So far the flight had gone smoothly. Miss Mambo was the best passenger Reagan had ever flown. But now they were cruising over the mountains as they flew out of Kentucky and into Tennessee. Reagan handed over the controls to Daniel and unbuckled herself from the captain’s chair.

She slid behind Stewart, who was sitting facing his wall of buttons and controls, and opened the cockpit door. Stepping out into the body of the plane, she found Carter, Mick, and Mrs. Bristol on the other side of the metal divider talking as Diego stood in front of Miss Mambo lovingly scratching her behind the ears. Paul was standing next to him as they continued their discussion of the very memorable woman from last night.

“We should be in Ocala in an hour and fifteen minutes. We’ve just flown by Knoxville and are settling in over the Appalachian Mountains.” Reagan grabbed a bottle of water from the cooler and held it out to Mrs. Bristol, who shook her head, but Mick took it from her with a kind smile.

“It’s so cold up here,” Mick commented as he opened the bottle.

“The horses like to feel the air on them. They also like it cooler. Lucky for you, we’re only flying your horse so we can keep it at a balmy sixty-two. When this place is full, it’s kept at fifty-seven degrees with vents at full blast. It’s why Diego and Paul have sweatshirts with them. I have blankets if you need them,” Reagan offered, but Mick shook his head, indicating he was fine.

“You have such a wonderful young man here. Carter was telling me that you two have been dating over a year already.” Mrs. Bristol smiled as Mick walked away to talk to Diego and Paul.

“That’s right,” Reagan smiled. It was nice being able to talk openly about their relationship. “Did Carter tell you we fell in love on a flight just like this?”

“He sure did,” Suzanne beamed. “But now I’m going to let you two young people have some time together while I go snuggle my girl.”

Reagan protested, but Mrs. Bristol held up her hand and smiled kindly as she walked the five feet or so to see Miss Mambo. Reagan watched as she and Mick began talking while Miss Mambo nuzzled Mrs. Bristol’s neck, rubbing her scent all over the older woman dressed elegantly in a white pantsuit. Not the most appropriate for a horse transport, but Mrs. Bristol didn’t seem to care as Miss Mambo rubbed her nose and head all over her shoulder and neck.

Carter turned to join Reagan in watching the horse’s antics. “It’s nice being here with you. It amazes me how you can fly such a large plane so confidently. I remember when your father sent you to the wilds of Alaska to learn to fly on those small planes.”

Reagan smiled at the memory. She’d spent one fall going into winter flying with bush pilots to learn what a plane could really do and how to handle anything Mother Nature threw at you. “I enjoyed it. There’s something about flying that feels right to me.”

“Is there something that feels right about me?” Carter asked, dropping his voice so she could barely hear it over the engines.

“More than right. Perfect,” Reagan said back to Carter before kissing him on his lips. The kiss wasn’t heated. It was one of ease between two people who were in love.

Reagan’s brow creased with confusion as Carter took a step back and then went down on one knee. “What are you . . . oh my God, Carter.” Reagan gasped as Carter pulled out a black velvet box and opened it. Inside was a cushion-cut diamond ring. It was perfect. It wasn’t too big, and it wasn’t overly flashy. And that was good because she didn’t like huge rings. It was simple, just like her.

“I fell in love with you on a plane and I want to get engaged to you on one too. For over a year I have watched you grow, take risks, and expand your business. I couldn’t be more proud of you than I already am. But I also was lucky and saw the other side of you—the side that loves fiercely and deeply. The side that loves lying in bed holding each other and talking about our dreams. So, with your father’s blessing, I want to ask, Reagan, will you marry me?”

Reagan blinked through the tears and nodded. “Yes, oh my gosh, yes!”

Carter reached for the ring and slipped it onto her finger. She saw the love in his eyes, the happiness in his face, and knew it mirrored her own. She heard her name being called in celebration as Carter stood and wrapped his arms around her.

“I love you with all my heart and soul,” Carter whispered to her as the plane suddenly went quiet.

“Reagan!” Stewart yelled from the doorway of the metal divider. The shout pulled her from her fairy tale. Reagan looked around before sprinting for the cockpit. She didn’t need him to tell her what was wrong. She already knew.

“Buckle up! Secure the cabin!” she yelled over her shoulder as she leapt into her chair. “Get Paul up here!” Her eyes read all the gauges before she disengaged autopilot and took control of the plane. “It’s like we’re out of gas, but that’s not possible.”

“The gas level reads full.” Daniel said before looking at her with fear. “It shouldn’t still be reading full.”

“What the hell?” Paul asked, squeezing into the cockpit.

“We’re out of gas,” Reagan told him.

“We can’t be. I tested the fuel early this morning.” But there was no denying it. They were going down. “Dammit,” Paul cursed before running from the cockpit to see if there was a leak or something he could fix.

The fear of crashing should have frozen her. Daniel sat unmoving as the reality of the situation hit. But Reagan’s mind was already in full motion. They were going down. “Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! This is Keeneston Air flight 1217. I am flying at 25,000 feet and the fuel is out.”

“Should we try to start the engines?” Daniel asked as he tried to hide the panic in his voice.

“No time. Look for someplace to land. Stewart, see what you can do,” Reagan ordered as Stewart tried flipping the fuses to see if that would kickstart the engine. The time spent trying to restart the engines would be better spent trying to find a good place to land.

