15. Gray

CHAPTER 15

Gray

S unny spent several days in the past week helping with the lights—mostly at more reasonable times—and this evening Logan did me a solid and dropped Sunny off at the airport near the end of my shift. The timing could not have been more perfect, though I was starting to doubt my plans.

“This place looks like Santa’s actual village,” Sunny said, his face lit by both the lights and his smile. “I’d been too anxious the last time to really notice.”

Miriam oversaw the Christmas decorations, and she had always done a fantastic job.

“A plane could practically land without any runway lights.”

“True. According to Miriam, if Santa’s sleigh ever needs a place to land, and it’s one of the few places that leaves the lights on all night long.”

“RIP your electrical bill.”

I pointed to a particularly bright set of squares in the distance. “We're on the grid, but more than half of our electricity comes from solar. So, it’s a little more expensive, since we don't get as much sun, and we rely a bit more on the grid in the winter, but it’s not too bad.”

Sunny shook his head.

“What?” I asked, wondering if he thought this was all so dinky in comparison to his and his brother’s worldwide empire.

“I just . . . the things you told me about your parents. I don’t know how you got from that to this, but I hope you’re proud of yourself.”

Once again, I’d underestimated him.

“I am,” I said, meaning it. “I wish I’d had better parents, but I get to be proud of me, and I've learned that that is enough.”

Sunny took my hand and kissed each knuckle. “It might be enough, but you have to know that this entire town is so proud of you.”

I pulled a face.

“No, don’t dismiss it,” he said, giving me a quick kiss. “You've talked about the growth that this town has seen, and that wouldn't be possible without good transportation, which you helped to provide. I mean, just look at this place. It’s magic. Hard work, I'm sure. But magic.”

“Thank you. I might've needed to hear that,” I admitted.

Sunny kissed me again. “So, what am I doing here?”

“I had planned out a bit of a surprise for you, but I almost canceled it after I realized how nervous it made you to fly.”

“Er, what did you have in mind?” The nerves were apparent in his voice.

“I wanted to borrow your plane and take you on a sunset flight.”

“Wait, you can fly?” he asked, surprised.

I brought my brows together. “I own an airport.”

“Yeah, but that doesn't mean you know how to fly.”

“I own an airport because I like flying.”

“How was I supposed to know that? I've only known you, what, a little over two weeks?”

We laughed, knowing that the time didn't make one bit of difference.

“The only reason I didn’t cancel is because Baz said something about finding someone you could trust to be your pilot.”

Sunny went quiet. He looked a little stunned, actually.

“That’s okay. There’s a ton of things I can show?—”

“Shut up,” he said, talking right over me. “I want to do it.”

“Sunny, you don’t have to push. This isn’t?—”

“I said I want to do it. Not because I’m pushing, but because I’ve been telling myself for days now that you are the safest person I know.”

My hand went to my chest. “Yeah?”

He kissed me, then pressed his forehead to mine. “I can’t think of anyone I’d trust more.”

I gestured to the horizon. “We’d have to go right now to catch the sunset. Or we can save it for another day.”

“No, I want to go now.”

I kissed him, then took him by the hand and dragged him outside.

We got into his plane and put on our headsets. Miriam piped up, “This isn't the time for the mile high club.”

“You’re no fun,” Sunny said, settling into the copilot seat.

“I'm just trying to make sure that you two make it back alive.”

“Me too,” I said briefly, gripping Sunny’s hand before going through the rest of the flight check.

My mechanic, fresh from vacation, had figured out the issue with the landing gear and fixed it. He took it on a test run, and having re-checked the plane earlier, I appreciated how solid the aircraft was.

Miriam cleared us for takeoff, and I approached the runway. Sunny stared forward, clenching his hands together like he had at Eleanor’s house.

“We don’t have to do this, sweetheart.”

He startled and turned to me. “No, Gray. I . . . I’m nervous, but it’s the good kind of nervous. No one has ever made me feel as safe as you do.” He looked into my eyes and gave me an assured nod. “Let’s do this.”

I started us down the runway, impressed with the plane’s power. We took to the sky just as the sun turned the cirrus clouds into my favorite darker pastels of orange and purple and pink.

