The Future is in the Air Ch. 03

Leah's door opened as soon as the engine shut down, and she jumped to the ground pumping her fists into the air.

"Well?" Peggy asked before I could.

"That was incredible !" Leah shouted. She ran around to the other side of the plane and grasped Eric's shoulders.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Eric looked at Peggy, then me, his face showing an awkward grin.

"Uh, Leah?"

"Oh, frigging hell!" she said, running up to me and kissing me delightfully. "Lancie, my baby-bae, you were right!"

Lancie? Baby-bae ? I think I blushed. "Yeah?" I asked.

"Ohmygosh, that was so much fun ! I did it! I did it!"

"That's absolutely fantastic!" I praised.

"And I only retched twice!"

Eric laughed. "She was fine, Lance. I did the first two. Then I did a set of steep turns, and she did the next set. I did the spin from the turn in the middle because I wanted her to see how the recovery is the same no matter what the initial conditions are, and why slow, uncoordinated flight at low altitudes like trying to salvage an overshot turn to final for landing is not a good thing, you know?"

"Definitely should go around if I can't turn safely," Leah said.

"Exactly. Go-arounds are a get out of jail free card."

"Eric, I owe you a ton," I said, giving him a fist-bump.

"You don't. I'm glad I could help."

"He does, Eric," Leah argued, "And so do I. I can't thank you enough."

"Seriously, ma'am. I'm happy I could help you leap that hurdle."

"Ma'am ? Don't ma'am me, doctor ." Leah laughed, then caught herself, "Uh, holy crap. I'm sorry. That was utterly disrespectful."

Eric laughed hard. "No! I'm totally okay with it." He grinned.

Peggy was turning pink with laughter herself. Leah's good-naturedly acerbic humor was back in full.

"What have we done to her?" Peggy chortled.

I drew her close to me and said, "Exactly what she needed. Thank you, Peg."

She smiled and whispered, "You know I think of you like a brother, right?" then ducked to kiss my cheek.

"It's time to relax," said Eric. "It's five o'clock somewhere, right?"

"No way!" Leah cheered. "Come on, Lance. Let's get up there and do more turns I can log!"

I smiled in mild disbelief. "Whatever you say!"

Leah and I unchained my plane and spent another hour and a half airborne, then returned to the ground before one o'clock.

As Leah applied the brakes, she said, "Let's go back home."

"Why?"

"Because you helping me get that monkey off my back has made me very, very horny."

I chuckled. "I hope we can get a little privacy sometime today."

Leah reached over and fondled me.

"You're going to make me where I can't get out of the plane," I whined.

She grinned at me as she removed her headset.

"Come on. Let's do it in the back seat."

"Too tight back there."

She chuckled. "How would you know how tight my back seat is?"

"Leah! You dirty, dirty girl!" I said, laughing.

When we returned to the house, Peggy was there, but Eric had been called away by the ranch's foreman to deal with an emergency.

"This is a truly beautiful home, Peggy."

"Thanks. We love it here. We absolutely do. Did Lance tell you it was almost destroyed by a tornado a couple of years ago?"

"No! That's horrible!"

"Yeah. Eric added on the new guest wing during the rebuild. The barn and the hangar all got banged up, too. It happened barely a few days before he proposed to me."

"Whoa! Were you here when it hit?"

"Yeah. I was visiting for the first time. Eric, Sophie, and I made it to the shelter in the garage, so we came out unscathed. Most of the staff sheltered at the other house, too."

"That sounds scary. Who's Sophie?"

"She's our dog. I haven't seen her all day, which probably means she's hanging out with one of the staff somewhere. She likes attention."

Peggy spent a while describing the events which transpired after the storm. I assumed she was being modest when she omitted the part where she kept their former ranch foreman alive in the back of a jeep then an ambulance for an hour. I'd fill her in on that later.

"You want some iced tea or something?" I asked Leah.

"Yes, please. That'd be great."

Eric came in looking somber.

"What's the matter, babe?" Peggy asked after he joined us in the spacious kitchen.

"Starlet foaled a little while ago. Stillborn filly."

"Oh, honey, that's too bad." She drew him to her for a compassionate hug.

I poured four glasses of iced tea, and we all returned to the great room.

"So. On to brighter events. I saw y'all up there flying around in circles and punching holes in the sky. Y'all were right overhead from the pasture we were in. Steep turns going well now?"

