Hours later they finally fell asleep, closed off from the world. The next day all Monica could think was the world might be embarking on a new day, but she was taking on a whole new life.
Epilogue
Two months later
“Do you love me?” Trent asked her as they stood in front of one of the company helicopters he’d had Glen fly in from the airport in Houston.
It was the week before Thanksgiving and the Morrisons had invited Trent and his brothers to join them for the holiday. Somewhere, someone heard Monica talk about Trent’s bucket list desire of doing the whole cattle run with his brothers. Funny how if you told a Texan you want to ride a horse and live on the range, they’d make it happen even if winter was fast approaching. Not that Monica worried about Trent having any issues with hypothermia. It was Texas, after all. The weather didn’t get that bad.
Trent, his brothers, Dean, Jack, even Gaylord were leaving in the morning for four days of camping, riding, and otherwise living off the land.
That was tomorrow. Today, Trent stood in front of a helicopter that represented one of her greatest fears, and if she was reading him right, she knew what he wanted them to do.
“You know I love you. I moved all the way across the country and now live in the snow a good four months of the year. Four months!” And she wouldn’t change it for anything. The suit against the hospital ended in her favor to the tune of many zeros. She enrolled in an NP program close to the Fairchild home office and the two of them picked out a ranch-style home that sat on top of a hill facing east. They watched the sunrise together almost every day.
Ginger now had Gilligan, their new dog, to play with during the day when the two of them were gone. Poor Gilligan tried to be the man, but Ginger ran over him every chance she could.
Trent grasped her waist and teased her with a kiss. “Come with me.”
Although the thought of climbing in the chopper made her heart rate race, she knew she trusted Trent.
She twisted out of his arms and swung open the door of the helicopter before she lost her nerve. “Oh, OK, fine. Let’s go.”
Trent didn’t give her time to change her mind. He sat behind the controls in seconds and soon the now familiar headphones covered her ears, and the propeller started to spin.
“You do know that most women don’t have to prove their love by riding in one of these things?”
“Most women don’t sleep with the pilot.”
“Do we sleep?” she teased.
He winked at her before lowering the sunglasses on his nose.
The day was clear, the Texan sun was high above, giving the day a feel of spring.
Instead of focusing on the ground, or the sky, Monica watched the joy wash over Trent as he lifted the bird off the skids and into the sky. Once in the air, he pivoted the helicopter toward the direction he wanted to go.
“You really love it,” she said.
He glanced over at her, removed a hand from the controls, and squeezed her knee.
As much as Monica liked the gesture, she felt much better with both his hands on the “wheel.” She returned his hand and gave it a good pat. “You fly, I’ll try to keep my lunch in.”
Only when she removed her eyes from him, she didn’t feel the familiar twist in her gut as she had in the past. The ground was way the hell down there, but something about it had changed.
They moved over a hill and a herd of cattle started to run away from the noise. “Look,” she said pointing to the ground.
Trent’s voice sounded high-pitched through the intercom system muffling their ears.
“Up here, you can see them but not smell them.”
“Might wanna get used to it, cowboy.” They laughed, knowing full well that Trent wasn’t a hat-wearing cowboy. Though Monica did have a hat ready to give him when he left in the morning.
They circled the cattle again, then flew farther from Gaylord’s property and closer to Jack and Jessie’s ranch, which wasn’t far away. From their height, it looked much smaller than it was in person. “That’s Jack and Jessie’s place,” she said when it appeared Trent would fly past it.
“It is?”
She couldn’t imagine that Trent didn’t recognize it, even from the air. “Yeah, the red barn and corral beside the hill.”
“Oh, yeah.”
He twisted the helicopter around and flew over. Surprisingly, her stomach didn’t wobble with the helicopter movement. She removed her cell phone from her pocket to get a picture for Jessie.
Something on the hill beside the barn grabbed her attention. “What’s that?”
“Not sure,” Trent said as he moved closer. Long strips of yellow tarp flapped in the wind. It wasn’t natural, and it didn’t look like some kind of giant tent or anything. As they moved closer it appeared as if there were words written on the tarp.
“Something for Danny?”
Monica was peering at the ground, concentrating so hard on reading the words she’d all but forgotten she was staring at the ground from a hundred or more feet.
“Let’s get closer,” Trent said.
She squinted. Trent hovered over the tarp while she read aloud.
“Will you…” her jaw dropped. Her attention snapped to her pilot. “… marry me?” she whispered the last words.
Trent was smiling, waiting. “I love you, Monica. I want you forever.”
Even with headgear and a microphone covering his mouth, she couldn’t help but lean forward and find his lips. “You’re crazy,” she yelled, as she knocked the ear protection off of him.