Chocolate Cherry Cabin

Chapter 7

"This is not a date," Hannah said, as Louis's plane lifted off the Sweetheart Creek airstrip. It was nothing more than a smooth pasture with a windsock, a few hangars that looked more like tractor sheds, and a barbed wire fence at the end of the runway to keep grazing cattle away.
She peered at the ground, which was growing farther and farther away. Flying in a plane this small—just four seats—was well outside her comfort zone. As was the implication that this flight might be a date. Was she so out of the loop that she didn't understand what dating was like beyond high school? Was dinner no longer a thing?
"You have to turn on your microphone," Louis said, flicking a lever so they could talk through their bulky headsets.
Hannah stayed silent.
"What was it you said?" he asked, as they rose farther into the air, the big machine tipping in a gust of wind. There seemed to be a storm off to their right, the clouds tall and dark. Louis banked the opposite way, toward clear sky. She could feel him glance at her a time or two, but said nothing until they were above Cassandra's place.
He pointed down at Peppermint Lodge. "Looks like Cass is almost sold out of Christmas trees."
Hannah nodded and clung to the edge of her seat, refusing to look down at her friend's corral of live trees. What was she doing up here? She was a mom. She had children. She hadn't even verified that Louis had an actual license.
She ventured a peek through the side window, to find the ground racing away as they climbed toward the fluffy clouds and expanse of blue above. This was not natural. Humans should not fly. She pried her hands from the seat and clenched them into fists as she reminded herself to breathe.
Then suddenly they were zipping above the rolling slopes of Hill Country, not so close to the ground that she worried about hitting trees or disturbing wildlife, but high enough that it felt a bit scary.
She ordered herself to relax.
She ordered herself again.
"You'd better not crash," she said, her voice embarrassingly tight.
"Don't worry, I got my license to fly out of a cereal box." Louis winked at Hannah in a way that made her heart give a little flip and her cheeks warm. Despite their past, and despite their fights, she liked him. The problem was that she wasn't one to date casually—especially with her boys around—and with Louis it would never be anything but casual.
As they flew over a meadow, Hannah spotted a herd of deer pawing at the dried grass.
"Look!" she said, feeling the start of a smile. Hazy beams of sunlight shining down through the clouds made the meadow appear almost magical.
They rose higher. "Where are we going?" she asked.
"Do you always stress out when someone else is driving?"
"Just when I literally put my life in their hands."
"Trust me."
"Never."
"But we're on a date. That implies some level of trust, doesn't it?"
Hannah shook her head. Not a date. The gossip would be insane, and she so wasn't ready for that.
As she took in the sights below, she began to think about the divorcée memoir that Athena had given her. The author was learning to not care so much about how others perceived her and was daring to believe something new about herself post-divorce. Just because her marriage hadn't worked out didn't mean she'd failed and that there was something wrong with her. It was hard to accept that, to believe it for herself, but Hannah wanted to try.
And currently, it seemed as though everyone was trying to nudge her out of her sheltered shell, and to take some risks. But could she really let go? Could she move past the safety of the life she was currently living?
Hannah leaned back against the seat, eyes closed, concentrating.
Obviously, she felt there was room for personal growth, as she'd applied for school. But beyond that her mind went blank, refusing to answer anything further about her future.
She slowly opened her eyes to discover they were already near the windfarm one county over. Rows of white windmills waved lazily as they passed overhead.
Louis was watching her with concern, probably regretting taking her out, and worried she was either going to barf or was in the midst of a quiet meltdown. Maybe she was in a meltdown. She was melting down her old self-image.
They rose above a low bank of clouds and were suddenly blinded by sunshine. It was breathtaking.
"Wow."
"There's a little lake over here. I pass it on my way to work. There's a waterfall and sometimes I see deer drinking from the pond." He banked the plane to head in the direction he'd tipped his head, causing Hannah to squeal. It didn't feel dangerous, just different. It shook things loose in her box of internal worries.
They flew for several more minutes, Louis lowering the plane to show her his waterfall, before pointing out various hills, towns and landmarks like a guide.
