Blue Skies Read Free

saying.
    â€œI’m sure you’re being far too particular,” said Opal. “After all, he makes a nice living.”
    It took her eleven years of unhappiness to leave him and she had no idea how high a price she’d have to pay.
    Determined not to go quietly, Drake fought her every step of the way, right down to custody. Ultimately the issue came down to work. Nikki’s job as a pilot for Aries Airlines took her out of town for three to four days a week; Drake’s hours were nine to five, more or less, no nights away from the kids. It was very easy for his lawyer to convince a judge that Drake should have custodial guardianship and Nikki unlimited visitation. That meantshe could spend as much time with the kids as she could manage to negotiate with Drake, which she quickly learned would be very challenging. And she paid child support.
    She had moved in with Buck to save money. For four years she had done everything possible to be involved with the kids’ education and activities, though Drake put tremendous energy into screwing up their plans. Being divorced from him was nearly as emotionally draining as being married to him.
    Nikki had only vague memories of that twenty-four-year-old hotshot, sexy pilot she’d once been—one hundred and fifteen pounds soaking wet, cheeks aglow and eyes sparkling with excitement and hope. She used to like what she saw in the mirror, but now she found that the woman staring back was plain of looks, her reddish brown hair dull, her figure shot and her eyes tired. She wondered if she would ever feel good about herself again. And as for having a loving relationship with a man who adored her…
    Nikki pulled back on the stick, causing the biplane to soar upward, invert and execute a big loop. She might feel ordinary on the ground, but up here she was a goddess. Drake had done everything to make her feel dumpy and unattractive, but up here she felt sleek and quick and sexy. They had stopped having sex a long time before she left him; he said she just didn’t do anything for him. But up here she was fast and hot and wild…
    Thirty minutes or so later, Nikki landed the Stearman and taxied over to where Buck and Jared stood waiting. As April threw a leg over the side of the plane, she pulled off her leather helmet and shook out her hair. Nikki could see the dried streaks of tears on her chapped cheeks. April leaned toward her mom. “He wasn’t realwarm and fuzzy, but he wasn’t a bad guy,” she said. “Daddy worked really hard, sometimes all through the night. He meant well, you know. He just had his…you know… issues. ”
    The kids had loved their father, even though they had struggled with his sometimes arbitrary discipline and negative nature. And he had loved them. She was going to have to remind herself of that, make an effort not to malign the poor, dead, selfish bastard. “I know, honey,” she said. “I know.”
    Fifteen crappy years of Drake, and because he’d given her two of the most awesome gifts a woman could ever want…April and Jared…she didn’t dare indulge in regret.
    Â 
    Buck watched as his daughter took the Stearman up again, this time with Jared aboard. He couldn’t shake the sensation that he had failed her, although he also couldn’t imagine what he’d have done differently. He couldn’t make Opal stay with them, couldn’t change what had happened with Paul, couldn’t keep Nikki from marrying Drake.
    But she shouldn’t have grown up at an airport with a bunch of guys who could teach her how to change points and plugs but didn’t have a clue when it came to fixing her hair or putting on lipstick. So what if she could fly like a bird—she should have had someone other than a crusty old father to be her soft place to fall when she was weary.
    Maybe if he hadn’t raised her to fly she wouldn’t have to struggle so much—a female