The Daughter Dilemma

“Why not?” both women said at the same time.

The man ignored his co-worker and continued to address Kari, his features doing a good impression of a gargoyle. “Addy works for and answers to me. She sure as hell doesn’t fly one of my birds unless I tell her she can.”

“Hey!” Addy protested, and when Kari looked at her, she could see the woman was now almost as furious as she was. Through the open neckline of her shirt, red splotches marked her skin.

“I have to go. We’re closed,” Nick said one last time. “Have a nice evening.”

Without a look back, he left. There was a long moment of uncomfortable silence as both women watched him disappear. Kari’s father had tried to teach her to live by the motto IIPP—Intelligence, Industry, Persistence and Plan. The way to accomplish anything, he’d said. But what should she do when IIPP didn’t seem to have any affect on a hard-headed man?

Finally she turned back to Adriana. “What cave did he just finish hibernating in?”

The woman gave her a sheepish look. “He’s usually not that bad. I feel I should apologize.”

“Are you two related?”

“My older brother, Nick. As you can see, I’m the tolerated baby sister.”

“You have my sympathies.”

Adriana laughed. “Yeah, sometimes I want to choke him. But you have to take the bad with the good. You know how it is between siblings.”

“Can’t say that I do,” Kari said absently as she glanced around the sparsely furnished office. “I was an only child.”

An idea was starting to take shape in her mind. Maybe Kari couldn’t win with big brother, but Adriana seemed like a reasonable person. Kari just had to find the right words, the right buttons to push. Her father would have found a way to make this trip happen. So could she.

She moved to the wall where Angel Air’s business license was proudly hung. They’d only been in business a little over a year. Nick D’Angelo, Owner.

Ha! Nick D’Angelo, Jerk, was more like it.

She looked back over her shoulder at Adriana. “Does he always order you around like that?”

“When he thinks he can get away with it. He can’t help it. Nick’s ex-military. And when it concerns his choppers, he’s like a hen with baby chicks. I think they’re just hunks of metal and Plexiglas. Nick thinks they…breathe.”

Kari gave her a commiserating smile. “But you’re both licensed pilots, aren’t you?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Then I don’t understand.”

“Neither do I. But believe me, I’m going to be addressing this issue with him tonight. No matter what kind of mood he’s in.”

“Men,” Kari complained. “They just won’t believe women can do just about everything they can.”

“Sometimes better.”

They continued to discuss men’s shortcomings and what to do about them, laughing over the fact that there seemed to be darned little. Another fifteen minutes went by. Kari discovered that she liked this woman. Adriana D’Angelo was smart, witty and enthusiastic. And, Kari suspected, a bit of a rebel. A trait that might definitely work to Kari’s advantage.

“Well,” she said at last with a disappointed sigh. “I suppose I’d better head down the mountain before it gets dark.”

“Why don’t you stay up at our place?” Adriana suggested. “My family owns Lightning River Lodge, just a mile up the mountain road.”

“And take the chance of running into your brother? No thanks.”

“I’m really sorry you two clashed like that. Reschedule and I promise I’ll take you up to Elk Creek Canyon myself.”

Kari gave her a doubtful look. “That would be lovely, but do you really think big brother will let you? He doesn’t seem to take you very seriously.”

That struck a nerve. Adriana colored again. “He will. Please come back.”

Kari sent her voice lower, sent her lashes drifting down, too. “I don’t know…I had really counted on this…” She let the words float off, hoping that her demeanor spoke volumes.

“I’m sorry. But tomorrow—”

“Will be too late,” Kari finished for her. Then she gave the woman a smile filled with friendly regret. “Don’t worry about it. It’s my fault, really. I should have tried to get on a flight yesterday.”

“Is it that crucial to you, getting there today?”

“I’m a freelance journalist and my down time between assignments is pretty small sometimes. But this isn’t an assignment. It’s personal. Your brother would probably laugh, but this is sort of a pilgrimage I just have to make.”

“Oh.” As Kari had hoped, the woman looked thoughtful, her imagination clearly trying to envision what kind of personal journey this trip could be.

After a suitable silence Kari added, “I don’t blame you for being hesitant about flying after dark.”

Adriana actually looked distressed now and Kari felt the first stirrings of guilt steal over her. Yes, she wanted to get to Elk Creek today. But was it really fair to trade on this woman’s empathetic nature? In spite of her father’s best efforts to teach her otherwise, hadn’t she always tended to rush into things? For her, hadn’t the weakest link in his IIPP motto always been the “plan” part?

“You know what?” Adriana suddenly said in a tone of firm decision. “I think I can get you to Elk Creek Canyon before sunset.”

Kari’s glance flew upward. “What about your brother?”

“Nick will just have to accept that he can’t dictate to me anymore. We’re supposed to be in this together. It’s time he started treating me like we are.”

“He’ll be furious.”

“Not half as furious as I’ll be at myself if I don’t stand up to him.” She came around the counter, looking so determined that Kari didn’t think she could have talked her out of this even if she’d wanted to. “I’ll rev up Raven One. You go get your stuff.”

TEN MINUTES LATER they were airborne. Stowing her sizable amount of camping gear and her duffel bag in the back, Kari settled into the copilot’s seat and slipped on a headset that would allow her to communicate with Adriana through the cabin radio—the “hot mike” as she called it. The tiny Angel Air office dropped quickly out of sight as the helicopter climbed and swung away.

Kari’s stomach lurched, but this woman seemed to know what she was doing. Her movements on the controls and rudder pedals were precise, sometimes barely perceptible. She no longer looked like an office receptionist, but a confident, capable pilot.

“I really can’t thank you enough, Adriana,” Kari said when they’d leveled off.

The woman smiled at her. “If we’re going to fly in the face of my brother’s wrath together, I think you should call me Addy.” She pointed out the front windscreen, where in the distance a rambling three-story building was barely discernable among the tall ponderosa pines. “There’s our resort—Lightning River Lodge. My brother’s up there right now playing the little Dutch boy with his finger in the dike.”

Addy explained about the plumbing problem. “Since our father’s stroke, Nick’s been the one everyone goes to. And we tend to rely on him for…well, for just about everything.”

Guess he’s not into delegating, Kari thought. Control freak. Out loud she said, “You know, if he’d just let you take me to begin with, we could have saved some time and hassle. He needs to lighten up.”

Addy gave her a look that said that wasn’t likely. “He’s not usually that cranky, but the week started off badly, and it’s been a horrible day. I think you were the last straw. And truthfully, I suspect he just didn’t like the idea of me going up after dark.”