“We’re over a national forest, what’s a good place to land?” Daniel shouted, the fear causing his voice to crack.

“This is Atlanta Air Traffic, we see you on radar. You are one hundred and seven miles from the airport. Can you make it?”

Reagan shook her head and tightened her grip on the controls. “We’re not going to make it. We’re gliding, but based on my altitude and speed, I can only glide for about eighty miles.”

“What’s going on?” Carter asked as he stood in the open doorway. Reagan couldn’t turn to look at him, she was too busy looking for someplace to land a plane in the middle of nowhere. Somehow she had to force the fear that was trying to strangle her back into the pit of her stomach. She had a job to do and the lives of everyone on the plane to try to save. “We’re going to make a crash landing. Try to help Diego secure Miss Mambo the best you can. Pack her in with hay, blankets, and anything you can find. Then buckle up and prepare for a crash landing.”

“Shit,” Carter cursed as the reality of the situation set in. He placed a quick kiss on the top of her head and Reagan felt like crying. She wanted to shout at him to come back and hold her, but she was stronger than that. She had a job to do and she was going to do it. “You can do this. I love you.”

Reagan’s throat tightened. “I love you too,” she said, forcing the words through her constricted throat. She hoped to God this wasn’t the last time she told him those words.

“We’re in contact with Chattanooga and Knoxville airports. Based on the calculations you’ve given us, you won’t be able to glide to either airport. There’s a small private airfield thirty miles from your location,” air traffic control told her as he gave her the location. The airfield was for small, single-engine planes, but it was better than nothing. “Emergency services, on the other hand, will not be able to meet you there in time. This airfield is on the top of a mountain and not near any real city. The closest fire and ambulance have been notified and will be there in forty-five minutes.”

Reagan looked out over the mountains in the direction of the airfield. She was coming in on a deadstick landing, on top of a mountain, and on a runway that was going to be too small. It was every pilot’s worst nightmare. She’d practiced this, but it was something she wished she’d never have to do.

“We can’t land there!” Daniel almost yelled in fear.

“Stay calm. Remember your training. I can land this plane anywhere that’s flat. Just keep looking for the freaking runway,” Reagan ordered as she white-knuckled the controls. She thought in a situation like this her life would flash before her eyes, but it didn’t. Instead, every ounce of brainpower was focused on how best to land the plane.

Reagan ignored Mrs. Bristol’s fearful screams. She ignored Miss Mambo’s nervous whinnies as the ride became rougher. Reagan ignored everything as she kept scanning the mountaintops for the landing strip.

“There it is!” Daniel shouted. “One o’clock,” he told her as Reagan locked onto it. Relief flooded her as she saw that the end of the runway ended in a heavily wooded forest heading slowly downhill and not a sheer rocky drop off. The trees would hurt, but they’d stop the plane. That is, if they could make it to the end of the runway without flipping. The runway was awfully narrow for a plane of this size and one wrong hit of the wing or a tire could send the plane tumbling.

“Diego and I got Miss Mambo packed in like a china doll,” Carter said from behind her. She hadn’t known he was there. “Is that the airport? It looks small.”

“That’s because it’s more of an airstrip than an airport. We’re going to land hard and hit some trees to stop. Is everyone buckled up?” Reagan asked as she lined up for her landing.

“Yes,” Carter said, taking the small seat behind Reagan. She heard him buckling up as he continued to talk to her in a very calm voice. “You’re the best pilot I know. You’ve got this.” His confidence in her had her nodding to herself. She could do this. She could do this. Reagan let out a breath and didn’t know if she remembered to take a new one as the ground came fast and hard toward her.

---

Carter’s heart was beating out of his chest in fear. The runway Reagan was approaching was small. Even he could see the plane wouldn’t fit on it. Prepare for a crash landing. He’d never wanted to hear those words. The idea that their lives could end very soon made him feel like vomiting. Just when everything in his life was looking up, it could be snatched away in a split second.

“Brace! Brace! Brace!” Reagan yelled at the top of her lungs.

Carter covered his head with his hands as he saw Stewart, his back facing him across the small cockpit grabbing onto his desk with both hands. Carter turned his head to the side briefly to check on Mrs. Bristol through the flapping cockpit door. It hadn’t really closed when he’d taken his seat and now swayed open. In the last moments before the plane hit the runway, he saw Diego make the sign of the cross and he saw Mick reach for Suzanne. Except he didn’t reach over to hold her. Mick’s hand slipped into Suzanne’s lap, unbuckled her seatbelt, and shoved her forward out of the chair and head first into the metal wall of the cockpit moments before the plane attempted to land.

“Suzanne!” Carter yelled and Mick looked right at him as the plane hit the runway with a jarring thump that slammed the door shut. The plane skidded, the wing hit something, sending the plane spinning, the door flying open, and Suzanne’s body tossed around the narrow entranceway of the plane. Suddenly there was another jarring hit as the spinning plane hit something else on its trip down the airstrip, dipping the far side of the plane toward the ground.

The last thing Carter saw before the breath was knocked out of him was Suzanne’s limp body sliding past the door. He was able to notice she was no longer screaming, but then the plane slammed into something, probably the trees, and everything went black.