“Did you fly today?”

“Uh-huh. Five round trips. I’m spent.”

Something about the way he said that made her laugh. “Sure you are. You love every second of it.”

“I really do. Nothing I’d rather be doing. Well, almost nothing.”

Thanks to the low sultry tone of his voice, there was no way she could misunderstand what “almost nothing” entailed.

“How was your day?”

She started to say quiet and uneventful, but there was something about the blanket of darkness, the burgeoning friendship and how easy he was to talk to that had her telling him the truth. “I went to a wedding.”

“On a Tuesday?”

“It was a special sort of wedding. Can you keep a secret?”

“Pilots are like bartenders. We keep everyone’s secrets.”

“This is kind of a big one.”

“I won’t tell anyone, Erin. You have my word.”

She couldn’t say how she knew, but instinctively she understood that he was the kind of guy who stood by his word. After all, he’d come back to check on her, hadn’t he? “Jenny and Alex got married today.”

“Wait, I thought their wedding was next weekend. I’m flying her folks over for it.”

“It’s still on. You know how I told you she was supposed to marry my brother, Toby? Well, apparently she’s been really stressed as the wedding gets closer. Even though she knows the likelihood is infinitesimal, she’s been afraid of something happening to Alex the way it did to Toby. Alex couldn’t stand to see her so wound up and worried, so he put together a wedding for today so they could get it done and she could relax and enjoy their actual wedding.”

“Wow, that’s pretty cool.”

“I thought so, too.”

“Is that why you’ve been crying?”

Erin closed her eyes against the rush of grief and pain and emotion that she hadn’t wanted anyone else to see.

Before she could formulate a reply, he said, “She was supposed to marry your brother, and today was hard for you.”

“Yeah,” she said softly. “As happy as I am for her…”

“I get it. I’m sure she would, too.”

“She’ll never know I was anything other than thrilled for her and Alex. They’re great together, and she’s certainly earned the right to be happy.”

“You’re a good friend to feel that way. She’s lucky to have you.”

“We’re lucky to have each other. We’ve been through the fire of hell together and come out on the other side, stunned and altered, but we survived.” She wiped her face and laughed. “How do you get me to tell you these things? I don’t even know you.”

“Pilots and bartenders,” he said, making her laugh again. “What do you want to know about me?”

“Did your mother name you Slim?”

“No, my grandfather did, actually.”