“These are the same colors in your Chicago painting,” Sunny said, his voice steady as he looked out over the landscape.

“Where do you think I got them from?” I asked, grinning.

He grinned back and it was everything.

“You know, you have all of those big blank walls in the lounge area,” he said, gesturing to the sky. “It’s your airport. You could put up your art, create a mural, do whatever.”

“I thought about that. Though, I hadn't considered a mural.”

I imagined capturing this evening’s sunset on the main wall and could see it so clearly.

“Can you take a picture for me?” I asked Sunny. “You might be onto something.”

He grinned and took several photographs from several angles, including a panoramic that started as a selfie, went across the sky and ended on my face. I circled the town overhead, pointing out several of the highlights, including the tree where he switched out the string of lights.

We flew in ever-widening circles until the sky darkened, and the stars came out.

“This is so beautiful,” Sunny said, giving me that big, bright grin of his. “I swear, I'm not making this up, but I don't think I've ever felt more comfortable on a flight.”

“Then, if I’m available when you need to get somewhere, I'll be your pilot.”

Sunny went quiet, and when I glanced over, he was shaking his head.

“Gray, you don't have to do that.”

“Yeah, I do. I don't know if you haven’t figured it out yet, but I love making you feel safe.”

He flushed and folded his hands in his lap.

“I don't think I've ever been with someone who cared as much as you do.”

“That’s because I do care. A lot.”

Sunny’s look told me he felt the same way. Even though it was crazy, even though it was way too soon, neither of us were looking for the door. We leaned in for a brief kiss, and I quickly refocused on the task in front of me, pointing out the lights and landmarks while trying not blurt out the feeling I couldn’t—and didn’t want to—control.

Everything about this night has been perfect.

I swear, I should know not to jinx myself.

In the middle of another lazy loop, the indicator light for the power pack pump flicked on. Fuck. I looked over to tell Sunny, but he’d already spotted it.

“Gray—”

“I see it. Gonna lower the landing gear now because if there’s a leak, I might not have enough hydraulic fluid to lower the gear if I wait.”

“Agreed.”

I hit the landing gear and checked the corresponding panel. Shit, shit, shit .

“Only two green lights. There’s no indication that the nose gear is down.”

Sunny looked like he was going to be sick. “I thought your mechanic tested everything,” he said, his voice all wrong.

“He did. I watched him take this thing up. He did a low pass and I saw the landing gear go up and come down. It was working perfectly.”

Sunny swallowed thickly and I made another attempt to lower the gear.

The light remained off. I was going to have to call this in.

“Miriam, I’m declaring an emergency. Looks like we might have an issue with the nose gear.”

I then gave her my fuel numbers, which were good, and let her know that, at worst, we’d be making a nose up landing. We discussed a fly by of the tower for Miriam to do a visual, but she rejected that idea because it was too dark for her to make out the landing gear.

“Alright, Gray. What’s your plan of action?”

“Sunny and I are gonna work the issue,” I said as he grabbed the manual from under his seat. “I’ll keep you updated.”

Sunny pointed to the T-handle on my right. “I think that allows the gear to drop down, like a gravity drop, maybe?” he said, leafing through the manual. “I’ve got a checklist.”

“Call it out,” I said, maintaining a steady voice.

“Gear handle down.”

“Check.”

“Pull the circuit breaker.”

“Check.”

“Okay, now pull out the T-handle.”

I did as instructed but . . . shit. The nose gear light stayed off, like the dead-eyed stare of the evil and stupid.

“Dammit,” Sunny said, looking a little green as he flipped back and forth through the manual.

“Something you want to share with the class?”

“I was worried about this.”

“What?”

He swallowed thickly. “The next step on the check list is to yaw the plane.”

I bit back a laugh.

“Not funny, Gray.”

“No, but this might be a good time to tell you that I used to be a stunt pilot.”

“ Really not funny, Gray.”

“I’m not lying,” I said, keeping my voice calm. “And a little yaw is easily done. I promise not to fly us upside down.”

His eyes bugged out.

“I promise. We’ll be okay.”

