Jack scowled. He’d nearly walked into the gate. That was precisely why he shouldn’t care about Miss Shea. Flying and romance did not mix.
They showed their passes to the guard. Considering the armistice, Jack was surprised the tight security continued. What had Burrows said? That something big was afoot? Suppose Curtiss was going for the big prize.
“Curtiss is attempting the transatlantic crossing?”
“Shh,” hissed Burrows. “Don’t go telling the world.”
Jack stared. “You’re not joking?”
“Never. Stay on here. I’ll put a word in for you. Just think, you’d be in on something big, and we’d be working together again.”
Jack couldn’t deny the appeal. It was his dream, but it came with a cost. A man taking such a risky flight should have no personal entanglements. That meant no girlfriend and no dependents. He could control the first but not the latter.
“I’ll think about it.” But he knew it was an impossible dream. Sissy needed him.
“Don’t think too long,” Burrows urged.
“I’ll give you my answer in a week.” That was long enough to determine if Pohlman’s offer was legitimate.
The next day, Jack flew his plane to Buffalo and landed at the flight school’s airfield. He roared down the field and pulled up to the building, without seeing another plane in the air. Odd. Even though it was late in the season, snow hadn’t fallen yet. Students should be practicing maneuvers.
Jack climbed out of his plane and looked around. No one. Not a sound. He had a bad feeling this was going to be the shortest job interview in history. He wandered into the hangar. “Anybody here?”
A tall, clean-cut man popped out of the office. “Jack Hunter? Imagine seeing your worthless behind here. I wondered who had the audacity to land on our field unannounced.”
“None other.”
Pohlman laughed and pumped his hand. “How’s it going?”
Jack met the question with a grin. “Never better.” There was nothing like a fellow pilot to raise a man’s spirits. “You said you had a position open?”
“Going straight to business, eh? Fine with me. Let’s talk. Coffee?”
“Why not?”
They strolled across the concrete-floored hangar to Pohlman’s office. Nearly all the training planes were parked inside, grounded. On past visits the place had buzzed with activity.
“Business slow?” Jack asked. If Pohlman needed an instructor, where were the students?
Pohlman poured a cup of muddy brew. “Up until last Saturday I had a full house. Then news comes in the Kaiser abdicated, and an hour later we get the wire to cut loose the recruits.”
“Tough luck. We didn’t hear until Monday.” Jack stirred five spoonfuls of sugar into the coffee to make it palatable. “What about civilians? Interest was wild before the war.”
“Four signed on, one a woman.”
“You’d teach a woman?”
“She was really interested. Asked a hundred questions. Besides,” Pohlman rubbed his fingers together, “money’s money. Can’t afford to hang onto old prejudices.”
“But women aren’t suited to flying. You’d endanger her.”
Pohlman laughed. “Same old Jack. Haven’t changed a bit, have you?”
Jack ignored the jab. “Only four students? I thought you needed a flight instructor.”
“I do.” Pohlman raised his cup in a toast. “I’m off to Florida.”
“No kidding. The Curtiss school there, or some other venture?”
“School, naturally, and my girl.”
“You have a steady girl?” Jack was astonished. Dwight Pohlman had never dated seriously. Was the whole world turning upside down? “Two years.”
Two years. Jack felt a flash of envy. To have someone love you enough to stay with you two whole years. “Getting married?”
Pohlman nodded. “January.”
“You? Hooked?” He made a choking gesture.
“All the way. You should try it, Jack. Far better than we made it out to be.”
“Not for me.” Women were fragile. Women got hurt. Women had families and banker fathers. “You can have it.”
“Just you wait. The right one will come along and you’ll change your tune. It happened to me, it’ll happen to you. Which brings me back to this place. I need someone to take over. It’ll be slow at first, with winter on its way, but that’ll give you time to recruit students.”
“Recruit?” This sounded like a lot of work. “I’m not a recruiter.”
Pohlman thumped him on the shoulder. “You’re just the man to do it. Your charm will bring in the ladies, and your track record will grab the men.”
“Ladies?” Jack balked at the idea of teaching women.
“Paying customers.”
Burrows’s idea sounded better all the time. If the team accepted him, he’d have a steady income and a shot at fame…if he survived.
That was the problem. Sissy was his responsibility.
“What’s the pay?”
“Small stipend, plus a percentage of sales.” Pohlman outlined everything the job entailed. It would take a lot of effort, but with a good-sized class, he could make a decent living.