Chapter 5
Gravel poppedunder the tires of his rental car as he pulled into the drive of the old home place. He looked at it with critical eyes to see what could be taken care of while he was in town. It'd help his story about coming home to see his mom if he could be seen to be working at the old home place.
It could use a new coat of paint. Bare wood peeked through in a few places on the eaves. But otherwise it looked ship-shape. Grass and hedges neatly trimmed. A few hardy flowers struggling to hold on in the neglected flower beds. He killed the engine and got out, feet crunching in the gravel as he walked slowly up the drive.
He needed a place to meet secretly with Mayor MacKenzie and this could be just the ticket. Matt MacKenzie and his daddy had been fishing buddies back in the day. He could invite the mayor out to fish for old times sake as an excuse to get him out here.
Instead of going into the house, his feet took him across the big, open backyard and the pasture beyond it to the big barnlike shed where his daddy's crop duster had always been stored.
The big double doors on the building squealed in protest as he opened them, stirring dust into motes that danced in the morning air. Sunbeams sneaked through gaps in the old wood to spotlight the plane.
Happy memories of time spent with his daddy raced through his mind as he ran his hands over the body of the plane. It looked good.
It no doubt needed a tune up after having sat idle all this time. But he looked forward to taking it up again. Bittersweet. He couldn't fly high any more, but he could still fly small planes like this one that flew at much lower altitudes.
Climbing up into the plane he sat in the cracked leather seat as a hundred memories washed through him. Inserting the key, he turned it only to discover the engine of the plane didn't make even a grinding noise. He'd known the plane would need work. A dozen years of sitting idle took it's toll on any engine, but somewhere inside he'd hoped the engine might at least turn over.
He jumped back to the ground and went over to the built in work table along the wall and saw that all of his daddy's tool still hung in place in neat order and filled the drawers of a nearby dresser turned tool storage. He'd be able to tinker with the engine while he was home and, with a little luck, get it running.
He looked out the big double doors to where the old dirt track landing strip had once been. Grass choked the fields now, but he could get out here with a bush hog and cut the grass down short enough to allow the plane to taxi out and back into the air. Maybe not this trip, but soon. He knew he couldn't keep shunning his home town. He needed to be a better son to his mamma.
And he'd never gotten over Piper. In ten years the hurt and anger of a young boy had faded. Replaced by a more mature, at least he thought so, outlook on life and the things that mattered in the long run.
In the quick glimpse he'd had of Piper this morning, his eyes had gone straight to her left hand. No ring. Could it be possible that she might still want him? Hadshemellowed over the years? Maybe. But the look in her eyes this morning told him he had a tough row to hoe if he thought he'd be able to persuade her to give him another chance.
