Taming the Moguls (14 page)

Chapter 27

Gretchen felt as if a giant boulder had
toppled off the mountainside and landed on her chest. The only way
out was to clear the air and deal with whatever was left. There
wasn’t any holding back, not when he’d cut her soul in two. It was
time to be honest, damn the consequences to all of them.

“I loved you. I loved you with everything I
had.” Her lips had trouble forming words; it could have been from
the cold, or it could have been the sight of him flinching. “The
day I took off, I went to your apartment. Ryan saw me on your
doorstep and told me you had to stay late after practice. I don’t
know where he came from. It was like he was watching me or
something. At least that’s how he made me feel.” She still
remembered the way she’d felt that day, the warm sun on her back
and the cool shiver that ran down her spine when she heard his
voice. He still made her feel that way.

“When I turned to leave, he invited me inside
his apartment. I said no, that I needed to get back to my
apartment, but he said if you and I wanted to do a better job of
hiding our relationship, it would be a good idea for me to spend
time with someone else. I’m not sure how, but he knew we were
together. It sounded like a threat.” It had looked like one too,
the way he’d sneered at her and held his body against the brick
facade.

Tommy stood in front of her, his hands at his
sides, a stony look on his face. The snow was collecting in his
hair.

“I told him we weren’t seeing each other,
that we were just friends, but he laughed and yanked me into his
apartment. I was too scared to fight. Other people were around. I
thought he might tell if I made a scene. I didn’t want you to get
in trouble with my dad. You know he would have had you kicked off
the team or maybe out of school.”

She’d worked hard to block the next part out
of her mind. She had to, for Alex. “He led me to the couch and sat
down next to me. He was too close.” Her mind drifted back, and she
remembered how hairy his leg felt against her skin. She swallowed,
determined to finish. “Before I knew what was happening, he was
trying to kiss me. He pushed me down. He was so strong; I couldn’t
get up. He wedged his knee between my legs and ripped my shorts. I
tried to fight him off, but he held my wrists. I barely had time to
register what was happening before it was over. He stood up, tucked
himself back in those drawstring shorts you all used to wear, and
threw me at the door.” She wouldn’t tell him what Ryan had said.
Tell Tommy thanks for the pussy, but I’ve had
better.

Tommy stood with his feet spread, and a
muscle in his jaw flashed over and over. “Are you telling me he
raped you?”

“I went to your apartment, but you didn’t
answer. I didn’t know what to do, so I went home. I told your mom
what happened. Not about us but about Ryan.”

He jerked both hands through his hair and
spun around, looking at the sky as the snow fell in curtains around
him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Your mom told me to take a shower and change
my clothes. I wanted to call the police, but she and my dad didn’t
think it was a good idea. My dad said he’d handle it, that there
wasn’t any need to involve the police.”

“Son of a bitch!” His controlled and deadly
tone confirmed she’d done the right thing in not telling him. He’d
have done something neither one of them could take back.

“I don’t know if they didn’t believe me or if
they didn’t want to affect the football program. It didn’t matter
because the shower rinsed all the evidence away. I scrubbed my skin
until it was raw. Your mom took my clothes. I was in shock. I let
her give me a sleeping pill and put me to bed. I was too ashamed to
call you, and once I thought about how you’d react, I knew I
couldn’t tell you.”

The muscles in his neck stood out as the
color drained from his face. “I’d have killed him.”

“I know. I couldn’t let him hurt you,
too.”

Tommy stormed away, his hands fisted in his
hair.

“Tommy?” she called.

He only waved her off. “Get in the truck. I
need a minute.”

“But—”

“Get in the truck!”

She did as he asked when she realized he
wasn’t coming back until he was good and ready. She crawled inside
and, using a paper napkin she found in the side of the door, blew
her nose and wiped her face. She watched him stride along the road,
kicking snow as he went, until he disappeared in the distance. She
couldn’t have felt more drained if she’d run a marathon with a
ten-gallon drum on her back. Her eyes felt puffy and her skin
tight. Her body shivered and her teeth chattered, but not from the
cold. The truck’s heat was going full blast; the aftereffects of
telling her secret were as bad as the anxiety of holding it in.