She wondered if he'd decided to live in Sweetheart Creek so flying could be a part of his commute, giving him daily perspective. If he had, she understood why, because as he turned to head back home, the weight of her life was already pressing back in. All her so-called problems would still be waiting for her, just as Louis had promised.
"Lou, can we stay up here a bit longer?"
* * *
Lou. Hannah had shortened his name and had released her hands from their death grip on the seat.
"Hungry?"
"You did promise me lunch," she replied.
"I think you demanded it."
"It was part of the bargain to get me up here."
"I have an idea." There was a small town nearby, an hour from Sweetheart Creek by car, but it had an airstrip. He checked his watch for the time and date. Not too close to Christmas, so the food truck would probably be there today for the local flying club's taco brunch and meeting.
And the best part was that they'd be far enough away from town that they wouldn't set tongues awagging by showing up together. Because he wasn't dumb. He knew from the way Hannah had lied to Mrs. Fisher the other day about his muffin request being for "charity," that she'd have a negative knee-jerk reaction if anyone remarked on them eating out together. The woman still needed time to accept her change of heart where he was concerned.
The storm Louis had been watching was rolling closer, thunderclouds growing. They'd miss it, but in order to catch his commercial flight to tonight's away game, he'd have to scoot back into the air as soon as he dropped Hannah off in town if they made this stop.
He had time. No suit with him to wear to the game, but he could call his assistant coach and ask him to swing by the arena to grab the extra one he kept in his office at the rink, as well as his clipboard and game plan. At the San Antonio airport he could do a wardrobe change and he'd be right back on schedule.
Louis circled the small town, and as he'd hoped, spied a food truck in the little airstrip's gravel parking lot. He checked the wind, radioed with other pilots as there was no tower, and prepared for landing. Within moments they were touching down. It was a smooth landing, one of his best, with little turbulence to disturb the small plane despite the storm brewing within a hundred miles.
He began braking, then motored toward a spot near the hangars where they could leave the plane.
"Where are we?" Hannah asked.
"Lunch," he said, pointing in the direction of the food truck. They climbed out of the aircraft, and he asked as he secured it, "Have I convinced you how awesome plane rides are?"
"It was nice." Hannah paused, then added, "Actually, it was really great. Thank you."
"You're welcome. And as a first date bonus, that was another landing where everyone can walk away."
"First date," she muttered, but he could see she wasn't actually upset.
He gestured to the taco truck as they drew closer. "Right, sorry. I forgot. You said this isn't a date, but can I treat you to lunch anyway?"
"I thought you said you couldn't hear me without the microphone thingy turned on?"
He smirked. Of course he'd heard her.
"How did you know this was here? Did you plan this?" She was watching him, a small smile toying at the edges of her lips.
He wanted to say he had, but gave a casual shrug instead.
"Thank you, Louis."
"You're welcome. But you don't need to thank me yet. You still have time to get mad at me and walk home from here. I'll warn you, though, it's an hour by car, so a bit of a leg stretcher."
Hannah laughed as they lined up for food. "Well, don't get me angry and I'll accept a flight home again."
The man in front of them, a familiar-looking pilot, nodded to Louis and shook his hand. "Tough season so far."
Louis grimaced. "Sure is."
"Game tonight?"
"Yup."
"Good luck." The man chuckled and faced the front of the line again.
Yeah, the Dragons might be becoming a bit of a joke with their losing streak. But his plan to turn things around was starting to work. He just needed time and patience.
"Do people recognize you often?" Hannah whispered, leaning closer.
"It happens."
Then, as though realizing where they were—on a date in the middle of nowhere—they smiled at each other, a giddiness growing between them. Louis felt like a teenager, and he liked how Hannah was unable to hide her growing grin.
"I feel like the kids at the day care when I told them Santa is coming to visit on Monday," she confessed.
"Yeah?"
"Garfield Goodwin is dressing up for us."
"Really?" The man would make a natural Santa. He had wild white hair and kind eyes. The kids would adore him.
"I love this time of year." Hannah gave a happy sigh, her eyes lingering on the colored Christmas lights strung on the food truck and the chef's crooked Santa hat.
