The Daughter Dilemma

He almost wished the doctor would order him out of the room and back to the anonymous safety of the waiting area. Not much chance of that. The fresh-faced resident looked pretty meek, no older than Tessa’s biology partner in school.

His sister, usually relentlessly upbeat, was an emotional mess. She didn’t seem to mind the pain of a broken left arm and a sprained right wrist. She hardly looked at the nurse slipping an Ace bandage over her fingers. But she’d been crying off and on for five minutes—five long minutes—and nothing Nick said seemed to help. Frankly, he was running out of reassuring words and sympathetic looks.

This is all that Churchill woman’s fault.

The doctor had told him that the woman was going to be fine. Lucky lady, the doc had said. No more than a small bump on the head.

I ought to go down to the end of the hall and throttle the life out of her.

He wouldn’t do it, of course. How could he when his own guilt was eating away at him like battery acid? Because when it came right down to it, he was the one responsible for this latest disaster.

He should have known his headstrong sister would be looking for any excuse to take up one of the Ravens. All it had taken was a little friendly persuasion from a smoothie like Kari Churchill to push her into defying him.

He should have brought Addy along faster in the business. He should have made her understand that all the “ground school” flying time in the world didn’t mean diddily if she couldn’t read the sky, didn’t know how to smell a stormfront just by sniffing the air. Her instincts needed to be honed until they were razor-sharp.

But he’d been dragging his feet. All the annoying little problems he’d had to deal with lately, plucking at him like greedy children. Zapping his time and energy. It had been easy enough to fall into the comfortable pattern of treating Addy more like a secretary than a fellow pilot. No surprise that she’d gotten tired of waiting and jumped at the first opportunity that presented itself.

With nearly tragic results.

“I know you’re mad,” Addy croaked. “That’s why you look that way.”

“What way?”

“Like you’ve been sucking lemons.”

Nick blew air through his cheeks. He rolled his eyes in the doctor’s direction, but the man just gave him a sympathetic smile and continued scribbling on Addy’s chart.

“All right,” Nick said in a firm voice. “I am mad. Don’t think you’re getting away with this stunt. You and I are going to have a long, serious conversation about who’s in charge at Angel Air.” He softened his words by running the back of a quick, affectionate finger down her flushed cheek. “But not right now. Not until you’re healed and feeling yourself again.”

Sobering momentarily, Addy nodded. “I understand. I take full responsibility for what happened, Nick.”

“Oh, believe me, there’s plenty of blame to go around.”

“You mean Kari?” his sister protested. “She’s not at fault here. It was my idea. After we were up and saw the first signs of rough weather, she even suggested we turn around and come back.”

Addy had misunderstood just who he really blamed, but right now, it was easier to find fault with their customer’s pushy approach than to admit his own part in tonight’s near-catastrophic events. “I’ll bet she did.”

“I’ve ruined everything,” Addy said, looking very young and vulnerable again. Like a child, she ducked her head to wipe her nose against the shoulder of her hospital gown.

The doctor caught Nick’s eye and gave him a reassuring smile. “The meds will kick in soon.”

Thank God.

He leaned closer, taking Addy’s face in his hands and turning her head to make her meet his eyes. Beneath his hands, her bones felt small and fragile. He realized once again how incredibly lucky they were that she hadn’t been seriously hurt. A warm tear slipped beneath his fingers and he wiped it away as gently as he could. “Come on, Addy. Quit crying. You know I can’t take weepy women. Everything’s going to be all right. Mom and Pop will be here soon.”

“I can’t seem to help it. You know how your whole life is supposed to flash before your eyes when things like this happen?”

“Yours didn’t?”

“It did.” She grimaced. “And it was so boring, Nick. My life has been one big snooze fest. I’ve made one bad choice after another. I’m nothing but a small-town girl with small-town ideas, and I’m destined to live and die a small-town life. David was right.”

“David who?”

“McKay,” Addy said with a put-upon voice. “Who else would I mean?”

“Your old boyfriend from high school?” Nick frowned. God, if she was going to dredge up ancient history from ten years ago, they were going to be here forever. “I thought you hated him.”

Addy started to sob again. In an effort to sidetrack her, he touched the edge of her bandaged arm. Her fingers stuck out from the end like undercooked sausages.

“I don’t know why you’re crying,” he said in a lighter voice. “This is going to keep you out of work at the lodge for a few weeks. We’ll all be waiting on you hand and foot.”

“I must have been bracing too hard for the crash. How bad is the damage to Raven One? Tell me the truth. Did I split the skids?”

“Harry’s going to tow it over to the airframe techs tonight. I’ll get a better look in the morning.”

“What are you going to do about the rest of the week’s tours? Me out of commission, and down one chopper?”

“Let’s not worry about it right now.”

She shook her head. “Why did I think I could actually fly your birds? Maybe flying isn’t my forte. Maybe I don’t even have a forte.”

“Of course you do. If you’re going to criticize your ability to fly, then you’re criticizing my judgment to take you on as a partner.” He reached out to flick a stray tear off the end of her nose, giving her a smile. “And I’m never wrong about things like that, am I?”

“No.”

“You’d have been fine if you hadn’t taken that lightning strike. I was listening on the radio, remember? You were outrunning it. Doing great.”

“I did have everything under control up until then…”

That was more like it. The old Addy was returning. Nick ran a hand over the top of her head. Her hair was a tangled mess. “What you haven’t got under control is your ability to keep people from taking advantage of you. I know that sob-sister played on your sympathy to get you up there.”

Absently his sister shook her head, then sniffled around a yawn. “She didn’t. Not really.”

They both watched the nurse work on her arm a few minutes. Finally the woman tucked the last bit of bandaging into place. “Did you know Kari is Madison Churchill’s daughter?” Addy asked.

“No, and I don’t care if she’s related to Winston Churchill.”

“She was awfully calm after we crashed. Didn’t panic. She handled the fire extinguisher when I realized I couldn’t. She even found a way to splint my arms.”

“Which wouldn’t have needed splinting if she’d taken no for an answer in the first place.”

“You should talk to her.”

“Not in the mood I’m in.”

“She’s just down the hall.”

“Good. She should stay there.”