She felt a huge stab of relief when the
wipers cleared the snow from the window and she recognized Tommy’s
form off in the sea of white. His hair was crusted with snow, and
his cheeks were a bright, unnatural red. He brought the cold into
the cab when he ripped open the door and climbed inside. He leaned
his head against the headrest and clenched and unclenched his
frozen fingers. His eyes remained closed. She wondered if he’d
speak. Minutes ticked by as he sat and took huge breaths through
his nose.

“I’m not saying I don’t believe you,” he
finally said. He twisted his head around and stared at her with
vacant eyes. His color was returning to normal “You need to
understand I’m not calling you a liar.”

Gretchen swallowed and tried to stem her
galloping heart. “Okay.”

“I want to believe you. Everything you’ve
said makes sense—your disappearance, my mother’s behavior—but one
detail just doesn’t add up.”

She knew it was coming. She knew they weren’t
anywhere near the finish line of the conversation she’d started. “I
know what you’re going to say.”

“If he did what you said he did, if he raped
you, then why in the hell did you marry him?”

Chapter 28

Kevin stepped inside the hanger of the Hailey
Municipal Airport and closed his eyes. The smell of aviation fuel
and motor oil, the permeated scent of cigarette smoke, the metallic
taste of the hanger walls sent him back a few years. That place,
those feelings, had made him long for the future he envisioned:
hours of every day spent in the air, in and around the clouds,
hovering over towns and cities, a bird’s eye view of life from the
best seat in the house. God’s house.

From the lounge, he heard the low, raspy
voices of the pilots and mechanics who, day in and day out, found
refuge and employment in the field they loved. The men and women
who never understood how some people—other people—could live their
whole lives without wanting to conquer the skies and experience the
joy of holding over a thousand pounds of aluminum alloys suspended
in mid-air. Kevin felt the open arms of his past and future embrace
him as he stepped inside.

“Well, well, well. Look who’s back from the
big city.” Johnny Delt sat with his feet atop the metal desk he
called home. “I was wondering when you’d show your ugly mug. You
handing out autographs?”

“I don’t know, Johnny. You collecting
signatures from out-of-work commercial pilots?”

“It’s a tough business.” The chair creaked
when his feet hit the concrete floor. “I never lied to you about
that.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“What excuse did they give?”

“Oh, you know the drill.” Kevin leaned on the
door jam and crossed his arms. Johnny wasn’t someone who’d shake
his hand or even stand up. The fact that his feet were on the floor
was as big an acknowledgment as a bear hug. “Budget cuts,
diminishing profits, last one hired and all. Doesn’t ease the
sting.”

“You jonesing for some airtime?”

Not until the words were out of Johnny’s
mouth did Kevin realize that half of his restlessness was from not
having flown in weeks. How had he managed to overlook the powerful
pull of flight in his blood? Ironic, really, since his father had
been killed in an air crash. “Now that you mention it...”

“I’d love to give you a go.” Johnny jerked
his head toward the lounge where two men in jeans and one in
overalls sat on an olive-green couch. “No one I trust more in the
pit, but a storm’s brewing over the pass that’s going to slam us
good by morning.”

“Another time, then.” Kevin moved to the
metal chair opposite Johnny’s desk. “I’m looking for Skip.”

“Ol’ boy’s around here somewhere. I hear you
want to take over for Manny?”

“Thinking about it.
If
he’s going to retire.”

“I’d say he’s damn near out the door. You
trying to push him the rest of the way out?”

“Maybe.”

Johnny’s cackling laugh sent the corners of
Kevin’s mouth north. “I thought you wanted big aircraft and fancy
skies?”

“I’ll settle for big air and familiar skies.
Big aircraft’s not as personal. Certainly not as much fun.”

“If you can’t have fun at work, what’s the
point?”

“Exactly.” Kevin nodded and glanced around
the office. Johnny’s picture collection of aircraft flown in and
out of the tiny hub hung in frames along three walls. Kevin noticed
a new shot. “That’s new.” He stood up to admire the Cessna and
whistled. “Sweet. When did this thing blow through town?”

“’Bout a month ago. Smoothest ride I’ve ever
seen here.”