The woman loved Christmas, and Louis hoped that some of her spirit would rub off on him. He hadn't felt very jolly about the season in a long time, but this year he had hope. And maybe someone to spend it with—his dad, now, of course, but maybe he'd see Hannah, too.
"Is this what your life is like? Just going with the flow?" she asked.
"I'm pretty scheduled with hockey, but when I can allow some space for spontaneity I seize it. You don't?"
"I'm used to controlling things so I don't have children melting down on me. I'm not used to going with the flow."
"Do you trust me?" he asked.
Instead of answering right away, Hannah seemed to run through some sort of mental checklist. A fairly long one, he noted. But she finally said, "You come from a good place, even though you make me want to pull my hair out half the time."
"Do you trust me?" he repeated.
"Sure, to scramble my mind."
He laughed. Nothing came easy with this woman. And for whatever reason, he liked that. For all her people-pleasing personality traits, she sure could dish it out where he was concerned.
"I trust you to help Thomas." She was watching him now, her eyes filled with approval and warmth. "I can trust you to be kind to my dog. And I just climbed into a plane without seeing your license, and let you fly me up into the skies, opening my world to a whole new perspective."
Louis felt the impact of her words. As they moved forward in the lineup he faced her, his throat thick as he asked, "Is that a yes?"
She stood close to him, a flash of fire in her gaze. "You need to learn patience, Louie."
"Patience hasn't served me well in the past." Especially with her.
"Trust takes time. I'm not quick to give it, and even more so when it comes to you and me. I don't think I even know how much I trust you yet, but it's obviously quite a bit. Give me time to figure this out. But if you'd rather race off to the next thing..." She stepped back, palms raised. "I guess it's no big deal, Adventure Man."
How was it possible to get it wrong with her almost each and every time?
He inhaled slowly, trying to calm his mind, adjust his pace. To be present, to accept the gift he had. This moment. This suggestion from a woman he cared about.
"So you trust me."
"Yes, I do." Then she rolled up onto her tiptoes and kissed him.
* * *
Louis led them to a picnic table with their grouper fish tacos and iced tea. Despite the nearby storm it was nice enough to eat outside as long as they didn't linger.
Hannah wanted to ask about the dark clouds, but also wanted to show Louis that she trusted him. That she was okay being in the passenger seat and letting him be the boss.
As they dug into their lunch, she finally found herself unable to resist. "The clouds over there? Should we be worried?"
"I have an eye on it." He seemed worried, though, as if the weather was doing something he didn't like.
"You look concerned."
He took several bites of his taco, then calmly asked, "Do you have to know everything about everything at every moment of every day?"
"How many times can you say 'every'?" she quipped.
"Many, many times." He grinned and polished off his first taco. "Come on, Hannah. You said you trust me. Put those words into action." Despite the confidence in his tone, his eyes flicked to the sky, underlining the concern she saw growing in him.
Breathe. Enjoy. Relax. Go with the flow. She trusted him to stay grounded rather than to fly through a storm.
As she savored the tangy taco, the juices dripping down her hands, she allowed herself to be in the moment. A plane ride, a kiss and a picnic.
It was a date.
And she'd been the one to kiss him. She hadn't needed to, she'd wanted to. And so she had.
She was pretty sure that helped make this an official date. Going on one date did not mean they were dating, but it felt like it might be getting close to that.
"Good?" Louis asked, gesturing to her second taco.
"Love it." She took the last bite of her first and wiped her fingers on her napkin. "Would be even better with a margarita."
"Maybe one of these old-timers has a flask and we can turn this iced tea into something adult."
"Are you suggesting illegal public drinking?"
"Where's your sense of adventure? Have we already exhausted it?"
She peered into her plastic cup, then took a sip. "Well, you know me. If it won't send me to jail then it's not worth it."
"You enjoyed your one and only night in the clink?"
The high school horse dare. Of course he remembered that. Her one attempt at rule-breaking and she'd relied on a four-legged beast to help her get away with it.
"I wasn't in there all night." She hesitated, then added, "I saw you across the street when I was released." She hadn't actually been arrested, but wasn't allowed to leave the station until her parents had claimed her and she'd made a plan to make amends, as well as fix the damage.
"I saw you, too."
"You were smirking."