"They are. Thanks again, Eric, you saved my bacon," she said, raising her glass with her right hand to offer him a courteous toast.

"Your class ring reminds me." He pulled out his phone. "You said you've talked to me on the radio, right?"

Leah nodded.

"Do you not remember talking to me on the phone?"

"Unless you've called the tower's landline, I'm almost certain I haven't," Leah said, cautiously.

"So this doesn't look familiar?" Eric asked, displaying the bird-flipping photo I had forwarded him.

Leah turned as red as a tomato. Peggy noticed.

"Eric! What did you show our guest?"

"Lance, I'm going to kick your freaking ass," Leah said through clenched teeth.

Peggy's gaze shifted rapidly from Eric to me, still scornful.

"Dr. Reiter and every other honorific you deserve, Lance didn't tell me who he was talking to. He only said he was talking to 'a guy'!"

Eric laughed. "The tongue-lashing you gave me and that little salute spanked me so hard I couldn't sit down for an hour."

"Would someone please explain what you're talking about?" Peggy asked.

I described what had transpired weeks before.

"Oh, Leah, Leah, Leah ! That's absolutely outstanding !" Peggy laughed after she saw the picture. "Sheesh, Eric, when was the last time someone dressed you down like that?"

"I'm really quite sorry, Eric."

"You shouldn't be. You know, you really remind me a lot of Peggy when we first met. She didn't have a clue who I was either and she didn't hold back when she talked to me. That made me more interested in her so quickly because not a lot of folks like you talk to folks like us that way."

"Folks like me?" Leah asked.

I cringed.

"And her." He pointed at his wife. "It's honest and refreshing, and I thought it was pretty damned funny."

I held my breath, glaring at Eric. He quickly realized what he might have done.

Eric eyed Leah carefully, then spoke. "Leah, I'm sorry if what I said offended you. I didn't mean it like it sounded."

"I see why you might think that, but you haven't. Seriously. Both you and your wife helped me overcome a serious mental block today, and you did so very generously of your time and expense, and that's a debt I can't repay."

"You can," Eric quickly interjected.

"How?"

"You have, and still are. Other than my wife, Lance is the best friend I've ever had in my entire life. He was my best man at our wedding. He is my brother from another mother.

"I'll put it this way. My errant words were a poor attempt to say I am pleased how you have no problem speaking your mind to me. People from all walks of life perceive me as unapproachable, or too powerful, and are usually unwilling for whatever reason to say what they want to say.

"Not you. I like that. I appreciate it. It makes you real, so don't stop. Not with me, my wife, or especially Lance, because I'm enjoying having you as my … sort-of … girlfriend-in-law?"

Leah smirked then chuckled. "That's so perfectly cheesy. Thank you for your tutelage today."

"Is that French for toot logs ?" Eric dryly asked.

She laughed. "You made a doody joke! Yeah, we're going to get along just fine."

Their dog, Sophie, appeared and jumped up on the couch with me, laid down, and nuzzled my hand off my leg and replaced it with her head.

"Hey, Soph, where have you been all day?" I said, petting her shoulder.

"She was hanging out in the tack room with Mort but came back with me," Eric answered.

"Came to see your buddy, huh? You do smell a little like leather conditioner." I chuckled, smelling a very faint scent in her fur.

Sophie seemed surprised when she looked the opposite direction and saw a stranger. She uttered a soft woof with ears perked.

"Hi, doggo!" said the newcomer.

Sophie jumped down and immediately went to greet her next friend, tail wagging furiously.

"Can I take her outside?" she asked the Reiters when Sophie trotted away and brought back a tennis ball.

"Of course. She'll enjoy that, but let me get a dish towel for your hands," Peggy warned.

The two went outside.

I looked at Eric. "Nice move, moron."

"I know, I know. I realized it as soon as my mouth stopped moving," he said.

"Peggy, what are your senses telling you?" I asked.

"Your girlfriend is a very proud woman."

"That she is."

I told Peggy almost everything I'd told Eric earlier in the morning.

"I can't wrap my head around any of that," Peggy acknowledged. "I can't even imagine what she's been through. I hope she can, at some point, ease up on herself. Jeez. The weight of the world on her shoulders like that. And, even now?"

"Lance told me he's even afraid of how she'd react if he were to buy her a nice gift," Eric said.

"Seriously? That's not right, Lance. Something's gotta give if she's going to accept your lifestyle."

"He hasn't exposed her to most of it. She hasn't experienced what it looks like."