“Okay.”

I called up Miriam and let her know what I was doing and why. “The emergency crew is almost here,” she said, her voice as calm as a pond.

Sunny squeezed his eyes shut. Using the rudder pedals, I made the plane’s nose move from side to side, as if it were shaking its head no . As in, no, I don’t want to die tonight because I’m pretty sure I’m flying with the guy I’d like to marry someday.

Er.

Focus, Gray.

Within seconds the gear dropped down with a subtle clunk.

Sunny’s eyes flew open, then he covered his mouth. “You heard the gear, right?”

“Yes,” I said, following his line of sight. The nose gear indicator light was still off.

Fuck .

I relayed this to Miriam, then turned to Sunny. “Look, this thing is a fucking gremlin factory. We both heard the gear drop. I think it’s an indicator issue.”

“Agreed. I mean, if the gear horn goes off . . .”

He was referring to the sensor that goes off if all the gear aren’t down below a certain threshold, but I don’t think either of us trusted any of the indicators on this thing.

“I can handle a landing on mains,” I assured him, referring to landing on the main gear, which were down. According to the super reliable sensors.

Sunny took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I trust you.”

He went back to the checklist, walking us through the rest of the steps, including a blowdown procedure that was as sphincter-tightening an operation as I’d ever experienced mid-flight. All of this was designed to ensure that we locked the nose gear in place, but at no point did the nose gear indicator light come on.

After checking in with Miriam and verifying that the emergency crews were in place, I grabbed Sunny’s hand.

“I’m going to use up this entire runway, and I’m not putting the nose down until the very last second. Also, this plane is officially grounded, and I will be giving a very stern talking-to with the people who sold it to you.”

Sunny laughed, and his eyes went a little shiny. “Careful. They might fall in love with you.”

Miriam sniffled and I shook my head. These people.

Sunny and I went back and forth on speed, angle, and flaps, and decided on a plan we could both (hopefully) live with. Even though his voice was shaking, he stayed in it, and his ideas were all good.

Our one bit of luck was that the crosswinds were basically nonexistent on the approach, and the gear horn remained silent as we dipped below the altitude limit. Small favors, I guess.

Either that, or the gear down indicator was also fucked. I didn’t have time to worry about that, though. It was time to land this damned thing.

The initial touchdown on the main tires was rough—rougher than I’d expected—but I was able to keep the nose up.

I wanted to stay in this position as long as I could, but we were eating up runway and I finally had to touch the nose down.

Good contact, thank Christ.

Sunny gripped the dash in front of him, his head hanging between his arms, and he let out a long breath. The feel and sound of rubber on asphalt was exactly what we needed, but this flight was nothing like what I’d wanted for him.

Even after a landing like that, the most terrifying thing I could think of in this moment was that I’d been too pushy about getting him up in the plane, and that he would never trust me again.

We were at the terminal just a few short minutes later, and everyone was waiting for us. It seemed like every fire department vehicle and ambulance from the entire town of Christmas Falls had come out.

I pulled up to his parking spot, cursing myself, hoping beyond hope that I hadn’t ruined this precious thing between us.

We came to a stop, and I jumped out of the plane, and so did Sunny. I turned to the emergency vehicles to let them know that we were okay, but I was tackled from the side by a blur of sweet and dirty blond.

“Oh my God, you were so calm up there, Gray. You kept me calm. I love you so much,” he said, kissing me in front of everyone.

“You were the one who kept me on track with that checklist. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without you,” I said, shaking my head. “It was really scary up there.”

“But I knew. You’d. Keep. Me. Safe,” he said, laying kissing between each word.

“I was never going to let anything happen to you.” I pulled him in for another kiss. “And I love you, too.”

His eyes opened wide, and he stared at all the witnesses around us. “Oh, shit. I just blurted that out, didn’t I?”

I shrugged. “Sorry. No take backs.”

He pressed his face against my neck. “Okay. No take backs.”

We kissed again and a round of hoots and hollers and clapping went up around us. I was never gonna live this down, but I didn't care. We were on solid ground, and I had the man I loved in my arms. It was all I ever needed.