Free Higher Than Eagles (Donovans of the Delta) by Peggy Webb

Jacob. Help me into this damned machine, and I’ll tell you exactly why I hate it.” She put her arms into the sleeves of his jacket, then turned to face him. “And after tonight, I will never fly again.”
    He helped her into the cockpit, leaning over her to strap her in. Her face was pale. He touched his hand to her cheek, already regretting his tactics.
    “Don’t be afraid, Rachel. I won’t let any harm come to you.”
    “I’m not afraid.” She pulled the jacket close around her throat, covering her glittering necklace.
    Jacob’s hands played gently over her face. “I want you to understand, this is one problem that should have been resolved between us long ago.”
    “You never tried to understand my viewpoint, Jacob.”
    “Lord knows, I tried to, but I suppose you’re right. I could never understand how anyone could hate and fear something so beautiful.” He gazed into her eyes, willing her to understand—and to forgive. Then he turned resolutely and fastened on his headset. “Tonight you will see that flying is almost a religious experience. In the sky, in that vast and mysterious cathedral—” he paused, his arm swinging upward toward the stars “—you will feel almost as if you could touch the face of God.”
    They were silent as Jacob concentrated on getting the Baron aloft. He taxied the craft smoothly down the runway, gaining speed, pulling back on the throttle, lifting the nose, climbing, climbing into the stars. A sense of exhilaration filled him until he almost shouted with joy. In the sky, he was both servant and commander. In the vastness of the heavens, he was as small and insignificant as a grain of sand. And yet . . . he was master. He commanded the machine that carried him. Like a well-trained dog, the plane obeyed his slightest order. In the Baron he could transcend the earth, traverse the heavens. All the wonder -- and mystery -- of the sky was his.
    They climbed higher, higher than eagles.
    Huddled into the copilot’s seat, Rachel forgot her fear when she saw his face. The only time she’d ever seen a face glow like his was more than five years before, when Benjamin had been born. Holding her newborn son in her arms, she’d seen herself in the mirror.
    She looked out the window, trying to see her surroundings with Jacob’s eyes. But all she saw was darkness, interrupted here and there with a sprinkling of stars.
    The Baron lifted into the sky. At 7,500 feet, Jacob turned to Rachel.
    “Button your jacket. The temperature is zero degrees up here.” He flipped a switch that regulated the plane’s heater.
    Even in the enclosed plane, she noticed the chill. Nodding, she obeyed Jacob, then she turned from him to look out the window. She was beginning to relax. She didn’t know if it had to do with Jacob’s presence or her own rationalization that she was too old to let her fear of flying continue to dominate her life. It was only part of the reason she’d left Jacob, but it was the sole reason she had never accepted singing engagements overseas.
    Bob had known that and had not tried to change her mind. If possible, he’d always booked her engagements so that they’d have plenty of time to drive. Several times she’d had to make quick trips to New York or Los Angeles and had forced herself to fly, but she’d never conquered the fear.
    She glanced at the man beside her. Things would have been different if she had married Jacob. She knew that now. He would never have passively accepted her fear of flying. At some point he would have done exactly what he was doing now—kidnapped her and taken her into the air to let her experience the adventure through his eyes.
    She hugged his coat around her and smiled. Being with a swashbuckling man certainly had its appeal.
    “Rachel.” She jumped when he spoke her name. He smiled at her. “You’re not scared, are you?”
    “No. I don’t love it, mind you, but I have confidence in the pilot.”
    “Good. We’re going into that cloud