"Jeez , Eric, anything else you want to share?" I barked in exasperation.

"Huh," said Peggy, watching me for a minute. She stood up and walked to the kitchen and removed a piece of paper from a memo board.

"You have an idea," she said.

"I do?"

Eric chuckled. "Oh, boy, here we go."

"Yes, Lance, or you're about to. When do y'all have to be back home?"

"Monday morning, I think. Leah doesn't go on shift until the afternoons. Signore Reggio probably won't drop a deuce if I take a day off."

"Eric, come here for a second."

He walked into the kitchen with her. She showed him the paper, then whispered into his ear. They talked quietly between themselves. I did hear certain words like "whether" (or weather?), "flying," and "party."

"Yeah, that'd be a good start," he said.

"Yeah? Yeah, what?" I asked.

"Lance, please trust me, okay?" said Peggy.

"I usually do, but, if I have an idea, don't you think I need to know what it is?"

"A celebration." Eric handed me the paper Peggy had removed from the board.

"For what?" I asked as I looked it over.

"If, and it's a big 'if', but … if Leah has the energy, finish up what she needs to do this weekend and have her do her first solo right here."

"Say what?" I challenged.

"What training is she lacking?" Peggy asked.

"I'd need to look it up to double-check, but I know she needs a little more crosswind and emergency landing work."

"So how long?"

"A few more hours, probably."

"You could knock that out this evening," Eric suggested.

"You're serious?"

"Yes, you are," Peggy said. "You can't hide yourself from her. You're not being fair to her. So celebrate. Marlin style."

I waved the paper in my hand.

"Are you two out of your minds? Something like this will kill her! She'll think I'm pulling out all the stops and lording it over her!"

"No, maybe not. Like you said about her scholarships and stuff? She worked for them, so she didn't think of them as hand-outs. We'll be celebrating her hard work. She deserves it, and she'll start to get a picture of how things are a little different for you."

"And what should I tell her if she can't get the solo done?"

"We'll cross that bridge if we have to."

I sat on a barstool and thought about their proposal. There was no doubt I liked it, but I had no idea how Leah would interpret it. Like Marmite, she'd either love it or hate it.

Or me.

"Yeah. Okay. I'm in," I finally agreed.

"Good," Peggy said, then began pulling out provisions for a light lunch.

"So, what's in store next?" Leah asked, washing her hands at the kitchen sink after she'd thoroughly worn out the pooch.

"I said this should be a working vacation, right? Get out your logbook so we can crosscheck your progress and see what's remaining before your solo tomorrow."

"Solo? Tomorrow ?"

"It's possible. I think we should go up for a couple of hours this evening. If it all goes well, you'll be good to go tomorrow morning."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Nope."

I saw Peggy wink at me.

"Then, sure. Let's go!" Leah said, clapping her hands agreeably. "But after lunch, and I need a nap first."

We discussed a plan while we ate, took an actual nap, then went airborne for about three hours. We were both exhausted when we landed just before six o'clock.

"Leah, I don't think I've said it since we got here, but I love you. I so totally and completely do."

"I know you do, Lance, and I love you, too, but …"

"But what?"

"Do your friends think I'm an Über-bitch?"

"God, Leah! No! Eric thinks of you as the complete and total opposite. Peggy, too."

"You know, she told me this morning her life all the way up to college was a lot like mine, minus the horrible parenting, and that she kind of was thrust into her lifestyle all at once when her parents passed. She really does seem like a down-to-earth woman. I mean, she's an expert surgeon who operates on children. Kids , Lance! Little ones!"

"Yeah. It racks my brain to think about it. Did she tell you about her research?"

"She did. The details were a bit out of my realm of understanding, but I got the gist of it."

After we'd secured the plane and began our walk back to the house, I asked Leah, "Do you like venison?"

"Venison is deer, right?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know. I've never had it."

"Well, tonight might be your first time. I think Izzie is making chicken-fried tenderloin cutlets and who knows what else."

"Do you like it?"

"Definitely."

It turned out Leah wasn't a huge fan, but she powered through.

Peggy offered to pair the fare with a rare vintage bottle of wine, but, since Leah and I would be flying at first light, we both elected to abstain and opted for iced peach tea instead.

When we prepared to settle in for the evening, we went to our guestroom. Leah sidled up to me, wrapping her arms around me for a wonderfully intimate kiss.

"We haven't had quiet-time at all today, and you promised some tenderness," she whispered.