"Because the perfect Hannah Murphy had done something that surprised me."
"That's not why."
"And because..." He was smiling up at the sky and she had a feeling it was at her expense.
"Riding a horse through the school is not funny," she said, quoting her mother.
"But it was, wasn't it?"
Hannah thought of her friends. The laughter. The memories. The adrenaline at doing something out of the ordinary, and breaking rules. Despite the fallout, she didn't actually regret it. "It was kind of fun."
"Want to go paint our names on the water tower?" Louis asked, the wind ruffling his hair as he tilted his head in the direction of Sweetheart Creek. "Relive some of our youthful energy?"
"No," she said definitively.
"Did I ever tell you that story of that guy—whose cousin was he? Yours? He's from Blueberry Springs, way up north."
Hannah shrugged.
"Anyway, he fell off their water tower."
"And so you're suggesting we do that? Is this some sort of twisted Romeo and Juliet death pact thing?"
"No, not fall off it. I like adventure, but the kind I can walk away from." He watched her for a beat. "Come on, you must have heard the story. He was trying to impress a girl."
"Oh my gosh!" Hannah squealed, the memory coming back. "I do remember hearing that." She reached across the table, squeezing his arm as details came back to her. "From Daisy-Mae! She knows the story. She knows the girl he was trying to impress. Mandy something. She painted his name up there a few years ago and got busted like he did. She didn't fall off, though." Hannah released Louis's arm. "I heard they got married."
"I tell ya, pranks are the new I-love-you's of the dating world."
She sighed and rolled her eyes.
"What? Come on, that was almost funny."
Hannah took another sip of her iced tea. This whole day felt special—something she would always remember, and not just because it was their first official date. She lowered her cup to hide the tremors that were starting in her hand.
"Why were you really smirking at me?" she asked, realizing he hadn't fully answered her earlier question.
He shrugged, scooping up a bit of fish from his takeout tray and popping it in his mouth.
"You can't get out of answering by stuffing your face."
He chewed thoughtfully, then replied, "I wasn't actually smirking. I thought maybe you were rebelling. You know, about to change up your life. I was curious."
"Change it how?"
"It doesn't matter."
"Tell me."
His eyes got a faraway look as if he was lost in his thoughts, and Hannah wondered if teenage Louis had thought she was about to dump Calvin and find a way to become a doctor.
Louis's focus returned, and he said cheerily, "I was going to bail you out if your parents didn't."
Hannah shifted toward him, taken off guard by him changing the subject. But she didn't know what to say. Bail was not exactly a teenager's part-time-work kind of money. Not that her parents had needed to post it. Instead she'd gotten a lecture from every adult she knew, and had spent the next morning making things right again.
To think that Louis had been there to make sure she was okay was touching.
Especially since she'd spent every minute inside that jail cell thinking her parents weren't going to come, that they'd be too humiliated to claim her. She'd honestly believed they were going to let her sit there to learn the lesson she already knew: going with the flow and being a bit mischievous could land you in jail. Don't break the rules. Don't be anything beyond ordinary and steady.
She inhaled to steady herself. "Thank you," she said to Louis.
"I didn't do anything."
"But you were there." She clasped her hand over his, giving it a squeeze.
"I'm glad your parents came and got you." He turned his hand over so they were palm to palm, his fingers twining with hers. "It would have been pretty awkward when you rejected my help."
She laughed, knowing that was likely how it would have played out. "As much as I balked about today, I appreciate you convincing me to come."
"I'm glad you came." He looked at the sky, then at her taco. "You want to finish that in the plane? Because it looks like we have a storm to beat."
* * *
Louis wasn't one to panic, but at the moment he was feeling pretty uncomfortable. The clouds were roiling and the storm was shifting, picking up to the point where flying back to Sweetheart Creek was no longer an option. At least not for another few hours.
He'd messed up.
He'd finally wooed Hannah into giving up control, into trusting him, and he'd mucked it up.
He checked the weather radar on his phone again. "You seeing this, too?" he asked, showing his screen to one of the other pilots near the hangars.
"That wasn't predicted." The man gazed at the sky. "You gotta head west?"
Louis nodded.
"Might want to wait a few hours."
