of an airplane. First time I've ever been in a... uhh... what did you call that place? Where Ross works?"

"Control tower," Mac supplies.

"Yeah! Control tower. First time I've ever been in one of those. First time I have ever landed in an airplane on water. So, thank you, Mac. You too Kate."

"You're very welcome," Mac says with a grin.

Mac drives the Beauty across the lake, powering the plane up the ramp and pirouetting it around on one wheel to face back toward the lake before killing the engines. "Thank you for flying puddle jumper airlines, where a water landing isn't necessarily an emergency landing," Mac says, looking back over his shoulder to Todd as Kate smiles, recalling that he'd said those exact words to her after her first water landing.

Charlie and Todd sit quietly after they remove their headphones, waiting while Mac and Kate shut the plane down, finally standing as their flight crew does. Mac hops out of the plane, but before he can reach back for the steps, Charlie bounds out, followed by Todd, then Kate.

"Kate, if you'll get the tug, I'll get the luggage, then you can take Charlie and Todd up, show them around and get them settled in. I'll secure the plane and follow you up," he says moving toward the front of the plane.

Mac heaves the luggage out of the hold, three matched pieces plus a different, medium size case, handing the cases down to Todd. As he climbs down, Todd places the odd case, the last one Mac handed down, in the back of the tug as Kate oozes to a stop, then tosses in the other three pieces before climbing in the back as Charlie slides in the seat beside Kate.