For a moment, I thought she might argue.
She didn’t.
She picked up her bag and quietly stepped back.
Dad leaned toward me.
“That’s enough now.”
I nodded. It was.
The gate agent lifted her microphone and announced that a retired captain, a man who had given this airline decades of service, was flying with us that morning. Then, simply, she thanked him.
Dad turned to Grant.
“You planned all of this.”
Grant raised both hands. “Not all of it.”
“You always were a terrible liar.”
Grant smiled. “You taught me to fly.”
I turned to him. “What?”
He touched the wings on his uniform again.
“Your father signed off on my very first training flight. That’s what I meant earlier. I wouldn’t be wearing these if it weren’t for him.”
Dad studied his face for a long moment. Then, slowly, recognition dawned.
“You’re that Grant? The nervous kid who wouldn’t stop asking questions?”
Grant laughed. “I’ve been called worse.”
Dad reached out and gripped his shoulder.
For a moment, neither man said anything at all. They didn’t have to.
Part 5: Wheels Up
Soon, the gate agent called for pre-boarding for passengers needing a little extra time.
Dad hesitated in his seat.
I leaned over. “Getting help is one thing. Being treated as more important than everyone else is something else entirely.”
He gave me a long, suspicious look.
“I don’t appreciate having my own words used against me.”
“I’ve been waiting 50 years for the chance.”
That earned me a real smile.
At the aircraft door, both pilots stood waiting for him. As he reached them, they removed their caps once more.
