Danielle Steel - Wings

“Your mother and I want you,” he hesitated and glanced at Oona for a second, “to make your own decision. And whatever you decide, we're behind you. But if you go,” he warned, “you'd better come back, and damn often.” There were tears in his eyes when he hugged her, and she clung to him and kissed her mother, who was crying.

“Thank you… thank you…” She hugged them both, and sat down at the foot of their bed with a sigh. “It's been a hard decision.”

“Do you know what you're going to do?” Oona asked. Pat didn't dare ask her, but he already suspected what Cassie had decided as she nodded and looked at them with a shiver of excitement.

“I'm going.”

But leaving them was harder than she'd feared. She met with Desmond Williams at the Portsmouth the next morning, and signed the contract with him. She had black coffee and toast, she was too nervous to eat anything else, and the details of what he was telling her were so exciting that she kept getting confused. They were going to arrange a flight for her from Chicago to Los Angeles. There was an apartment, a car… uniforms… a chaperone when they felt she needed one… a wardrobe… escorts, a weekend place in Malibu she could use. A plane for her personal use, whenever she wanted to fly home. And the kinds of planes she had always dreamed about flying.

Her schedule began in five days. There would be a press conference, a newsreel, and a test flight of a new Starlifter right off the bat. He wanted her to show America just how good she was. But first he wanted to show her what his planes could do. He was going to spend the first two weeks with her, mostly flying.

“I can't believe it,” she said to Billy as they lay in the sun on an old unused piece of runway later that morning.

“You sure did get a big break,” he said enviously. But he was happy here, and for the moment he had no desire to go back to California.

“I'll be home in two weeks for a visit, no matter what,” she promised him and everyone else.

Her parents gave a big dinner for her the night before she left, with all her sisters and brothers-in-law, their kids, Chris, Nick, and Billy. Bobby wasn't there of course, although she had seen him two days before at Jim Bradshaw's wake. He had been talking quietly with Peggy, and holding one of her babies.

But it was Nick she stood next to all night, whom she couldn't bear to leave. She derived so much comfort and support from him, and had for so many years, that now she didn't know how she would survive without him.

The next morning everyone was at the airport when she left. Nick was flying her to Chicago in the Vega, and after she kissed her mother and sisters and Chris goodbye, she went over to her father. They both had tears in their eyes as he looked at her. He wanted to ask her to change her mind, but he would never do it.

“Thank you, Dad,” she whispered into his neck as he held her close to him.

“Be careful, Cassie. Ray attention. Don't ever get sloppy in one of those fancy planes. They won't forgive you for an instant.”

“I promise, Dad.”

“I wish I believed you,” he smiled, “damn female pilot.” He was laughing then through his tears, and gave her another bear hug and then sent her off with Nick. Chris and Billy were waving from the runway too, when they took off, and Cassie heaved an enormous sigh. It had been harder leaving home than she had ever dreamed, and all she could think of were the people she was leaving there, instead of the places where she was going. And as she turned to look at Nick, her heart felt heavier still. She wanted to hold onto every moment she had with him.

“You're a lucky girl,” Nick reminded her on the way up, to take her mind off her family, who were still waving at her, “but you deserve it. You've got what it takes, Cass. Just don't let those city slickers use you.” Desmond Williams was indeed pretty slick, but he also seemed both fair and honest. He had made no bones about what he wanted from her. He wanted the best pilot in the world, the best-looking, best behaved woman he could find to represent his product, he wanted new records set, and his planes unharmed and well viewed by the American public. It was a tall order, but she was capable of filling it for him, and he was smart enough to sense that. She was the best pilot he had ever seen, and good-looking too, and for him, that was a beginning. For Nick it was an end. But he was more than willing to sacrifice himself for her future. It was his final gift of love to her. First flying, and then finally, her freedom.

“Don't let them push you around,” Nick reminded her; “you're a great girl, and if they're too tough on you, tell them to go to hell, and come straight home. All you have to do is call, and I'll fly out to get you.” It sounded crazy, but it was actually reassuring.

“Will you come out to see me?”

“Sure. Whenever I have a run out there, I'll take a little detour.”

“Don't give the California runs to Billy then,” she reminded him, “be sure you do them yourself.” He smiled at her admonition. She was suddenly looking very nervous.