I chuckled, closing the door.

"You don't want any of what's in these clothes right now. I've gotta take a shower. You want to join me?"

She nodded vigorously at the invitation, and we settled into the luxuriantly warm, steam-room like shower a few minutes later.

"Today has been tiring," Leah said, soaping her body.

"I think it might be the most time in a single day we've been airborne."

"Yeah, close to six hours in total. We almost ran out of daylight. Eric and Peggy's runway isn't lit, is it?" she asked.

"No, but it has edge and end reflectors. They work pretty well for taking off when it's dark, as long as the landing lights on the plane are working. On that subject, here's a practice question for you.

"True or False. For the purposes of establishing or maintaining night currency, it is adequate to perform touch-and-goes on an unlit runway during the period from one hour after sunset to one hour before sunrise."

"Huh," Leah said with a look of concentration on her face. She was washing herself with a cloth. I took it from her.

"Focus on the question. I'll do this," I said.

She held her elbows out like a scarecrow to give me access to her underarms.

"There's an awful lot packed into that one question. Give me a minute."

"Sure," I said, washing her tummy and her small, perfect breasts. I rolled her nipples with soapy fingers.

She laughed. "Stop fiddling with my tits. I can't think straight!" She playfully pulled my hands down to her tummy.

"Well?" I prompted.

I ducked slightly, and lightly licked under her arm, nibbling the ridge of muscle at her back. I felt goosebumps shooting down her sides.

"I don't think the real test will turn me on like you do," she whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Yes," she said, wrapping her soapy hand around my already-erect cock.

I pulled my hips away from her grasp. The tightness of her fingers slipping over my glans made me shiver. I knelt onto the teakwood slats of the shower floor to soap her feet, calves, and upper legs. I passed the cloth between her legs to wash her succulent vulva and furry mons.

"Oh jeez, Lance." She sighed, widening her stance as I carefully and gently washed her genitals, ensuring every nook and fold was tended to. My rinsed hands ensured she was soap-free on the most sensitive parts of her body.

"The time is legal for currency," she answered as I stood behind her and began to wash her shoulders and back. "Touch-and-goes don't count. They have to be full-stop," she said as I washed her butt.

She groaned as I lathered her between her cheeks.

"Keep going."

"Ugh … oh, hell, Lance. I want you to fuck me."

"Go on," I encouraged, rinsing her rump.

"False. It's not adequate," her voice trembled, "and it sure would be stupid to try to laaaand ," she grunted when I penetrated her.

I pressed into her firmly enough that she stood on her tiptoes, hanging onto the bench.

"That feels so good," she groaned.

"What the frack ?" I quietly yelped when I saw motion on the other side of the steamed glass.

"What's wrong?" she asked, alarmed at my alarm.

"Look," I said as I pulled out of her, much to my own frustration.

Leah started laughing when she saw what'd startled me.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" I said to the dog which was sitting on the bathroom floor a few feet away from the glass-walled shower, looking curiously at us.

"Please tell me you didn't forget to shut the door," Leah whispered.

"I'm pretty darned-sure I did."

Leah giggled. "Coitus canidus interruptus ."

I hurriedly finished my own wash and rinse as Leah dried herself. I cinched a towel around my waist.

Sophie's tail started wagging as I stepped out of the enclosure. I leaned slowly through the bathroom door, looking for the bedroom door in the adjacent corner. It was, indeed, closed, leaving me very confused. I walked to the door confirming I'd also locked it.

"How the hell did you get in here?" I asked the dog.

Of course, all she did was stare at me, wagging her tail lightly.

"It's warm here. She was already here when we came in," Leah answered, running her hand over the black duvet cover, which did, indeed, have a Sophie-sized impression in it.

I was so focused on getting into the shower with my love I'd not seen the big black dog on the black duvet since the lights were off in that half of the room.

Perceiving Leah's actions as an invitation, Sophie jumped back up on the bed, spun herself in two circles, and, with a groan and grunt, deposited herself right back where she must have originated.

"Darn dog," I growled at the beast, hoisting her sixty-pound body off the bed. "Not tonight, pooch, you're outta here," I said, carrying her in my arms.

I deposited her on the floor of the hallway before I closed the door. Not two seconds elapsed before we heard her scratching at and sniffing the gap under it.

I retrieved my phone from the top of the bureau and texted Eric suggesting he come fetch their intrusive canine. I heard his faint whistle a moment later.