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Grace nodded.
“Good.”
With that, she walked into her room and shut the door behind her.
I walked back into my room, somewhat disappointed. While I would be able to sleep in the bed tonight, I worried that now that we had the all-clear from the FAA, we would be struggling to continue this little relationship. Grace appeared, to me, to be one of those people who would focus solely on their career on a trip once it was time to get down to business.
Now that we’d gotten the all-clear, I worried she would be all business until our trip back to Tulsa, at which point, I would have to be all business because I’d be flying the plane.
I shook my head, the door shutting behind me. What she decided to do with her time was none of my business. Besides, if she wanted to keep her job, she’d have to get good shots.
I took a look at the calendar on my phone, just to see what the deadline was looking like. She had to get the photos in by the end of the month – which was Sunday. This coming Sunday. Today was Wednesday. By the time we got to Corinth, she’d only have a couple of days to get the pictures and get them to her boss. She’d probably have to be getting back to Tulsa, too. We’d have to hope and pray that the weather worked out so she could get good shots.
With a sigh, I opened my email again. Now that there was power, I could safely start emailing clients and taking new appointments based on my schedule. A few of the emails were straight-up cancelations because some heavy weather had also hit Tulsa, which was fair. That took care of the clients I hadn’t been able to reach, at least.
I refunded them all and told new clients that I was currently out of town but would be happy to see what I could do for them. Some of the emails had been sent right around the time the power and cell service here went out, but that was now easily fixed. I simply explained that I had been delayed on my current flight due to bad weather in Colorado. Any decent person would understand that I couldn’t control the weather.
I did get one email chain, all from the same woman, that was cursing me out for not answering or being available in Tulsa right now. I received another one from her as I was answering others, and I decided to read the entire chain. It was a bad idea. She was one of those entitled, ‘all about me’ women who couldn’t imagine that something might not go her way.
Instead of taking her job, because that would only give her more reason to act entitled, I simply told her that I did not appreciate her language and would not be giving her a flight anywhere. Once that email had been sent, I blocked the address she had been using.
It probably wouldn’t stop her completely, but it would at least give me some peace of mind.
I took a quick shower and then got ready for bed. With the hotel’s heater working properly, the room actually felt like a nice temperature. I gathered all the blankets from the floor and set them on the table. If I needed them, well, I had them. If Grace needed one or two, she knew where to find me. And, if the power went out again, she could prop her door open with her suitcase by laying it on the floor instead of risking getting stuck outside the room again.
I got ready for bed, and then took a deep breath. Whatever had gotten into me earlier today had fled now that Grace was no longer in close proximity, but I couldn’t deny that she was still incredibly attractive. Even the way she approached life entranced me.
If I were so inclined to say it aloud, I might have likened her to a fairy because of the power she had over me. I’d made a deal with her, after all, but I hadn’t eaten her food.
I chuckled softly before getting into the bed. Grace had left it nice and warm. Not wanting to deal with cold sheets, I ended up sleeping in about the same place that she’d been.
The next morning, I woke up to the sun on my face. I had forgotten to put on the sleep mask. It wasn’t that much of a loss. It only meant I woke a little earlier than planned. The sooner we arrived at the airport, the sooner I could get Grace to Corinth for her photos.
I was still skeptical about Corinth as a choice, but I knew better than to ask her about it again at this point.
As I got dressed, I could only wonder if she would still be as excited as she had been before.
Chapter sixteen
Grace
Now that we had the all-clear to fly out to Corinth from Dawn, I was ready to get my pictures. Before packing my bags, I took out my camera just to check it out.
My camera had survived the flight to Dawn as far as no cracks in the lenses went. I turned it on and took a few photos in the hotel room to be sure it still worked as it should have. Upon confirming that it had entirely survived that bumpy flight, I deleted the photos of the hotel room. This was technically my camera, but I had bought it because I was doing horribly with the cameras that the newspaper had for the reporters to use. They hadn’t been updated in years.
My camera was far more up to date. It worked on all the computers. The other benefit to having my own camera was that I didn’t have to worry about replacing a camera out of my salary for the newspaper if it broke. I could either do the repairs myself or find a place that would do it for me.
I put it back in the carrying case and made sure the rest of the fragile things I had brought had survived. It had only been this, the laptop, and an extra lens for the camera, but it had all survived. Thankfully. Perhaps Gabe had known what he was doing when instructing me how to load the bags for the flight.
It helped that he knew I was bringing a camera. I couldn’t do my job without it, here or in Corinth. And I wasn’t about to buy a cheap camera to do the job with. That’d make me a laughingstock in the office.
The car ride back to the airport was quiet. Unfortunately, due to all the snow and the other flights that had gotten diverted to Dawn, the airport was making everyone except verified employees go through security. I hated security in Tulsa, and in any airport, honestly. It made the entire beginning of the trip take much longer. It also meant I had to leave the house earlier than I would have liked – no matter which line I was going through, the regular or the precheck line.
Thankfully, after so many years, I had decided to spend the money on the precheck. Gabe had also paid the money for this trip, specifically. We were able to get through security quickly, and soon we were off to the private hangar where Gabe had parked his plane.
“All right. Just like we loaded it up in Tulsa. I want your hard suitcase to go into the cargo first,” he said as he was opening the cargo hold. “We’ll shove the duffel bags around it as best as we can, protect that camera, and off we go.”
I nodded.