“I kind of thought you might like to see more of him,” Nick said, speaking of Billy as nonchalantly as he could, which meant not very. “Was I wrong?” He was relieved at what she had just said. But he had already begun to suspect that Billy was a friend and not a romance, just as her father had predicted. But it was nice to hear her confirm it. What he wanted from her was celibacy and total adoration, and he knew how crazy that was. One of these days she'd have to find a husband, and have kids, and he knew it wouldn't be him, but he wished it could be.

“Billy and I are just friends,” she said quietly. “You know that.”

“Yeah. Maybe I do.”

“You know a lot of things,” she said wisely. “About me, about life, about what matters, about what doesn't. You've taught me a lot, Nick. You've made my whole life mean something to me. You've given me everything.”

“I wish I had, Cass, but I haven't done all that well myself. And no one deserves it all more than you do.”

“Yes, you have given me everything,” she said, her admiration obvious, her love for him even more so.

“I'm no Desmond Williams, Cass,” he said honestly. He had no pretense about him.

“Who is? Most people aren't that lucky.”

“You might be one day, Cass. You might become someone really important,”

“From being in newsreels and getting my picture taken? I doubt it. That's show-offy stuff, it's not real. I know that much.”

“You're a smart girl, Cass. Stay that way. Don't let them spoil it.”

They landed in Chicago after a little while, and he walked her to her plane, carrying her bag for her. She was wearing a navy blue suit that had been her mother's. It looked a little out of date, and it was too big for her, but it was hard to make Cassie O'Malley look anything but lovely. At twenty years of age, she took your breath away, with her shining red hair, her big blue eyes, her full bust and long legs, the tiny waist he loved to put his hands around when he helped her to the ground. But she was looking up at him now, like a child, and all he wanted to do was take her back to her mother. Her eyes were filled with tears, but she wasn't crying for them, she was crying for him. She didn't want to leave him.

“Come and see me, Nick… I'll miss you so much…”

“I'll always be there for you, kid… don't you forget that”

“I won't,” she sniffed, and he put an arm around her and held her. He didn't say anything else to her. He just kissed the top of her head, and walked away. There was nothing else he could say, and he knew if he did, his voice would betray him, and he'd never leave her.

When the flight from Chicago landed in Los Angeles, there were three people waiting to meet her, a driver, a representative from the company, and Mr. Williams's secretary. Cassie was a little surprised to see them. He had told her she would be met at the plane, but she hadn't expected to be met so officially, or by so many people.

On the drive to Newport Beach, the company representative gave her a list of appointments for the week, a review of their latest planes, a test flight in each of them, a press conference with all the most important members of the local press, and a newsreel. The secretary then gave her a list of social events she was expected to attend with and without any of several escorts, and a few with Mr. Williams. It was more than a little overwhelming. But she was even more overcome when she saw the apartment they had rented for her. It was in Newport Beach, and it had a bedroom, a living room, and a dining room, all overlooking the ocean. It had spectacular views, and a terrace which surrounded it. The refrigerator was stocked, the furniture was beautiful, there were Italian linens in the drawers. And she was told that a maid would attend to her needs if she wished to entertain, and she would clean the apartment daily.

“I… oh, my Lord!” Cassie exclaimed as she opened a drawer full of lace tablecloths. Her mother would have given her left arm to have any one of them, and Cassie couldn't begin to imagine why she had them. “What are these for?”

“Mr. Williams thought you'd like to entertain,” his personal secretary, Miss Fitzpatrick, said primly. She was twice Cassie's age, and she had gone to school at Miss Porter's in the East. She knew very little about planes, but she knew everything there was to know about all things social, and the proper decorum.

“But I don't know anyone here,” Cassie laughed as she spun around, looking at the apartment. She had never dreamed of anything even remotely like it. She was dying to tell someone, or show them. Billy, Nick… her sisters… her mom… but there was no one here. Just Cassie, and her entourage. And when she looked in the bedroom, she found all her new clothes neatly arranged for her. There were four or five well-cut suits in an array of somber colors, several hats to match, a long black evening dress and two short ones. There were even shoes and some handbags. Everything was in the sizes she had given them. And in a smaller closet in the room, she found all her uniforms. They were navy blue, and looked extremely official. There was even a small hat that had been designed for it, and regulation shoes. And for a moment, she almost felt her heart sink. Maybe Nick was right. Maybe she was going to be a Skygirl.