He forced his gaze from her and searched for Simmons. Business only. That’s what he’d told himself the entire train ride, though he didn’t know a soul who would believe that excuse.
He spotted the kid and walked straight toward him. She followed. He tried to ignore her presence, though it was already clouding his thoughts. Business first.
He cleared his throat. “Mr. Simmons. Might I have a moment of your time?”
The kid looked agitated, but he greeted Jack politely. Jack stuck to his plan. The moment Simmons stood, he launched into the speech he’d rehearsed dozens of times en route to Pearlman.
“I’m the new manager of a flight school in Buffalo. We have twenty trainer aeroplanes and no mechanics. I’ve seen your work and can think of no one I’d trust more to maintain the fleet. If you’re interested, we can discuss details tomorrow, but I wanted to give you the offer tonight so you can think it over.” He could feel Darcy behind him, drawing closer like iron to a magnet.
Simmons looked to Darcy. Jack should have known. It had always been Darcy for the kid. Had they connected while he was gone? Had he lost his chance?
“I, uh,” Simmons stammered, “…dunno. I like it here. Pearlman’s a good place.” He said it fiercely, as if protecting his homeland from invaders.
Jack didn’t care anymore. He just had to get out of there. “I understand. Take time to think it over. The position doesn’t start until spring. If you have any questions, we can talk in the morning. I’m staying at Terchie’s.” Jack extended his hand.
Simmons limply shook. If Jack hadn’t known the kid could work wonders with motors, he’d have misjudged that lack of firmness in his grip.
“Terchie’s. Room six.” Jack deliberately turned to his right, away from Darcy, as if he didn’t know she was there. Coward. He should say something. He should at least greet her, but he knew that once he began, he’d never be able to stop. He wanted to be with her so badly, but that relationship could never be.
“Is that all?” She followed him to the door and wiggled in front of him.
The hurt in her eyes tore through him. He never wanted to see that look again. Ever.
“You could at least say hello,” she said.
No, he couldn’t. If he greeted her, it would all be over. He didn’t have the strength to walk away. He burst past her onto the stoop and breathed in the icy air.
“Stop pretending I don’t exist.” She struggled to put on her coat, but she had the arms all mixed up. She finally gave up and wrapped it around her shoulders like a cloak. “Worthless coat.”
He took pity. “Allow me.” He motioned for her to give him the coat.
“Oh, now you notice me. What is going on, Jack Hunter? You didn’t come all this way to ask Hendrick Simmons to be your mechanic.” She untangled the coat and shoved her arms into it.
Jack held up his hands in surrender and stepped backward into the street, his breath rising in a light cloud. She was right of course. He couldn’t explain away his bad behavior. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“You did a poor job of it.” She fought tears, which only made him feel worse. “I thought we were friends.”
Friends. The word didn’t begin to address what he felt inside, but it did cover the safe ground he’d sculpted for himself. “We are.”
“I want to be in Buffalo. I want to continue lessons. I’m sorry I had to leave. But I can’t return yet. N-not now.” Her breath caught, like she couldn’t bear to say why, and Jack instantly thought of her sister.
He should have asked. Any decent, caring man would have asked. “How is Amelia?”
“Fine.” The word came out choked. “Still in confinement. Your sister?”
In confinement. “She’s well.”
The pleasantries over, they stood in awkward silence, the cold creeping into fingers and toes. “You said you’re coming back. When?”
“After the baby is born in April.”
“If it’s too early to fly, you can tear that motor apart and reassemble it.”
She laughed and his heart soared. “I can hardly wait.” Just as quickly she turned serious. Her sister’s condition must be graver than she let on. He wanted to comfort her. He wanted to say everything would work out the way she wanted, but he couldn’t. Hold a glass ball too tightly and it shatters.
Snow drifted lazily from the sky, glistening where the light from a window caught it. The sandy brown of the road had started to whiten. He kicked a stone and it skittered ahead ten feet, creating a thin, brown trail across the white.
“I’m headed back to the boardinghouse,” he said.
“I’ll walk there with you.”
“And then I’ll have to walk you back. That defeats the purpose, don’t you think?”
“I suppose it does.” Still, she kept walking beside him. “Tell me everything that’s happened since I left. Did my article bring in new students?”
Jack hesitated. “Inquiries.”
“How many signed up?”
He hated to disappoint her, but he couldn’t lie. “Just one, for the spring.”