“Whose is it?” Kevin admired the private prop
plane he knew to cost upwards of eight hundred thousand.

“Some lawyer out of Denver.”

“What’s a fancy lawyer doing in these
parts?”

“That Golden girl got caught in the
crosshairs of the school superintendent out of Westmoreland. Her
big money boyfriend flew in the fancy lawyer.”

“Wait. Is Olivia’s big money boyfriend now
her fiancé?”

Johnny lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know. Guy
I’m talking about bought the old Cuthbert place.”

Kevin’s mind was racing. Lyle’s girlfriend’s
brother had money and lots of it if he could fly an attorney down
from Denver for a few hours. “His sister lives there now. She’s
dating my brother.”

“Oh, yeah? Hummm. I’ve seen her around.
Pretty little brunette.”

“She’s got Lyle by the balls. He didn’t say
anything about her being from money.”

A knock on Johnny’s office door had them both
turning around. Skip Dorsey stood in the doorway, not a hair over
five-three. “You looking for me?”

“How’d you guess?” Kevin asked.

“Got a call from Manny this morning. He’s
making it official. He’s done. His wife’s taken a turn for the
worse, and she needs him home.”

“Well, I’m sorry to hear about his wife.”

“You still interested in dusting?”

“That’s why I’m here.”

“Good.” Skipper pointed at Johnny’s desk.
“You still got that information on the ag aviation training
facilities?”

Johnny pulled out a file drawer. “Sure, it’s
in here somewhere.”

“You’re going to need to get your ag
training. Cheapest and quickest place for you since you’ve got your
commercial license is in Louisiana.”

“Louisiana? There’s nothing closer?”

“Closer, maybe, but trust me when I say
cheapest doesn’t mean cheap. You can finish the course in three to
four weeks, but you can count on spending ten grand.”

“Ten thousand dollars? For four weeks of ag
training?”

“It’s a specialty market. You get the
training, you can work anywhere.”

Kevin blew out a breath. Where in the hell
was he going to come up with ten grand?

“Got it right here.” Johnny handed Kevin a
brochure.

Kevin glanced at the glossy brochure with a
picture of a bright yellow, single-engine two-seater. It looked
like something he’d see at an air show. “Okay, I’ll take a look at
this. If I commit to the ag training, can you guarantee you won’t
give the job away?”

“As long as you pass, kid, it’s yours.”

Passing would be the easy part. He’d always
been good at school. Coming up with ten thousand dollars and
telling Shiloh he was going to Louisiana for four weeks had him
sweating. “I’ll pass.” He stood and shook Skip’s hand. “I’ve got to
talk to Shi and move some money around, but I’ll take care of the
training.”

“Glad to have you aboard.”

Chapter 29

Tommy hadn’t meant to speak with bitter
resentment. He’d tried to remain detached and unaffected, but as he
watched Gretchen shake and sniffle as she tried to gather her wits,
he knew it couldn’t be helped. He was frozen on the outside while
his insides had begun a painful, debilitating thaw.

Questions swirled, the answers pointing in
different, divergent directions. The snow was gathering too
quickly; he knew he should put the truck into gear and try to
maneuver down the road because their window to escape was closing,
but all he could focus on was Gretchen and the explanation that
would either prove her a liar or crush him.

She said, “I was determined to hide from you.
I knew you were upset with me for disappearing, but I thought it
was the right thing to do. I was trying to protect you.”

“By marrying him?”

“When I realized I was pregnant, I went to
your mom. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want the baby, of
course, but I couldn’t have an abortion. I knew it wasn’t yours.
We’d been so careful.” She blew her nose on a napkin she’d
crumpled. “We went round and round about options. They went so far
as to make an appointment, but I just couldn’t kill an innocent
child. I tried. I knew it was the best thing for everyone, but I
couldn’t do it.” She wiped her nose with the back of her hand.
“Your mother was furious. Partly in retaliation—I think—my father
arranged the marriage. He said if I wouldn’t terminate the
pregnancy, I had to marry Ryan. You’d quit the team by then, and
his hopes for a championship were fading. I think he threatened to
go to the police to get Ryan to agree.”