Read Online A Flying Affair by Carla Stewart - Free Book Online

also had a feeling her dad knew more about Bobby than he’d let on.
    Her dad smiled. “Bobby, this dinner may have been providential. Mittie’s acquainted with the manager at Bowman Field. Perhaps she can give you an introduction so you can see what they have to offer.”
    Bobby nodded. “I actually have an appointment with him tomorrow in response to an advert in last week’s paper.”
    Mittie’s mouth dropped open. “What advert?”
    “They need someone to give flying lessons, so I thought I’d see if I fit their criteria.”
    Mittie’s grandmother nodded. “A sharp young man like yourself should have no trouble. And if you need a reference, I’d be happy to offer one.”
    “That would be most kind.”
    A wooden smile graced Mittie’s mother’s lips. This was obviously not the direction she intended for the conversation to go, but she gathered her wits and asked if anyone cared for strawberry shortcake.
      
    Mittie gave Bobby a tour of the barns and the paddock when they’d finished dessert. As they reached the last of the pens, Bobby leaned on the rail and gazed across the meadow.
    “I didn’t expect to find Kentucky so beautiful nor to remind me so much of England.”
    “That’s what my aunt Evangeline said when she first came. She hailed from the Cotswolds and came over after her husband died on a Royal Navy ship.”
    “It does evoke a certain feeling of home, but different, too. More vast, like the sky.”
    “I believe you were being rather modest about your flying experience.”
    He seemed lost in thought, but then he turned to her. “One never knows how much to reveal. I do have my international license and instructor’s permit.”
    Her heart did a crazy skip. “Did my dad know this when he invited you to dinner?”
    “I hadn’t told him, if that’s what you mean. My father might have at some point.”
    She chuckled.
    “You find it humorous?”
    “Not that you’re a pilot. It’s funny because I thought Daddy invited you to dinner to console me because Iris married before me.”
    “And that was a concern to you? To find a husband?”
    She shuddered. “Do I look like I’m shattered by the fact?”
    His smile was wide, his lips full when he answered no. He had slightly irregular teeth on the bottom, and somehow that made her glad. Bobby wasn’t perfect, after all—close, but not completely, which made her wonder if there were other parts about him that weren’t perfect, too.
    “So what’s your real story? Why did you come to Kentucky? And don’t feed me a line about your love of your daddy’s horses.”
    “Actually, I do love the horses, but I didn’t grow up among them like you did. We were weekend warriors, going to the cottage in Newmarket. When my father needed someone to make sure the mares had a safe passage, he asked me.”
    “I thought grooms usually did that sort of thing.”
    “This was an important sale, and my father had other obligations.”
    “If you only went to Newmarket on the weekends, where did you live the rest of the week?”
    “Boarding schools mostly. I took my A-levels at Harrow and went to Pembroke after that.”
    Her eyebrows shot up. “And studied what?”
    “Veterinary science at first, since my father suggested it. We’d had a run of horses going lame from this, that, and the other. I switched to anthropology when I discovered the sight of entrails made me woozy. Then I decided to race cars and went to Brooklands in Surrey, which is where I discovered aviation and myself. And there you have it: the abridged version of the life of Bobby York.”
    “And now world traveler. Until you get a new itch.”
    “No, aviation is it. So, tell me about this barnstorming. Do you fly?”
    “Not yet. I’m just observing. And someday I’d love to take lessons and get a license.”
    “Bowman doesn’t have an aviation academy, do they?”
    “Not that I know of. Is that what the advertisement was for?”
    “An instructor, but it didn’t give many