Christine Johnson - Love by Design

“It’s a good engine,” Jen blurted out.

Dan grinned. In return, she pointedly turned away. That woman was definitely not worth the effort.

Again he focused on the status of the engines. “If the engine isn’t ready, then I assume the plane isn’t, either.”

Hunter shook his head, and a bad feeling gnawed at Dan’s gut. Why was Hunter waiting to run the tests? Without testing they wouldn’t know if the engines could perform under the rigorous Arctic conditions.

“As soon as the wind drops, we’ll take her up,” Hunter said.

It took a minute for Dan to calculate what Hunter was saying. “Are you telling me the new engines are on the plane already?”

Hunter grinned. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

Dan whistled. No wonder Hunter was holding back. It was one thing to lose an engine, but crashing the whole plane meant the end of the expedition.

By the time the evening ended, Dan had a good grip on the status of preparations and no grip at all on Miss Fox, whose initial spunk had vanished behind a wall of ice. It shouldn’t have bothered him. After all, she wasn’t his type. Nothing about her fit the kind of woman that usually attracted him. Her hair was too short. She had no feminine grace and almost no social skills. She was moody and strong-tempered and spoke her mind. She had unfounded confidence in her abilities and an irrational idea that she belonged on a dangerous expedition. In short, she offered nothing but trouble.

Yet as he walked the short distance back to the boardinghouse, he couldn’t stop thinking about her.

* * *

The next day Jen sat across from her sisters at the dress shop’s worktable, the place where the three of them generally ended up working out problems. With the flight school closed and the winds high, Jen had nowhere to go but home and the dress shop. Both were filled with memories of their father, but at least at the shop she didn’t have to endure her mother’s pointed questions.

“How will you pay for the flying lessons?” Mother had asked as Jen headed for the kitchen door.

Jen didn’t have a good answer. Flight time cost a dollar and a half a minute, and that was the discounted rate that Jack and Darcy extended to her. She needed hours and hours of practice. With no job this winter and no savings, she couldn’t hope to pay for a single fifteen-minute session.

“I’ll figure something out,” Jen had answered as she donned her coat.

“Consider nursing,” Mother had urged for the umpteenth time. “It will only take two years. Doctor Stevens thinks you have the perfect temperament for it.”

Jen had shut the door on the conversation, but she couldn’t put that neat an end to the problem. She had to find a source of income sufficient to pay for flight lessons. All the hospital nursing programs Mother had promoted lasted two years. It might as well be forever. By the time she finished, every aviation milestone would be conquered, including reaching the North Pole.

So she looked to her sisters for ideas.

Her older sister, Ruth, and younger sister, Minnie, both worked at the family’s dress shop. Ruth managed it along with her husband, who was in the back room placing orders at the moment. Minnie helped with the sewing and oversaw the shop’s new upholstery service, at least until she got married in May.

Both worked while Jen recited the events of last night. “Can you believe Jack would ask Dan Wagner to be the navigator? He wasn’t even interested in joining the expedition until Mr. Kensington offered to pay him.”

“Mmm,” Ruth mumbled around a mouthful of pins. She was putting together a new dress, which, based on the sketches, was just the type of gown Beattie would love.

“In one shot, they killed my dream,” Jen mourned. “What am I supposed to do now?”

Minnie cocked her head. “It seems to me that you’re the one who is always telling us to fight for what we want.”

“That’s true,” Ruth agreed as she finished pinning a panel on the dress form. “You told me to go after Sam, and look what happened.” She gazed at little Sammy asleep in the cradle by her side. “Everything my heart desired and more. I agree with Minnie. You need to fight for what you want. Tell Mr. Wagon—”

“Wagner,” Jen corrected.

“Wagner. Tell him that you want to be the navigator.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Then tell Jack.”

“I can’t.” Jen’s sisters meant well, but they didn’t understand. “Jack offered it to Dan. He accepted. Mr. Kensington is paying him. Moreover, he’s a professional. He has his license. He’s experienced. He has set dozens of aviation records. How can I compete with that?”

“You’re a friend of Darcy and Jack’s,” Ruth said, as if that made any difference. “Friends always come first.”

“Not with something this important. Besides, even if Jack changed his mind and gave me the spot, what would Mr. Kensington say? He’s paying Dan, not me.”

Ruth lifted an eyebrow. “Dan? Do you realize that’s the third time you used his first name?”

“Wagner, then. But that’s not the point. No one ever gets paid to go on an expedition. They sure wouldn’t pay me.”

“You don’t have the license,” Ruth pointed out.

“I know that, but I intend to get it as soon as I get my flight time.”

“Then do that,” Minnie said.

“I can’t afford it. Mother only gave me enough for the written lessons. Moreover, it’s winter. By the time the weather clears, the expedition will be headed to someplace called Spitsbergen. It’ll be too late.”

“It’s never too late.” Ruth fit another panel to the emerging dress. “Not if you’re following the Lord’s will for your life.”

“That’s the hard part,” Minnie chimed in. “Figuring out where you’re meant to be. I thought I wanted a life of glamour until I realized I was much happier with Peter.” Her expression softened when she said her fiancé’s name.

“None of this helps at all.” Jen spun a pincushion between her hands. “Didn’t you hear what I said? Dan Wagner is going to be the navigator for the polar expedition, and there’s nothing I can do about it. I’ll never be the navigator. It’s hopeless.”

Ruth looked at Minnie, who grinned back. Together they said, “No, it’s not.”

“If anyone can do it,” Minnie said, “you can. Look at how much you know about engines. You spent half your time at the aeromotor factory watching them build the motors for the plane. Peter says Hendrick told him you even came up with some good suggestions.”

“He said that?”

Minnie nodded vigorously.

“Use the talents God gave you,” Ruth seconded. “Maybe it’s not navigation. Maybe it’s not in the cockpit. But you have other, equally valuable, talents. Understanding how machines work, the ability to inspire people, determination, creativity. Use what talents you do possess.”

The fog that had engulfed Jen since last night’s dinner party began to lift. “Maybe there is something I can do for the expedition. They will need lots of mechanical help. And logistics. Ordering and organizing the supplies is a huge task. I do it all the time for the flight school. There’s a lot I can do.”

“That’s right,” Minnie said. “Besides, there’s nothing like working alongside a handsome man to lift your spirits.”

Jen glared at her little sister.

“Very true,” Ruth seconded. “I heard that Mr. Wagner is most handsome.”

“Maybe,” Jen snapped, “if you like arrogant, self-centered cowboys.”

“Aha.” Ruth chuckled.

“No aha . No anything. My dream has nothing to do with Mr. Dan Wagner’s looks. He could go back to Montana today as far as I’m concerned.”