"That's what I was thinking." Louis checked the screen again before looking up at Hannah.
"Are we stuck here?" she asked, her face growing pale.
"Anywhere you need to be today?"
She shook her head.
He checked the weather map again as drops of rain sprinkled over them. "Good. How do you feel about going with the flow and coming to a hockey game?"
* * *
Hannah barely had time to wrap her mind around their weather predicament before they were climbing back into the air, the increasing wind buffeting them as Louis banked away from the dark scary clouds. Lightning could be seen in the distance, toward Sweetheart Creek. There was no going home by plane until that storm was finished, and that wouldn't be for several hours. Hours Louis didn't have.
So suddenly Hannah was flying with him across state lines to his hockey game. He'd made a series of quick calculations, decisions and phone calls, and it was done. The efficiency of his planning and the shifting of their schedule to accommodate his responsibilities shouldn't have surprised her, but they did. He was calm, in control, and honestly, pretty darn sexy.
And she was going to an NHL game. As the coach's date. In a plane he was flying.
Life with Louis in it would never be ordinary, that was for certain.
"Are you sure you'll get there in time?" she asked.
He didn't reply for a moment, his steady, serious gaze on the instruments, then on the flashes of lightning in the sky behind them. It felt to Hannah as if he was pushing the plane faster.
"Yeah. You bet." His tone was casual, yet distracted.
She gave him a few minutes to put distance between them and the storm, and soon felt the plane settling as the turbulence waned.
"Do I wait at the airport for you until you're done?"
He looked at her in surprise. "I ordered a car and asked my assistant to get you a seat in the sky box. There will be players' wives and girlfriends, snacks, drinks and some VIPs up there."
Hannah looked down at her jeans and sweatshirt. "Maybe I should sit in the nosebleeds."
"You'll be fine. I think Daisy-Mae will be there."
Hannah cringed. Her friend was a former beauty queen who looked runway-ready even in her pajamas. But it would be nice to be able to sit with someone she knew.
It was a long flight, with Louis relaxing more and more the farther they got from the storm. But a new level of concentration set in as the sky darkened and they got closer to their destination.
"Are you thinking about tonight's game?"
He nodded.
"It's been a tough season."
Another nod.
"Will I be distracting if I'm at the game?" She grinned, well aware of the flirtatious tone she'd adopted.
He grinned back. "Very. That's why I didn't get you a seat down by the ice."
She laughed, then gasped as she looked west, catching sight of the sky, streaked with pinks, oranges and a band of purple as the sunset unfolded. "It's so beautiful!"
"Our own private show."
"I can see why you like flying. From now on I'm going to feel ripped off when I have to sit in the back of a plane, instead of the cockpit." And even more so when she wasn't with Louis.
* * *
Having Hannah in the sky box was proving just as distracting as having her in a seat near the players' box. All through the game Louis found himself glancing in that direction, as though he expected to see her watching him, even though it was too far away for him to make anyone out. He also began watching the Jumbotron above the ice, something he'd never done before, in case the cameras spanned to the sky box.
He even found himself winking at the unseen camera one of the times it panned to him.
"You looking to score a deal with a shaving company, Coach?" Landon asked at halftime, as they left the rink. The Zamboni would clean and resurface the marked-up, gouged ice while they held a team meeting in the locker room.
"Why's that?" he asked his goalie, rubbing his jaw to check for five o'clock shadow.
"You're playing to the camera. Winking and stuff."
"He wasn't on the plane," the assistant coach said pointedly.
"I flew myself."
"And a private guest, I hear?" Maverick, his captain, chimed in. "Looks like Coach has a girlfriend."
The men laughed, for some reason finding the idea humorous.
"Y'all going to focus on the game and get me a win tonight so Miranda doesn't fire us all?" he retorted.
"Got to impress the lady," Landon cooed.
Louis gave him a level look. He hated to admit it, but he would love a win tonight. "I'll buy y'all Christmas gifts if you pull off a win."
"Oh, he's serious about this one."
"Who is it?"
Louis ignored the question and moved to the whiteboard in the locker room. "Listen up. Tonight we're turning up the heat and earning a W. And here's how we're going to do it."