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preflight checks to the Convair.
    En route to his office, Lucas once again passed directly in front of Heather. This time, he didn’t say a word. Heather’s demeanor was one of frustration with disappointment written across her face as she reluctantly watched Lucas disappear without saying anything to him.
    Upon entering the flight office, Lucas greeted Mike with a big, upbeat “How ya doing tonight, Mike?”
    Mike responded in a warm and friendly manner: “Hello, ready for a rough ride tonight?”
    “Sure, we can handle it. Because of the weather, I’m going to ask line service to add another hundred gallons of fuel to both sides—just in case.”
    “Good idea.”
    “Mike, I’m going to run out and do the preflight and take care of the fuel—anything else you can think I should do? I already filled the thermos with coffee.”
    “No,” Mike said. “Not that I can think of.”
    Just prior to Lucas leaving the flight office at Gold Coast Aviation to perform the preflight, Mike looked up at Lucas and said, “Heather asked if she could go with us tonight and I told her she could.”
    Lucas responded abruptly, saying, “Why would you allow that?” I can’t have Autumn and Heather in my world. I will have to be on guard all night.
    “We take guests with us all the time.”
    “Sure we do, but why Heather?”
    “Because she asked if she could go with us tonight. Besides, we both know why she wants to go for a ride. She’s wanted to jump your bones for as long as I can remember, and everybody around here knows it. Surely this is no surprise to you, is it?”
    “I know, and that’s exactly why she shouldn’t come with us. Besides, you know we have weather on this trip! Neither of us needs a distraction.”
    “Come on, Lucas! What’s the big deal?”
    “I don’t have time for romance! I fly all night and go to school all day. Look, I have an airline job waiting for me after school, and I can’t screw that up.”
    “Lucas, have you really looked at this young lady? She is a knockout—she has legs that any guy would love to stroke, the face of a china doll, the innocence of a twelve-year-old looking for her first kiss—there are hundreds of guys in the Midwest who would love to be in your shoes. Besides, what does any of this have to do with Global?”
    “First, she isn’t a young lady; she’s a twenty-one-year-old kid. Secondly—”
    “And how old are you, you ungrateful shit?” Mike interrupted. “If you got your dipstick wet a little more often, you wouldn’t be so uptight.”
    “I’m not uptight; I’m busy.”
    “Too busy for a romp between the sheets with the most beautiful woman you’ll ever meet?”
    “Fuck you, Mike! I don’t care what she has between her legs. I don’t have time for that kind of distraction.”
    “Lucas, will you listen to yourself? Heather is going for a ride with us. No one is asking you to start dating.”
    Lucas raised his voice: “I understand that, but this is nothing more than a ploy on her part to get something going, and I don’t appreciate her abusing you, our friendship, and our willingness to take people for rides.”
    With that comment, Lucas turned and headed for the office door.
    “Lucas,” called Mike, “come back here. Does your reaction to Heather have anything to do with the accident?”
    Lucas immediately stopped in his tracks. While processing Mike’s words, he stared down at the floor. Removing his hand from the doorknob, he turned to partially face Mike. “Maybe,” he said. “Have you noticed the similarity between Heather and Morgan too?”
    “I have, but I thought that accident was behind you.”
    “It will never be behind me. I look at Heather, or any attractive girl, and I can still see Morgan lying in the street in a pool of blood. There was nothing I could do for her. Here I am four years later, and I’m still helpless.”
    “We’ve talked about this before, Lucas, and you just can’t continue blaming yourself for what