“Who’s getting Piper from school?”
Jax loved how his cousins were always eager to pitch in and help with his daughter. It was almost as if she had three dads. When Jax had come back from the air force, Tanner and Cash hadn’t even hesitated to step up to the plate and help. They’d only bashed Carly a little, until Jax put a halt to that. While he loathed her for leaving Piper and ignoring their sweet, innocent baby, he never wanted Piper to overhear anything negative about her mother.
He’d delicately explained that she had to leave and couldn’t come back. No doubt as Piper got older she’d ask more and as he saw fit, he would explain. But for now, she didn’t ask about her own mother anymore . . . she was too busy hooking him up on dates with Livie.
“Cash is picking her up and taking her to the gym. I’ll get her there after work. I just have to fly a couple to Charleston. They’re planning on staying a few days, so I’ll head back up when they’re done. It’s just a quick flight there and back.”
Tanner nodded and started for the door leading to the hangar. “I’ll be covering a shift until eleven tonight, but text if you need anything.”
Jax glanced back down to the invoice currently on the top of his pile, wondering how the hell he was going to get all of this paid on time. The flight today would bring in a good chunk since it was a little farther than most of his clients traveled. But with Piper wanting to join a karate class, he was probably going to have to pay these bills by priorities. Half now and half in a couple of weeks when the renters’ checks were due.
He wished he could get more pilots to house their planes here. Not only would it generate more income, but it would also add an attraction in a positive manner toward the place he loved to call home.
Women’s voices mixed with Tanner’s, pulling Jax out of his thoughts. He pushed away from his desk and stepped out of his office to see Tanner standing in front of the firing squad—er, Livie, Jade, and Melanie.
“You know this guy?” Melanie was asking her friends as she pointed an accusatory finger at Tanner.
“We went to school together,” Olivia stated. “How you doing, Tanner?”
Tanner looped his thumbs through his belt loops and nodded. “Doing great. Headed out to work now.”
“To give more tickets to innocent people,” Melanie muttered.
Tanner laughed. “If you were innocent, you wouldn’t have been pulled over, and I wouldn’t call speeding nearly twenty miles over the limit ‘innocent.’”
Jax glanced to Livie, who looked like she was holding back her laughter as well. When she met his gaze, the slight grin on her face twisted something in his gut. He didn’t know if she was smiling at him or just at the situation. Either way, he’d take it. He didn’t recall seeing a genuine smile since she’d been back. Even when she lived here before and he’d been an awkward preteen, Livie had never flashed him a smile.
“Tanner.” Jade stepped forward and crossed her arms over her chest. “Haven’t seen you in years.”
“Jade.” Tanner nodded his greeting. “I never thought you’d be back in this town.”
She shrugged a slender shoulder. “Hadn’t planned on it, but I’m here for Olivia.”
“Why are you nice to everyone but me?” Melanie grumbled.
Now Olivia did laugh. “Calm down, killer. Tanner is headed out to work and I’m sure he’ll target other unsuspecting criminals.”
Tanner threw Jax a glance over his shoulder. “See ya, man.”
Once Tanner headed out the door, Jax turned his attention back to the small gang of women. He knew this was not just a simple social call and he was about to get bombarded with estrogen. He had no problem taking time from his day, and from the looming invoice, to see Olivia.
“I assume the three of you are not here to take me to lunch?” he asked, propping his hands on his hips.
“Not likely.” Jade glanced around the hangar before turning her attention back to him. “Place hasn’t changed much.”
Jax could tell from her tone that she wasn’t being judgmental. If anything, she was being kind because the place had changed. While it may have needed some minor repairs, he did most everything himself and definitely kept the place clean. Just because he was low on funds—story of his life—didn’t mean he was lazy. He worked his ass off to make sure this place stayed running. As long as the planes took his clients to and from, that’s really all that mattered.
“Is this where you all tell me about this grand idea to transform my airport into something on a bigger scale with fancier clients?”
“Not how we would’ve worded it, but sort of,” Livie stated. “Should we go outside or into your office?”
Jax shrugged, not really eager to do either. He still hadn’t given this a good deal of thought. Of course it had been on his mind, but he’d done a school project with Piper, then they’d baked cookies, and then he was scheduling future flights, and mulling over bills. So, the whole spending more money to make the airport “better” wasn’t something he’d focused on.
“We’ll go to your office,” Jade chimed in. “It’s hotter than Hades out there even in the shade.”
Resigned to the fact he was going to have to face this firing squad, Jax led the way back into his office. He gestured toward the sofa, which still had Piper’s sleeping bag spread out.
“Go ahead and sit on it,” he told them. “The couch is scratchy, so we keep Piper’s bedding out for when she’s here and naps.”
Suddenly he felt as if he were under some sort of scrutiny. Why was he explaining to them why he kept a princess sleeping bag on a ratty old plaid sofa? Maybe he liked princesses.
Once they took a seat, Jax
