Page 15 of War

Sadly, Amantha shook her head. “I wanted to, but life got in the way.”

I didn't like the sad look on her face. It needed to leave.

“That's okay. You can go anytime you want. Look at Joey. He's in his 50s, about to retire from skydiving, and he's going back to school. There are no rules. You can go whenever you want. You can even take classes online in your spare time.”

I ate a bite of noodles, slurping the ends into my mouth.

Amantha smiled. “True.”

“What did you do before you came to Airplayne Adventures?”

“I've worked as an assistant for most of my career. My last job ‘let me go’ after my accident because they couldn't waste time waiting for me to recover.”

I frowned. That wasn't cool.

“When I was finally cleared to come back to work, I took the booking coordinator position because I could work from a wheelchair. Everyone has been very accommodating there.”

“Where did you work before? I'll never go there again.” And maybe knock some heads together.

Amantha smiled. “And that's why I'll never tell you.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Don't make me ask Joey.”

“I already let it go. It's not a big deal to me. You should let it go, too.”

“That's not who I am. I can't do that.”

Amantha reached across the table and took my hand. “Please. Let it go.”

Her hand felt soft in mine. She squeezed.

Fine, I'd try. I met her eyes and drew in a breath. I counted to ten and blew it out.

“Okay.”

She grinned. “Okay.”

“You said you like to read. Tell me about your favorite book.”

We spent hours talking and getting to know each other. Amantha was amusing and kept my attention, a rarity for this thrill seeker.

Chapter 8

I glanced out a window and noticed it was dark. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket to check the time, only to see it was after 9:30.

“You have work tomorrow,” I said. “I should probably get you home.”

Amantha glanced around, as though she hadn't noticed time slipping by either.

“Oh, wow. Yeah, we should probably go.”

I left a generous tip on the table, and we made our way to the front counter.

The server told us the total and Amantha pulled money out of her pocket and went to pay.

“No, no, no. Your money's no good here.” I slid my debit card across the counter. “Put both meals on here, please.”

The woman at the counter smiled. She ran my debit card and slid it and a receipt to me. “Sign here.”