could love, count on and have children with, like the rest of the McPhersons had.
Her brother, Hal, was a wonderful husband and father, as well as a big-shot doctor in Houston; her sister, Sue, was married with two kids who went to the day care in her Dallas office building, but Dixie just limped along looking for love, getting jewelry instead. She had been kicked in the teeth so many times it was a surprise she didnât need dentures. And not just by pilots. She had been used and then jilted in nearly every profession. She couldnât count the number of times sheâd had to go get tested for STDs after discovering the man of her dreams had been cheating on her. In fact, she couldnât count how many men sheâd had sex withâand sheâd tried. Suddenly she was terrified.
Still, despite the brevity of her college education and the lunacy of her romantic life, Dixie knew she was intelligent. Maybe not brilliant like the rest of the McPhersons, but damned smart enough in other ways.
Although it might not seem like much to the Ph.D.s in her family, at thirty-thousand feet, her kind of skill could be priceless. No one could get control of a cabin or calm a ruffled passenger better than Dixie. She was good with people and she was excellent with safety procedures. She had administered CPR along with an onboard physician, had blown a slide to safely evacuate an aircraft after an engine fire, and had even once calmedthe hysteria of a crew member who was suffering some form of posttraumatic stress disorder after the 9/11 attacks.
For fifteen years she had performed at the top of her game, and now she was tired and disappointed. She wasnât going any further in her job, even if she did rack up seniority, which translated into a little more pay and a little less work each year. But the challenge was gone and her personal life was in tatters. She was lonely, her heart hurt, and her coworkers didnât respect her.
How did Nikki do it? Nikki hadnât had a guy since her divorce. She didnât appear to want one or need one. But then Nikki had those two fabulous kids; maybe that was what sustained her. As for Dixie, disappointment that she had no one special had left her feeling bitter. She had just resorted to violence, for Godâs sake!
She felt like such a loser. Not only had she failed to find The One, but sheâd let that be the most important thing in her life for the past fifteen years.
Now she was on her way home from one of the worst trips of her career. Branch was simply the last in a long line of failures, and the fact that he had lied to her didnât let her off the hookâshe should have done some investigating. She was, as her sister flight attendant so coldly pointed out, a ditz.
Well, all that was about to change.
Â
Dixie lived in a quaint little town house at the edge of the city in the shadow of the mountains. The complex was gated and secure and featured a community room, fitness center, pool, tennis courts and a drop-dead view. There were four town houses to a building, all with garages. When sheâd bought the place she thought it would be temporary. Something to keep the rain off her headuntil she found Mr. Right, married, got pregnant and bought a nice little house near good schools.
Her friend Carlisle and his partner, Robert, lived right around the corner; she had told them about the unit when she saw the For Sale sign go up three years ago.
Now she found herself driving past her own town house, around the corner to Carlisleâs place. It wasnât late. Maybe she could talk Robert and him into dinner, or at least a drink, because she just didnât feel like being alone. As she turned into their cul-de-sac, her headlights strafed the front of his house, and she saw something very strange. Carlisle was sitting on the front step of his town house, wearing his flight attendant uniform, his overnight bag parked upright on the sidewalk in front of
Her brother, Hal, was a wonderful husband and father, as well as a big-shot doctor in Houston; her sister, Sue, was married with two kids who went to the day care in her Dallas office building, but Dixie just limped along looking for love, getting jewelry instead. She had been kicked in the teeth so many times it was a surprise she didnât need dentures. And not just by pilots. She had been used and then jilted in nearly every profession. She couldnât count the number of times sheâd had to go get tested for STDs after discovering the man of her dreams had been cheating on her. In fact, she couldnât count how many men sheâd had sex withâand sheâd tried. Suddenly she was terrified.
Still, despite the brevity of her college education and the lunacy of her romantic life, Dixie knew she was intelligent. Maybe not brilliant like the rest of the McPhersons, but damned smart enough in other ways.
Although it might not seem like much to the Ph.D.s in her family, at thirty-thousand feet, her kind of skill could be priceless. No one could get control of a cabin or calm a ruffled passenger better than Dixie. She was good with people and she was excellent with safety procedures. She had administered CPR along with an onboard physician, had blown a slide to safely evacuate an aircraft after an engine fire, and had even once calmedthe hysteria of a crew member who was suffering some form of posttraumatic stress disorder after the 9/11 attacks.
For fifteen years she had performed at the top of her game, and now she was tired and disappointed. She wasnât going any further in her job, even if she did rack up seniority, which translated into a little more pay and a little less work each year. But the challenge was gone and her personal life was in tatters. She was lonely, her heart hurt, and her coworkers didnât respect her.
How did Nikki do it? Nikki hadnât had a guy since her divorce. She didnât appear to want one or need one. But then Nikki had those two fabulous kids; maybe that was what sustained her. As for Dixie, disappointment that she had no one special had left her feeling bitter. She had just resorted to violence, for Godâs sake!
She felt like such a loser. Not only had she failed to find The One, but sheâd let that be the most important thing in her life for the past fifteen years.
Now she was on her way home from one of the worst trips of her career. Branch was simply the last in a long line of failures, and the fact that he had lied to her didnât let her off the hookâshe should have done some investigating. She was, as her sister flight attendant so coldly pointed out, a ditz.
Well, all that was about to change.
Â
Dixie lived in a quaint little town house at the edge of the city in the shadow of the mountains. The complex was gated and secure and featured a community room, fitness center, pool, tennis courts and a drop-dead view. There were four town houses to a building, all with garages. When sheâd bought the place she thought it would be temporary. Something to keep the rain off her headuntil she found Mr. Right, married, got pregnant and bought a nice little house near good schools.
Her friend Carlisle and his partner, Robert, lived right around the corner; she had told them about the unit when she saw the For Sale sign go up three years ago.
Now she found herself driving past her own town house, around the corner to Carlisleâs place. It wasnât late. Maybe she could talk Robert and him into dinner, or at least a drink, because she just didnât feel like being alone. As she turned into their cul-de-sac, her headlights strafed the front of his house, and she saw something very strange. Carlisle was sitting on the front step of his town house, wearing his flight attendant uniform, his overnight bag parked upright on the sidewalk in front of
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