Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 25792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
1
COOPER
Like every day for the past two weeks, my eyes opened slowly and I stared at the wooden ceiling above me. It matched the walls, making the log cabin I’d rented feel even more rustic. Not that rustic was necessarily my thing—if I were at home, I’d be staring at plain, white walls.
This place was more about the location than lodging itself.
I sat up and tried to shove away the remnants of my dreams. Another part of my everyday routine, it seemed.
In my dreams, I was falling from an airplane when the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, with majestic, colorful wings, swooped down and caught me—saving my life.
But in the reality of the morning, I argued with myself over whether those images had been hallucinations brought on by the fear and adrenaline of knowing I was about to die.
When the electric system in my plane shorted out, the plane dropped into a nosedive when I reached for an auxiliary lever. I hit my head, nearly knocking myself out. Luckily, I was able to grab my parachute and get to the exit. However, I was so disoriented that I stumbled out the door. I was suddenly falling, and my scrambled brain couldn’t figure out that I wasn’t floating because I hadn’t opened my chute.
I remembered seeing the water beneath me and wishing I had wings but accepted that I was human and was about to die. Then I was suddenly flying…and I blacked out.
The next time I opened my eyes, I was lying on the ground surrounded by trees. It was quiet except for the natural hum of forest activity and…I heard the sound of someone’s racing heartbeat, one I knew wasn’t mine. Right before I passed out, I blinked up at the exquisite face of my rescuer. For a moment, I wondered if Norse mythology had gotten it right, and this was a Valkyrie, come to escort me to the next life.
When I blinked again, she was gone. I awoke sometime later with a raging headache. I gingerly prodded the bump on my forehead, and my hand came away bloody, so I figured it had all been my imagination, a side effect of my concussion. But as time went by, I still couldn’t get her out of my mind.
Then the doctors told me my vision was too damaged to ever fly again. I was lost, but I felt an undeniable pull to return to the place where I’d seen her.
My best friend, Heath, and I owned a small charter company in Southern California that catered to people in all walks of life but was frequently used by the rich and famous. Due in large part to our discretion. We were excellent at protecting our customers from paparazzi while they flew with us.
While I wasn’t obscenely wealthy, our business had left me comfortable. So I could take off for a while and figure out what to do with the rest of my life.
Not that Heath was very happy about it. When he got my email, he immediately came to my office to protest.
“Just because you can’t fly doesn’t mean you can’t be a part of this business,” Heath insisted with exasperation.
“I am the fucking pilot, Heath.”
Heath waved away my comment and rolled his eyes. “We have other pilots, Cooper. You run this business just as much as I do. And you’re the fucking face of the company. It’s not like I can step into that role.”
I sighed and picked up a pencil from the top of my desk and began twirling it through my fingers. Heath had been injured in a motorcycle accident when he was twenty-five. He’d broken most of the bones in his face, and while the plastic surgeon had done an excellent job repairing it, Heath would always have a few scars and some areas that were slightly misshapen because shattered bones didn’t heal seamlessly. He was still a very good-looking man, but no one had been able to convince him of that. He’d only agreed to open the business with me if I dealt with all the client meetings.
”You know Greg can step in for that shit.” Greg was our COO. He’d worked his way up in the company, and we’d been talking about giving him more responsibility so we didn’t lose him to someone who could offer a promotion. Since I was president and Heath was CEO, there wasn’t really another step up for him.
Heath frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. “He can. But—”
“I’m not saying I’m out,” I muttered. “I’m just saying I need some time. I need to adjust to my new reality and decide where my life goes from here.”
“So your answer is to go to the middle of fucking nowhere and hide in the woods?”
Heath’s brow drew farther down, and he watched me warily—as if he thought I would have a meltdown at any moment. I wasn’t having an end-of-life crisis, but not being able to fly crushed part of my soul. I didn’t know how to fill that hole.