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and always kept her in the loop about the on goings in Edenton. But slowly the calls moved from once a week to twice a month, then to once a month. Then there were no calls, only the occasional letter or email. And soon, even those disappeared. He blamed no one. Time and distance played its toll on their friendship.
    After high school he moved to Florida for college. Between school and the Air Guard, Ryan had little time for much of anything. He’d been to so many places and seen so many sights. London, Paris, and Riyadh, were just a few stops along his journey. Little did anyone know, there was a box of postcards, all made out to Alexis, at the top of his closet at home. It had become a sort of tradition with him. Each new city, each new country, he picked up a postcard for her. It didn’t matter if he didn’t know where to mail them. This had been his way of keeping her in his heart, always.
    Ryan scratched the top of his head, his ink pen dangling from his lips. He glanced over the checklist twice, initialed it and handed it back over to Kix for him to do the same. Ryan was a stickler for detail. Safety was key to him and it was one of the reasons why every captain that flew with him loved him. Nothing got past Ryan.
    By this point, passengers had started to board the plane. It was almost time for takeoff and no matter how many times he flew, Ryan always felt a twinge of excitement before the plane lifted into the air. He loved the feel of the controls at his fingertips and couldn’t wait for the day he’d become captain.
    “Hey, guys,” Makenna addressed the two pilots as she entered the cockpit. Her jet black hair draped over her shoulder like a dark veil and her dark blue eyes peered behind her cat-eye glasses. Around her neck dangled a red scarf. It was against airline dress code, but no one said anything to her about it. Makenna was a tenured flight attendant and damn good at her job. Pilots fought to have her on their flights and there was no way any of them would complain about something as insignificant as a scarf.
    “Sup?” Ryan quipped.
    “Just wanted to let you know all passengers are on board and the manifest is complete. Pre-flight drink service is underway.”
    “Speaking of which.” Kix lifted his coffee cup, dangling it at Makenna. There was some heavy sexual tension between the captain and chief purser, but Ryan knew Makenna would never give Kix the time of day. Everyone knew of his playboy ways and Makenna was better than that. Her restraint made Ryan protective of her. He adored Makenna like a sister and didn’t want to see her hurt by the captain, no matter how much he respected Kix.
    Makenna cocked her head. “You know what, just for that, you can get your own coffee.”
    “Kenna,” Kix whined, drawing out on every syllable of her name.
    “Nope,” she smacked. “Get off that lazy ass of yours and get your own coffee.”
    “Lazy!” he rebuked. “I’m not lazy.”
    “Whatever. We all know Fisher runs the show while you sit back and jerk off.”
    Ryan’s head fell back in laughter. “She pegged you!”
    Kix huffed and stood up. He popped Ryan against the back of the head and followed Makenna from the cockpit. Ryan laughed harder, pulled on his headset, and switched the radio to the control tower frequency.
    Just as Ryan received the clearing for departure, Kix reappeared in the cockpit sans a cup of coffee. “Everything set?”
    “We just received clearance. I thought I might end up flying this bird by myself.” Ryan nodded his head toward Kix’s empty hands. “What? No coffee? Or did Makenna finally give you a chance to join the Mile High Club?”
    Kix slapped his knee and buckled over in fake laughter. “Ha! Been there, done that. Besides, the purpose of the mile high club is being in the air. If you’d ever pull your dick out and use it, you’d understand.” He closed and locked the cockpit door. With a shake of his head, he slid back into his seat.
    “I’ll take