Wings

“You're going to say no to him, Cassandra Maureen,” her father said quietly as Nick pored over the contract Nick was no lawyer, but it looked pretty good. They were offering her a car, an apartment, for her use of course, not as a gift; she was to fly anything they thought appropriate, doing test flights for them; and the second part of the contract said that she would be available for unlimited publicity in connection with their planes. She had to make herself available for social, state, and even national events, for photography at the drop of a hat. She would be counted on as a spokeswoman for Williams Aircraft, and they expected her to act accordingly. She couldn't smoke at all, or drink excessively, there was an allowance for wardrobe costs, and they were going to supply her with uniforms she could fly in. Everything was clearly spelled out. The contract was for one year, and they were offering her fifty thousand dollars for the year, with a renewable option for a second year, if both parties agreed, at a higher rate to be negotiated, within reason. It was the best contract Nick had ever seen, and an opportunity few men would have turned down. But the contract also made it clear, Williams Aircraft was looking for a woman. It could be an opportunity that would be hard to miss, in spite of the fact that she was going to be part pilot, part model. But he was still deeply suspicious of Desmond Williams.

“What do you think, Pat?” Nick looked up at him, curious about his reaction.

“She's staying right here. That's what I think. She's not going anywhere, and certainly not to California to live in an apartment.”

Cassie looked at him, blinded by anger over his not even telling her that Desmond Williams had come to see her. “I haven't decided yet, Dad. I'm going to meet with him tomorrow morning.”

“No, you're not,” Pit O'Malley told his daughter firmly, and Nick didn't want to argue with him in front of Cassie. He thought there were plenty of possibilities for exploitation in the deal but it was still worth exploring. It would be fun for her, and she would fly incredible planes for the next year. It was very exciting. They were even testing planes for the military, and openly competing with the Germans, and the money she would make would take care of her for a long time. It seemed unfair to him to keep her from it, or not to at least consider it carefully.

“What about college?” Nick asked her quietly as her father stormed back into his office and dammed the door behind him.

“He said I could take classes there when I have time.”

“It doesn't sound like you will, at least not most of the time. When you're not flying, you'll be doing publicity.” And then, cautiously, “Cassie are you sure you want to do this?”

She looked at him thoughtfully. She had never wanted to leave home, but her life wasn't going anywhere. She liked hanging around the airport, and she had had a good time at the air show. But she didn't want to teach. She didn't want to marry Bobby Strong, or any of the other boys she'd gone to school with. What was she going to do with the rest of her life? She wondered sometimes. And even she knew that there was more to life than greasing and gassing her father's planes, and making short runs to Indiana with Billy Nolan.

“What am I going to do here?” she asked honestly.

“Hang around with me,” he said sadly. If only she could, forever. He would have loved it.

“That's the bad part of it, leaving all of you here. It would be perfect if I could take you all with me.”

“It says in the contract they'll lend you a plane to come home with now and then. I can hardly wait for that. How about bringing home an XW-I Phaeton for a quiet weekend.”

“For you, I'd bring home a Starlifter if you wanted me to, I'd even steal one.”

“Now there's a thought. That might soften up your old man. We could use a few new planes around here. Maybe they'd like to give us one or two,” he joked, but he was feeling devastated at the thought of her leaving. She was so much a part of his everyday life, and they had done so much flying together in the past three years, he couldn't bear to think of her going to LA He had never expected anything like that to happen to her.

And neither had Pat. He had no intention of losing his little girl. It was bad enough that Chris had been talking about going to Europe to study architecture for a year or two. But that was still a few years away. This was now. And it wasn't Chris, it was Cassie.