Lassoed into Marriage

“Then what would you do for fun?” he asked.

Good question. She hadn’t thought about that recently, but she’d had an old dream from before she got her pilot’s license. “Ballroom dancing lessons.”

She prepared herself for a big laugh from him.

“Ballroom dancing, huh?” he asked but didn’t laugh. “So what’s stopping you?”

Someone to dance with, she thought. She had never had the time to date. All she did was study. In high school, in college and in flight school she drove herself to be the smartest, the best, the brightest. She wouldn’t settle for anything less. On the rare occasion when someone had dared to ask her out, they never asked her again. Either her studiousness or her seriousness drove them away.

In flight school, she was given several nicknames: Ice Princess, Ice Pilot and Frigid Phillips—her personal favorite.

“Lisa?”

“What?”

“Did we just have a fight?”

“It sure seemed like a fight.”

“From now on, could you just let me finish a sentence?” he asked gently. “We could have avoided all of this.”

She took a deep breath. “I think we got some things off our chest—things that needed to be said.”

“Maybe.”

“It just shows how different we are,” Lisa pointed out.

“Yeah.”

“But I promise to let you finish a sentence.” She laughed.

Sully snapped his fingers. “One more thing.”

“Go ahead.”

“Did you ever realize how much you are like my parents? Kind of rigid, inflexible, aloof—”

“How about stopping there?” she asked.

“Hey, you didn’t let me finish my sentence!” He laughed. “You promised.”

“Sully, since you started this topic of conversation, did you ever realize how much you are like my parents? Kind of unconventional, a maverick, a free spirit with no roots, a—” She stopped to take a breath. “Aren’t you going to stop me?”

“Hell, no. I like what you said about me. Thanks for the compliments.”

“You’re just … impossible!”

“Thanks again!”

She smiled. She couldn’t help herself; when Sully wasn’t drinking, womanizing or otherwise being a jerk, he could be fun.

He was also insightful. She’d never realized that they were like each other’s parents until he’d pointed it out. They were rebels in their own different ways.

From what she knew about the Sullivans from Carol and by her own observations, she had to admit that he was probably right. She hated to admit it, but she was kind of similar to them.

Merciful heavens!

Maybe she did need some fun in her life. All she did was fly and sleep, preferably not at the same time.

Ha! She’d made a joke.

Maybe … just maybe … Sully was waking up a part of her that had been buried too long: her sense of humor.

“Sweet dreams,” Sully said.

“If you’d let me drive this thing, I could take a turn.”

“You stick to planes. I’ll drive my rig.”

“Good night, then.”

She walked the six steps to check on Rose. She was still sleeping, as peaceful and as beautiful as an angel.