Free Remember Me by Laura Browning

“No.”
    The two men stared at each other for another second then Brandon pushed the button on the radio mic. “Mayday. This is November niner-niner-seven-two-three enroute from Coyote Creek to Falcon’s Head. Will be attempting an emergency landing at Haven Lake.”
    The engine sputtered. Lucy watched the prop come to a near standstill. Instead of attempting to start it, Hanson steadied the aircraft and began looking ahead for Haven Lake. The silence filled her head. Where once the drone of the engine surrounded them, now only the noise of the wind rushing past interrupted the quiet, and that had to be the eeriest sound she had ever heard.
    “Miss Cameron,” Tom Hanson addressed her in a calm, level voice. “This is going to be a rough landing. No two ways about it. When we get closer to the lake, I want you to lean over. Put your face between your knees and grab your ankles. Don’t turn your head sideways.”
    “All right.”
    Brandon set the mic aside for a moment and turned to grab her hand. She saw his Adams’s apple bob a couple times before he said, “I’m sorry, baby. I–I love you, Lucy.”
    She squeezed his hand, nodded and choked out, “Me too. You can tell me after we’re on the ground. Okay?”
    He smiled. “Okay. You’re one hell of a lady.” He turned around and returned to broadcasting his mayday on the emergency frequency.
    Lucy looked out the windows, the wild beauty she’d so appreciated on the way out now taking on a much more sinister aspect. Instead of majestic crags and the lush green of pine forests, she spotted boulders and solid trunks that could rip the small plane to shreds.
    “Our glide ratio is short,” Hanson growled.
    Lucy had no idea what he meant.
    “How close are we?” Brandon demanded.
    “A few hundred yards. Start looking for any open space you can see. The snow will cushion some of the impact. And keep broadcasting.”
    While Brandon went back to his mayday, he also scanned the terrain in front of them. Lucy looked too. Another set of eyes couldn’t hurt. Her mouth had gone dry, and a trickle of cold sweat slipped down her spine. In some ways, though, she was almost thankful for her ignorance. She glanced at Hanson and Brandon. They knew what was coming and their grim expressions told her more than she wanted to know.
    “There.” Brandon pointed. It wasn’t much, a thin strip of bare ground that seemed impossibly short to Lucy, but then, perhaps their altitude made it seem so.
    “I’ll try it.”
    Brandon turned, his fingers stroking Lucy’s cheek. She had seen his hazel eyes alight with laughter and sparkling with adventure. Now they held her gaze with tenderness. “It’s time, Lucy. Brace for impact like Hanson explained.”
    “What about you?”
    He tried to smile, but it was just a lifting of the corner of his mouth. “We’ll fly her as far as we can. Hanson will do his damnedest to get her on the ground in one piece.”
    Lucy didn’t want to let go. She swallowed, looked at Brandon one last time and put her head between her knees. While she grabbed her ankles, the thought occurred to her if nothing else in this life remained, she had at least known the love of a man she could admire.
     

 
    Chapter 6
     
    All hell broke loose. Brandon continued to broadcast their mayday. She heard him swear and Hanson yell, “Hang on!” She thought the plane’s nose lifted slightly, then a piercing whine that confused her filled the cabin. Pointing up instead of down had to be a good thing. Right?
    Seconds became minutes that became a lifetime of screeching metal, glass breaking and feeling as though everything and everyone was being tossed around like papers caught in a whirlwind. Lucy held onto her ankles for dear life, grunting when something struck her shoulder. At last there was one final, long metallic ripping noise and the small craft shuddered to a halt, hanging at an odd angle.
    Silence. The only thing she could hear was her own breathing. And that