Jillian Hart - The Sweetest Gift

“No, I haven’t had the chance to.”

“He has a lot of combat flying experience. I always feel better with a veteran at the controls.” Once a marine, the doc dropped his gear and eased onto the seat next to her. “I’m glad Chet left us with a good replacement. Sam seems like a great guy. Once we’re airborne, you oughta go up and—”

“Sam?”

“Yep. Sam Gardner. He’s Ruth Gardner’s nephew. Ruth and my mom are in the gardening club together….”

Sam Gardner is the new pilot? The blood rushed from her head, leaving her dazed. She felt the faint movements and sounds of him up front, out of sight behind the panel of metal.

Sam, a pilot? She tried to picture it. She could. Sam’s confidence, the competence.

But he’s a plumber. Isn’t that what he’d said?

“He doesn’t own the airfield, too, does he?”

Jeremiah nodded. “Of course he does. Didn’t you hear?”

No, she hadn’t heard anything. That’s why she’d assumed he was a plumber. Not a pilot and a businessman with deep pockets and his own helicopter.

“Hope you’re strapped in, par’ners.” Sam’s voice boomed in her earpiece. “Let’s get this bird in the air.”

It was him. No doubt about it. Kirby couldn’t believe it.

But it did seem to fit. He was larger than life. Why not be a local Good Samaritan?

“Good having you at the controls, Sam,” Jeremiah said into his mouthpiece. “I don’t like flying, so take it easy on me, man.”

“I’ll do my best, Doc. Hold on tight, Kirby. We’re good to go.” Sam sounded confident, unshakable as the chopper’s blades whipped harder. “NASA, we have liftoff.”

They rose in a swinging bump that felt as if the earth had fallen out beneath them and they were rising straight up in a breathless sweep.

Jeremiah covered the mouthpiece. “We’ll miss Chet, but Sam’s good.”

She was better off not thinking about Sam right now. She was thinking about staying alive. Once she had a patient to care for, she’d be all right. But until then, she had entirely too much time on her hands to imagine the engine exploding. A blade breaking. Pieces of steel peeling off the side of the helicopter.

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