Page 94 of The Promise Of Rain

I stepped into the kitchen, pushed Mary and her less-bitchy friend out of my head, and opened the fridge.

Three eclairs, filled with whipped cream, thinly sliced strawberries along both sides met at a solitary strawberry at the top.

I walked out and set the tray on the counter.

Maxine looked down and threw her head back, her laughter ringing out, happy and free.

Maggie gasped.“My goodness, she made us pussies.”

“Okay, girls.”Maxine slapped her hands down on the counter.“We’ve got three hours until the mall closes.Eat your pussies and let’s go shopping.”

18

Her Certainty

Deacon

While Jenny went to the mall with Maggie and Maxine, I drove out to the airfield.

It was usually quiet at this time of year, but never this deserted.But I was there now, and it didn’t stop me from pulling into the parking lot and having a look around.

All my friends growing up went to Air Cadets.Our parents loved it for its discipline and close supervision.We loved it because it was fun.

Where else can twelve-year-old boys hope to blow up rockets and handle weapons?

Still, by the time I was fifteen, I was the only one left.

I loved the structure and the camaraderie, the tech courses in aircraft mechanics and the forest survival training.

The first time I hit the skies, I was sixteen years old, and not at the controls.

It lit a fire in me that never went out.

I enrolled in the technical course as soon as my boots hit the dirt, and was back in the air, this time at the controls, six months later.

I felt more at home in the skies than I did on the ground.Crazy to say as an Air Force pilot, but up there I felt closer to God than I ever had in church.

Charlie had been like me; flying was his life.

If he had to go, I know without a doubt, that’s the way he would have chosen.But it didn’t negate the fact that had I chosen differently, he’d be here in my place.

I’d lived my life for my parents, for Jenny, and for the military.

The urge to live my life for Charlie rode me hard, but it’s not what he would have wanted.

And it would have been a grave disservice to the woman I loved.

I walked over to the airfield and propped my forearms on the fence.The wind stung my face and whipped through my coat to chill my bones.

I had so many good memories here.

If I closed my eyes, I could hear myself laughing.

A few hours later, freshly showered and dressed, I jogged up the steps to Jenny’s door.

When she opened it and stepped back to let me in, I whistled low with appreciation.

Her dress, a deep emerald-green knit with a deep V-neck, hugged her curves and ended just above her knees.